SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 19, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A crowd of about 500 people gathered at the City-County Building in downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon, demanding Gov. Gary Herbert reopen Utah businesses and schools closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The demonstration, organized by former Salt Lake City police officer Eric Moutsos, was part protest, part picnic, part campaign honk-and-wave, as Utahns, clearly glad to be out in the open air after weeks in isolation, stretched out on blankets and lawn chairs and dined on carry-out orders bought at local restaurants, part of an effort to support small businesses that are among those hardest hit.
While organizers officially dubbed the gathering the Utah Business Revival Safe Social Distancing Rally, the event failed to live up to its name.
While some participants wore masks and engaged in social distancing, the vast majority did not, including many who chose to flaunt the health guidelines, shaking hands and giving hugs to everyone they met.
Children ran with flags, dogs barked, horns honked. Pickup trucks with loud mufflers and oversized tires circled the block, their Gadsden ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flags fluttering in the wind.
“I thought maybe this was all a bunch of bull until I heard Trump start laying out the facts about what really happened,” said one attendee. “We need to get back to business.”
Others were more direct.
“Fight medical tyranny,” read one sign in the crowd.
“Censor our voices, get a cap in your ass,” said another.
President Trump has voiced support for similar demonstrations held in a handful of cities across the country this last week, and even appeared to take a shot a social distancing, a protocol endorsed by health experts worldwide.
While talking with reporters Saturday, Trump mentioned Mike Pence was speaking at an Air Force Academy graduation, where “they’re being very politically correct — everyone standing not 6 feet, but 10 feet apart, okay?” he said.
Organizers said they were surprised by the turnout at Saturday’s event. A second rally is being planned for Vineyard, Utah, on May 2.
You posted in this article a photo of a women with a American flag draped over her with a sign that read “censor our voices and get a cap in your ass,”is a direct threat of violence, to stand there and proclaim to world that if your disagree with her she will murder you . Should be illegal or close to it. How does one file a complaint against this
A woman is cheerfully holding a sign that says, “Censor our voices, get a cap in your ass”. Is she saying she intends to shoot someone that disagrees with her? Is that free speech or hate speech? Is that a threat of violence?
Are these people going to get punished for what they did. Are they going to just get away with it. I I guess they don’t understand the situation of people dying from Corona virus. What if one person in the crowd is a caring of the deadly virus and than what. Will the more power to those people. I guess some people just don’t get it and understand how fast the virus can spread. I
Look at what happened to the spring breakers in Florida and how many caught coronavirus from doing the same thing that this rally people were doing.
This is about as thoughtless as it gets. Go home you numbskulls.
Why are people so stupid. You have a brain. Think for yourself. If we open too soon then the virus will spike again. Stop listening to trump. He is nothing more than a casino thug who only thinks for himself.
What’s the price of your family? I hope you never have to lose anyone in your family because of your ignorance.