CONCORD: Hundreds protested in cities across the United States against coronavirus-related blockades, with the encouragement of President Donald Trump, as resentment against the crippling economic cost of the closure increases.
An estimated 400 people gathered in a cold rain in Concord, New Hampshire, many on foot while others remained in their cars, to send a message that prolonged quarantines were unnecessary in a state with relatively few confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The crowd included several armed men wearing military-style uniforms, with their faces covered.
In Texas, more than 250 people demonstrated outside the State Capitol in Austin, including far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, founder of the Infowars site, who arrived in a tank-like truck.
"It is time to reopen Texas, it is time to let people work, it is time for them to let voluntary interaction and good sense dominate the day, not the government force," said Justin Greiss, an activist for Young Americans for Liberty.
Housewife mother Amira Abuzeid added: "I am not a doctor, but I am an intelligent person who can do math and it seems that at the end of the day, these numbers are not so worrisome."
Few, if any, observed recommendations for social distancing.
Protesters outside the Maryland colonial-era state house in Annapolis stayed in their cars but waved signs with messages like "Poverty also kills."
Dolores, a hairdresser, told AFP that she is not eligible for unemployment because she owns a business, not an employee.
"I need to save my business. I need to work to live. Otherwise, I will die," he said.
Other protests took place across the country in cities such as Columbus, Ohio, and San Diego, California, as well as in the states of Indiana, Nevada, and Wisconsin.
Few practiced social distancing, but many of the protesters waved American flags.
Protesters have encouraged in certain Democrat-led states from tweets by Trump, who has said he favors a rapid return to normalcy, although protests have also taken place in Republican-led states like New Hampshire and Texas.
The United States has seen more cases and deaths from coronavirus than any other country in the world, with more than 734,000 confirmed infections and 38,800 deaths as of Saturday night.
The vast majority of Americans are under blockade orders that restrict public movement and keep all businesses closed, except essential ones.
In Concord, protesters carried signs with slogans such as "Numbers Lie" and "Reopen New Hampshire."
Their common demand was that the order to stay home for the state of 1.3 million people be canceled before the end date scheduled for May 4.
Others, amid a sea of American flags, chanted the slogan of the state's Revolutionary War era, "Live free or die."
"People are very happy voluntarily to do what is necessary," a protester, Skip Murphy, 63, told AFP by phone.
He added, however, that "the data does not support the egregious blockade we are having in New Hampshire."
As of early Friday morning, New Hampshire had reported 1,287 confirmed coronavirus cases and 37 deaths.
"Across the country, many people say, 'We will do our part, but at the same time, this is supposed to be a free country,'" Murphy said.
"When that is transgressed, people start saying, 'Wait a minute, this is wrong'."
Most Americans, by a two-to-one margin, actually worry about lifting the virus restrictions too soon, not too late, according to a recent Pew poll.
But protesters were encouraged on Friday by the president, who in a series of tweets called for "FREE" Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia, all states with Democratic governors, from orders to stay home.
Trump has repeatedly called for the earliest possible return to normalcy, as the virus-related shutdowns have had a crushing impact on American workers and companies.
"I really think some of the governors have been carried away," Trump said at a White House press conference on Saturday.
He welcomed the reopening of some businesses in Texas and Vermont on Monday "while appropriate precautions for social distancing are still required."
The biggest protest against the stay-at-home rules so far took place Wednesday in Michigan's capital Lansing, which drew about 3,000 people.
Murphy said he had voted for Trump, but insisted that his motives were not partisan. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is a Republican, he noted.
"This has nothing to do with Trump or the Democratic and Republican governors," said Murphy.
"It is a case of a size that is not for everyone: the block should stop where it does not make sense."
An estimated 400 people gathered in a cold rain in Concord, New Hampshire, many on foot while others remained in their cars, to send a message that prolonged quarantines were unnecessary in a state with relatively few confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The crowd included several armed men wearing military-style uniforms, with their faces covered.
In Texas, more than 250 people demonstrated outside the State Capitol in Austin, including far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, founder of the Infowars site, who arrived in a tank-like truck.
"It is time to reopen Texas, it is time to let people work, it is time for them to let voluntary interaction and good sense dominate the day, not the government force," said Justin Greiss, an activist for Young Americans for Liberty.
Housewife mother Amira Abuzeid added: "I am not a doctor, but I am an intelligent person who can do math and it seems that at the end of the day, these numbers are not so worrisome."
Few, if any, observed recommendations for social distancing.
Protesters outside the Maryland colonial-era state house in Annapolis stayed in their cars but waved signs with messages like "Poverty also kills."
Dolores, a hairdresser, told AFP that she is not eligible for unemployment because she owns a business, not an employee.
"I need to save my business. I need to work to live. Otherwise, I will die," he said.
Other protests took place across the country in cities such as Columbus, Ohio, and San Diego, California, as well as in the states of Indiana, Nevada, and Wisconsin.
Few practiced social distancing, but many of the protesters waved American flags.
Protesters have encouraged in certain Democrat-led states from tweets by Trump, who has said he favors a rapid return to normalcy, although protests have also taken place in Republican-led states like New Hampshire and Texas.
The United States has seen more cases and deaths from coronavirus than any other country in the world, with more than 734,000 confirmed infections and 38,800 deaths as of Saturday night.
The vast majority of Americans are under blockade orders that restrict public movement and keep all businesses closed, except essential ones.
In Concord, protesters carried signs with slogans such as "Numbers Lie" and "Reopen New Hampshire."
Their common demand was that the order to stay home for the state of 1.3 million people be canceled before the end date scheduled for May 4.
Others, amid a sea of American flags, chanted the slogan of the state's Revolutionary War era, "Live free or die."
"People are very happy voluntarily to do what is necessary," a protester, Skip Murphy, 63, told AFP by phone.
He added, however, that "the data does not support the egregious blockade we are having in New Hampshire."
As of early Friday morning, New Hampshire had reported 1,287 confirmed coronavirus cases and 37 deaths.
"Across the country, many people say, 'We will do our part, but at the same time, this is supposed to be a free country,'" Murphy said.
"When that is transgressed, people start saying, 'Wait a minute, this is wrong'."
Most Americans, by a two-to-one margin, actually worry about lifting the virus restrictions too soon, not too late, according to a recent Pew poll.
But protesters were encouraged on Friday by the president, who in a series of tweets called for "FREE" Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia, all states with Democratic governors, from orders to stay home.
Trump has repeatedly called for the earliest possible return to normalcy, as the virus-related shutdowns have had a crushing impact on American workers and companies.
"I really think some of the governors have been carried away," Trump said at a White House press conference on Saturday.
He welcomed the reopening of some businesses in Texas and Vermont on Monday "while appropriate precautions for social distancing are still required."
The biggest protest against the stay-at-home rules so far took place Wednesday in Michigan's capital Lansing, which drew about 3,000 people.
Murphy said he had voted for Trump, but insisted that his motives were not partisan. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is a Republican, he noted.
"This has nothing to do with Trump or the Democratic and Republican governors," said Murphy.
"It is a case of a size that is not for everyone: the block should stop where it does not make sense."
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