Miller, who is active in the Kitsap county Republican party, was involved in passing a resolution in January in support of representative Matt Shea, who was excluded from the state house’s GOP caucus after a report commissioned by house found that he had participated in domestic terrorism. In Washington state, meanwhile, which for now has brought one of the worst outbreaks in the country under a measure of control, a Republican state committeeman, Tyler Miller, has organized a protest at the state capitol on Saturday. Who is driving the US protests against coronavirus lockdown? – video explainer Nevertheless, the ad for the rally on Rodriguez’s website advises, “We feel that wearing face masks and gloves is counterproductive to the movement, and should be avoided.” Especially that great gift of agency, YES freedom!”Īda county, Idaho, where the capital, Boise, is located, has so far suffered 541 cases of Covid-19 and nine deaths, in a state which has a far worse outbreak than neighboring Oregon, which is 2.4 times more populous. On Sunday, he repeated his opposition to the Idaho orders, writing on Facebook: “We all have a duty to defend what is right and to make sure, that what God has given, man does not take away. Rodriguez launched the website at an Easter service held in defiance of the governor’s orders on Easter Sunday, which was also addressed by Ammon Bundy, the leader of the militia occupation of the Malheur national wildlife refuge in 2016 that become a rallying point for the anti-government right in the US.īundy has been holding similar gatherings for weeks in Emmett, Idaho, where he now lives. That website was set up by the Idaho businessman, pastor and one-time Republican state senate candidate, Diego Rodriguez. The event is also being promoted on a website dedicated to attacking Little for his response to Covid-19. IFF have added their slogan for the event, “Disobey Idaho”, to stickers which they plan to distribute among the crowd. Photograph: Ryan M Kelly/AFP via Getty Images Protesters rally against stay-at-home orders related to the coronavirus pandemic outside Capitol Square in Richmond, Virginia. The protest has been heavily promoted by the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF), which counts among its donors “dark money” funds linked to the Koch brothers such as Donors Capital Fund, and Castle Rock, a foundation seeded with part of the fortune of Adolph Coors, the rightwing beer magnate. In Idaho on Friday, protesters plan to gather at the capitol building in Boise to protest anti-virus restrictions put in place by the Republican governor, Brad Little. The pattern of rightwing not-for-profits promoting public protests while still more radical groups use lockdown resistance as a platform for extreme rightwing causes looks set to continue in events advertised in other states over coming days.

In fact the man is Phil Robinson, the prime mover in a group called the Michigan Liberty Militia, whose Facebook page features pictures of firearms, warnings of civil war, celebrations of Norse paganism and memes ultimately sourced from white nationalist groups like Patriot Front. Near the state house, local radio interviewed a man who identified himself as “Phil Odinson”. Placards identified the Michigan Proud Boys as participants in the vehicle convoy.

Michigan lockdown today