Dozens protest Indiana ‘stay at home’ order outside governor’s mansion

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Dozens of people lined the streets this afternoon protesting Governor Holcomb’s stay at home order. That stay at home order is extended to May 1st.

These protesters said they didn’t want to wait any longer for life to return to normal. They shouted that it’s time for Indiana to open back up. That means going back to work, returning to places of worship, and a restoration of life before the virus.

Gov. Holcomb’s extension of the “stay at home” order had protesters feeling like their freedom had been taken away. The governor says it’s to keep the public safe, but the protesters say those are the words of a dictator, tyrant and self-appointed king.

“I’m concerned that our constitutional rights are being trampled,” Bryan Schrank said. “I think that is a bigger issue in my opinion than the virus. I think what’s happening is these governors are acting like kings and tyrants and they’re taking upon themselves authority that they necessarily don’t have.”

One man, referring to himself as Whitey, told me the public is scared- Scared by what they’ve seen in the media they subscribe to and scared of what could happen if the state doesn’t open back up.

COVID-19 is something many weren’t scared of, to an extent. Social distancing was thrown out the window, but many people still had masks on for protection. The gathering was far larger than what’s allowed by the governor’s orders, but police did not do anything about the crowd. If they did, some protesters said they were ready.

“Some of us are willing to be arrested for this,” Schrank said. “I don’t believe it’s going to happen. But if it does get to that point, we think that would be a smart deal to get arrested because then we’re going to file a lawsuit against the state for violating our constitutional rights. But I don’t think the police want to take that chance.”

Some called for the governor to address the crowd and explain himself, but in the end they say they just want t be able to live the way they want.

“We want the Americans to be able to go to work safely again,” Regina Gingrich said. “The healthy working Americans should be able to go back to work safely.”

“People are going to go hungry if we don’t go back to work,” Richard Gingrich said.

The “stay at home” order went into effect on March 24 and was set to last until April 7. That order was extended to April 20, and on Friday, Holcomb said he would be extending the order to May 1.

Timeline of coronavirus in Indiana