SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Hundreds of protesters _ possibly more than 1,000 _ crowded around the California State Capitol Friday to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom's social distancing orders amid a pandemic that has now killed more than 2,000 Californians.
Many of the protesters called Newsom a tyrant and showed their support for President Donald Trump, evidenced by Trump 2020 gear everywhere, including for sale.
Susan Dorrity, a retired mortgage broker from Modesto, said the president was smart to leave decisions about closures to governors.
"Not opening up as of May 1 is on the governor, not on him," she said. "God is behind Trump."
The demonstration was unauthorized and not permitted by the California Highway Patrol, but CHP officers did not disperse protesters, although at one point officers worked to move people off the Capitol steps. Other protests took place elsewhere in California on Friday, along with protests by grocery clerks, warehouse employees and other frontline workers who say employers are not protecting them from the contagion.
By 12:15 p.m. at the Capitol, protesters were blaring horns and ringing cow bells. Nary a mask was in sight. While cars lined up around the block in protest of the stay-at-home orders, those on foot begin gathering with American flags, signs to reopen and babies strapped to their chests.
Susan West stood waving a flag out the open sunroof of a gold Lexus SUV stuck in gridlock in front of the Capitol. Amid the clanging and blaring, she shouted a message for Newsom.
"We are healthy and we need to open up," she yelled.
Overhead, a plane circled trailing a banner with Newsom's photo and a slogan that read "End his Tyranny."
Leigh Dundas, a Southern Californian lawyer involved in previous protests, stood in a tan speedboat parked on the street, railing against Orange County beach closures on a sound system, while protesters on the steps chanted "freedom."
"The cops are pushing back the protesters off the steps of our house," she yelled as highway patrol officers began moving protesters away from Capitol steps around 1:30.
"Freedom!" She yelled, and the crowd joined in the chant.
"What's going on at this point is unconstitutional ... and I'm not OK with it," she said later.
As of Friday, the COVID-19 pandemic had sickened more than 50,000 people and killed more than 2,050 in California. Nationwide, it has killed more than 65,000.
Among the political activists were some small-business owners new to activism and facing crushing financial losses.
Jim, who asked that his last name not be used, runs a bounce house company in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville. This time of year is usually busy for his 300 jumpers and 13 employees but the shutdown has wiped him out financially.
"All my schools, my graduation parties, field days, they're gone. Just like that," he said. "I don't know what to do."
Jim said it had taken him 10 years to build the company, starting in his garage. Within weeks of the virus hitting, people began to cancel.
"I've never given back so many refunds," he said. "I went insolvent." He laid off all his workers except for one. But that employee used to make more than $1,000 a week. Now "it's maybe $140. I mean, just scraps."
Jim said he had never been to a rally before last week's similar event at the Capitol and unlike many draped in patriotic colors, he wore a black polo shirt with his company logo. As he stood watching police and protesters face off, his jaw tightened with emotion.
"We shut down the country for a cold," he said. "I've got to stop talking."
