Hundreds Rally Outside State House Against Massachusetts’s Coronavirus Shutdown
By Tom Joyce | May 4, 2020, 19:23 EDT
Jobs, small businesses, and church were among the priorities of several hundred people who rallied against Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s continuing coronavirus shutdown outside the Massachusetts State House in Boston on Monday, May 4, 2020. Photo by Tom Joyce for New Boston Post. Several hundred people frustrated with Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s continuing restrictions on work and worship rallied outside the Massachusetts State House in Boston on Monday afternoon.
The event, called Liberty Rally, was organized by conservatives, but also drew some with bread-and-butter complaints against the emergency orders.
WRKO radio talk show host Jeffrey Kuhner was the main speaker.
He was joined by Massachusetts Constitution Party chairman David Kopacz; and John Hugo, who was the 2018 Republican nominee in the Fifth Congressional District race.
Kuhner told the crowd that the shutdown has gone on long enough and that Baker’s decisions are killing small businesses.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat this, America is committing national suicide,” Kuhner said. “I see churches closed, I see an economic collapse, thousands of businesses bankrupt and shuttered — all of this for a lousy virus? For a contagious flu at the absolute worst? This Is not a pandemic.”
Kuhner also told the crowd that when he was young, he had breathing problems and is a Type 2 diabetic. He said he had family members who urged him not to attend the rally because his preexisting health conditions would make it harder for him to fight off the virus.
Hugo is also the president of Super Happy Fun America, the organization that put on the event. It’s the same group that organized the Straight Pride Parade last summer.
At the Liberty Rally, he criticized the state’s decision to release some criminals from prison early while criminalizing everyday activities.
“While they’re letting thousands of criminals out, honest hard-working Americans could be arrested for going to church or going to weddings or walking down the street,” Hugo said. “What is going on in our country?”
“They’re trying to shut down people like us and we won’t have it,” he added.
Many in attendance at the Liberty Rally said they have been affected by the coronavirus emergency. When Kuhner asked for a show of hands for how many people had lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, hundreds went up.
One woman named Carol, who lives in Boston, told New Boston Post she lost her job as a waitress — a major reason why she showed up to the event.
“It’s very difficult to try to make a living right now,” she said. “We’re out here defending our Constitution. This government shutdown has been devastating for many people. We’re here to protest it and say it’s not O.K..”
Another woman dressed in a Handmaid’s Tale outfit said she knows people who have recently started up small businesses that are now on the verge of shutting down indefinitely, while big-box stores continue to stay open.
James Cullity also said he has multiple friends who have lost work as a result of the shutdown. The 23-year-old from Whitman went straight to the rally from his job as a security guard in the city.
At a time when states like Georgia and Tennessee are in the process of reopening their economies, Cullity said, Baker made a mistake when last week he extended the state’s coronavirus shutdown from Monday, May 4 to at least Monday, May 18.
“He’s being too cautious,” Cullity said of Baker. “It’s not as bad as he’s trying to make it seem. We need places opened back up so we can get our economy back. People are losing their jobs and businesses over this and going broke.”
As the rally concluded, Kuhner also announced that there will be another event outside Governor Baker’s home in Swampscott on Monday, May 11 at the same time (2 p.m.) — and then proceeded to read out the governor’s home address.
Protesters at the Liberty Rally outside the Massachusetts State House in Boston on Monday, May 4, 2020 said they are being hurt by the continued coronavirus shutdown in Massachusetts. Photos by Tom Joyce for New Boston Post.
