SC Minnesota News

Following Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order, more than a thousand Minnesotans took to the street in front of the Governor’s Mansion in St. Paul for the Liberate Minnesota two-day protest.

Executive Order 20-20, implemented March 27 and extended to May 3 at 11:59 p.m., directs Minnesotans to limit movement outside their homes to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Organized by activist and MAGASOTA, a large pro-Trump grassroots movement in the state, founder Michele Even, the protest on April 17 was a First Amendment demonstration against the order — calling on the legislature to terminate Walz’s emergency powers by passing a joint resolution in both chambers.

Though the order does not restrict virtual work or work from home, it encourages staying home as much as possible. Critical sector workers are exempt from the order.

Workers, business owners and consumers gathered on the sidewalk for the protest, including those in their cars honking their way through the crowd.

Even stood with a Liberate Minnesota sign in hand among peers holdings signs and American flags, speaking on how individuals should have the right to choose in a time of job loss, limited cash flow for businesses and a lack of government aid. She held that Walz is abusing his power by issuing the order.

The protest was widely followed with media coverage on foot among the crowd and in choppers overhead, many broadcasting from Facebook Live, as well as with President Donald Trump tweeting in support “Liberate Minnesota” on April 17, hours before the protest began.