CNN: More than 30 people arrested during stay-at-home protest at California Capitol
More than 500 people gathered at the California Capitol in Sacramento Friday to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order.
"The majority of the demonstrators were not wearing face masks or physically distancing and at one point a group of them locked hands," according to the California Highway Patrol. "In so doing, they were jeopardizing the health and safety of themselves, as well as our officers and onlookers during this ongoing Covid-19 pandemic."
As a result, police arrested 32 people for failing to comply with the lawful orders to disperse, along with health and safety violations, the release said.
These idiots are endangering everyone around them and think nothing about breaking the law and, potentially, killing thousands and ten thousands in the process.
The Sacramento Bee has more:
Sacbee: 32 arrested in California Capitol protest demanding end to stay-at-home order, CHP says
In the most intense protest yet against California’s stay-at-home order, demonstrators crowded the Capitol on Friday and scuffled with California Highway Patrol officers who had ordered them to disperse.
Authorities said late Friday 32 people were arrested during the middle of the four-hour rally when tensions boiled over on the west steps of downtown Sacramento landmark.
The protest by roughly 1,000 people – some holding American flags and signs calling for the economy to reopen – started peacefully but quickly escalated when CHP officers ordered them to leave the steps of the landmark downtown Sacramento building or face arrest.
These creeps are trying to take over city halls and state capitols, by force if necessary, some even brandishing semi-automatic guns.
Some demonstrators got within a few inches of officers’ faces, screaming that their rights to assemble were being violated and calling officers “traitors” for defending the government’s orders to restrict gatherings at schools, businesses and churches.
No face masks, inches from the officer’s faces, screaming into their faces. Practically spitting into their faces. Horrible. These stupid terrorists should be locked up and the key should be thrown away for everyone’s safety. Unfortunately, they were just charged with a misdemeanor and released, but this is a start. Other cities and states should start arresting these imbeciles as soon as they show up at state capitols and city halls around the nation without the permits necessary for the protests.
There was also a CHP ban on protests on state property that was violated by the protesters, a ban that was issued almost 2 weeks ago after a protest that had become “in your face” instead of the supposed peaceful gathering that the organizers had promised.
The demonstration was orderly at the start: At least 500 cars, trucks, motorcycles, RVs and vans were circling the Capitol, honking horns, waving flags — American flags, banners for Trump and the Gadsden flag that reads “Don’t Tread on Me” — in a procession so clogged it took nearly an hour to circle the complex and forced Sacramento Regional Transit to re-route buses.
Protesters selling Trump T-shirts set up shop on the sidewalk, assembling makeshift merchandise stores of fold-out tables lined with red “Make America Great Again” hats. Families sunbathed on the lawn, with children in strollers and teenagers holding signs urging schools to reopen and graduation ceremonies to continue.
Many carried signs claiming the virus was a government hoax to inspire fear and submission. Other demonstrators acknowledged the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic but said they needed the freedom to return to work.
Stupid Trump cultists waving Trump banners is one thing. But these Trump cultists actually claim that the virus is a GOVERNMENT HOAX? Excuse me, dumbasses, we now have 1,160,000 Coronavirus infections and 67,444 Coronavirus deaths in this country. And those are just the known numbers, based on testing that is still woefully inadequate everywhere, the real numbers on both infections and deaths are a lot higher. And here you idiots are claiming that the Coronavirus is a government hoax? Screw you.
Tensions started to mount when hundreds of protesters began congregating on the Capitol’s west steps. Within minutes, CHP officers formed a defensive perimeter around the Capitol’s entrance, holding their batons horizontally and prompting jeers from the crowd. An officer with a loudspeaker then read a statement, citing health and safety codes , ordering them to disperse or face arrest.
A handful of protesters broke through a line of CHP officers guarding the Capitol. Officers formed a line and were able to move the hostile crowd away from the building. Some in the crowd chanted “remember your oath” to officers. One woman could be heard yelling “traitors” to officers. Another shouted into a megaphone, “President Trump, we need you.”
Ok, they physically broke through a police line that was established to prevent these Magat’s from storming the Capitol Building? “President Trump, we need you?” WTF?
Small, isolated scuffles broke out as protesters yelled “our house” and “open up” at the officers. They began demanding cops to abandon their post and “remember your oath.”
At least three people who tried to cross police lines were pulled away and detained. Several other people were pulled from the crowd as well. Among them was Heidi Munoz Gleisner of the group Freedom Angels; Gleisner is a familiar figure at the Capitol for participating in anti-vaccination protests.
Within the span of 20 minutes, officers in riot gear – wearing heavy-duty helmets with shields and face masks beneath, as well as protective vests and leggings – used long batons to push the crowd back. They told demonstrators they weren’t impeding their First Amendment rights.
They were trying to claim the Capitol Building for themselves. "Our House", "open up" they screamed. Scuffling with police, demanding they stand down. And, how is it not surprising the stupid anti-vax crowd is involved in these protests?
This “protester” summed it all up:
Andrew Smith attended with his 3-year-old daughter, Riley Jo, to “have our voices heard.”
“You can point to data all you want,” said Smith, who said it didn’t matter millions of people were at risk of getting sick or dying. “You still can’t take away civil liberties.
“It’s simple. If you’re afraid of it stay home.”
This asshole actually said that it didn’t matter that millions of people are at risk of getting sick and dying, his precious civil liberties are more important.
MAGA assholes, arrest them all. Throw away the key. They are willingly endangering us all and think nothing about the Coronavirus pandemic spiking up again because they think it is all a hoax anyway. I have nothing but disdain for these crazy fools.