An armed protest by armed men who say they are opposed to coronavirus restrictions took place at the Michigan State House today.

Senator Dayna Polehanki [@SenPolehanki, a Michigan State Senator serving Michigan's 7th District] tweeted with the photograph at the top of this blog post:

Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today. #mileg

More below.

Protest moves inside Michigan Capitol. Crowd attempts to get onto Hoise floor. Lots of Michigan State Police and House sergeants at arms blocking door. pic.twitter.com/4FNQpimP4W

 Rod Meloni (@RodMeloni) April 30, 2020

Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today. #mileg pic.twitter.com/voOZpPYWOs

 Senator Dayna Polehanki (@SenPolehanki) April 30, 2020

Multiple armed gunmen storm Michigan’s State House, State police are protecting @GovWhitmer and blocking the gunmen from gaining access to the house floor.

This is America in the age of Trump. pic.twitter.com/tLWR2bvjtR

 Rob Gill (@vote4robgill) April 30, 2020

Michigan has the 9th most confirmed coronavirus cases per capita in the country (405 per 100k) and the 6th most deaths per capita (37 per 100k), per @COVID19Tracking data. https://t.co/JSDEqvYu14

 Jason Stern (@IbnLarry) April 30, 2020

This is Michigan. Home to the Blackest city in the US and the most visible Muslim population in the country.

I can’t help but imagine how different this scenario would be if these armed men were Black or Muslim.

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/04/30/armed-gunmen-storm-michigan.html