Protesters across the country have petitioned local governments to re-open states and towns for business. On Friday, members of the “Wisconsinites Against Excessive Quarantine” group, which is sponsored by the Wisconsin Firearms Coalition, demonstrated at the State Capitol in Madison. The New York Times reported that Wisconsin’s demonstrations were among the biggest in America, with several thousand people in attendance.
Organizers say that Wisconsin has succeeded in preventing the spread of the coronavirus, and that safer-at-home measures should be lifted. As the demonstrations unfolded, Wisconsin saw two consecutive days of record-high infection. Between Friday and Saturday, an additional 635 Wisconsinites were confirmed positive for COVID-19, and nine died.
Many of the protesters carried signs in support of President Trump, and some compared Evers’ orders to socialism. Trump expressed support of some protests, but also lambasted Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for ending lockdown measures in his state.
Wisconsin’s safer-at-home policies follow the Trump administration's guidelines for how states and local governments can prevent the spread of COVID-19. Despite the apparent contradiction, social isolation measures have become an ideological litmus test for many Americans.
“A lot of these issues don’t have to be partisan issues and aren’t partisan issues.” said Violet Kilmurray, a co-founder of Women’s March Wisconsin. “COVID-19 is a global issue and it affects everybody of all political ideologies.”
Wisconsin has a longstanding tradition of civil disobedience and protest, from the Act 10 demonstrations in 2011, to the Milwaukee 14’s peace protests in the 1960s, to the people who made Wisconsin the first state to pass women’s suffrage.
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“Traditionally, you see civil disobedience is where there’s a necessity to fight for the welfare of the community,” said Lee Stedman, cofounder of the Gaia Coalition Network. “It’s one thing when you’re trying to fight for food and water, and it’s another thing to say ‘I want a haircut.’ ”
Many of the protesters in Madison also appeared on the Capitol steps heavily armed. Organizers claimed their movement is non-violent, but their Facebook group urged people to demonstrate, “so that things don’t become violent.” On Friday, one group brought a mock guillotine to Madison. Advocates for civil disobedience have felt the tension between violence and non-violence for generations.
“Historically, what now would be interpreted as violent, to call them violent would invalidate a lot of the positives that have come out of it,” said Stedman. “To say one group is okay using direct action versus another group puts free speech into question.”
