Anti-lockdown protesters outside the New York State Capitol in Albany. | Bill Mahoney/POLITICO
ALBANY — The anti-lockdown protests that have popped up across the country recently have come to the backyard of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the most prominent supporter of an active government response to the pandemic.
About 100 people gathered on the sidewalks and streets near the state Capitol on Wednesday afternoon to protest Cuomo's stay-at-home order, while at least another 100 drove by, honking their horns and waving flags.
Advertisement
Few of those on the sidewalks practiced social distancing. And many made a point of not wearing masks: “Absurd 'social distancing' and unhealthy masks, [restricting] wonderful oxygen, is a big part of the sham-demic,” read one comment on ReOpen New York State's Facebook page.
The demonstrators' signs bore a wide variety of messages. “Stop ruining my senior year,” read one. Others read: “Poverty is more dangerous than a virus,” “Open Upstate,” “Do we REALLY trust the FDA? … Are vaccines safe?” and “Pray the rosary."
As with protests elsewhere in the country, the attendees were decidedly supportive of President Donald Trump. There were a number of “Trump 2020” flags, as well as a couple of throwback “Hillary for prison 2016” signs.
“I declare upstate New York Trump Country. This isn’t New York City; we’re red up here,” said one protester. He was wearing a Trump hat and a shirt with no sleeves on a late April day with temperatures in the mid-30s and wind gusts occasionally topping 20 miles per hour. He brought a bullhorn he used to orate to a crowd of a few people: “We’re peaceful, but I tell you what, it’s not going to last that long.”
But the protesters not only were pro-Trump, they also were anti-Cuomo.
The messaging on signs included “Dictator Cuomo, give our lives back” and “Tell old Cuomo, let my people go.” One simply said “FUAC,” an acronym whose last two letters presumably stood for “Andrew Cuomo."
The rallying began as Cuomo was finishing his daily briefing inside the Capitol. There weren’t enough blaring horns to be audible through the building's thick slabs of limestone, so the governor carried on his briefing uninterrupted.
He remains unswayed by the arguments protesters have been making.
“They said the cure is worse than the illness. The illness is death. How can the cure be worse than the illness, which is death?” Cuomo said at his briefing.
“I get the economic hardship. Everybody gets it, everybody feels it,” he said. “The question is how do you respond to it and do you respond to it in a way that jeopardizes public health and possible causes more people to die? … Nothing comes before the public health risk of somebody else’s life, and that’s where we are.”
As for those demanding that they be allowed to return to their jobs regardless of possible consequences, Cuomo said they could still find employment if they’re getting antsy.
“Go take a job as an essential worker, do it tomorrow,” he said. “There are people hiring. You can get a job as an essential worker so now you can go to work and be an essential worker and you’re not going to kill anyone.”
"come" - Google News
April 23, 2020 at 02:28AM
https://ift.tt/2XWyUzx
Anti-lockdown protesters come to Cuomo country - Politico
"come" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2S8UtrZ
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Anti-lockdown protesters come to Cuomo country - Politico"
Post a Comment