More than 1,000 gather in Pa. Capitol rally to ‘Reopen PA’

HARRISBURG – Businesses have shut down. Pennsylvanians are under stay-at-home orders until at least May 8. More than a million in the state are unemployed.

It’s all in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has already infected 33,232 and killed at least 1,204 in Pennsylvania.

But in defiance of stay-at-home orders, social distancing and masks, well more than 1,000 gathered at the state Capitol in Harrisburg Monday, and they had one loud message, carried through chants and car horns.

It’s time to reopen Pennsylvania, they said.

The Reopen PA rally started on social media, but it grew quickly, drawing in thousands of people. The rally was held to call on Gov. Tom Wolf to allow businesses to reopen and people to go back to work, but organizers say it was also an exercise in civil liberties, and that they have the right to gather, despite stay-at-home orders.

Many arrived several hours before the event started at noon, packing in closer and closer on the Capitol steps. As more and more descended upon downtown Harrisburg, the crowd growing, they waved flags and carried signs while more circled the block, blaring their horns in support of the message.

Even Stephen Laspina, who is one of the event organizers from Scranton, was stunned by the turnout.

“It shows that Pennsylvanians are ready to go back to work,” he said.

He added the crowed showed up to “apply pressure and let our voices be heard” in calling for the Wolf to allow the state’s businesses to reopen to avoid economic disaster.

Several Republican legislators spoke at the rally, too, calling for Wolf to either roll back his restrictions or sign the Senate bill that would reopen a significant number of businesses across the state – a bill Wolf pledged to veto.

Similar protests have occurred in other states.

In hearing about the potential for a rally last week, Pennsylvania officials advised against the gathering.

“If you come to Harrisburg and you’re not practicing social distancing, then you are putting all of yourselves at risk,” Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s health secretary, said Thursday. “So if a gathering like that happens and they’re not practicing social distancing then they will be more at risk for contracting the dangerous virus.”

While the Capitol complex is closed and public gatherings are not authorized, activists argue that is their point, too. Beyond the economy and going back to work, their rights are being violated, protesters said.

Laspina said he encouraged everyone who attended to follow the CDC guidelines and the recommendations of health officials to social distance and wear masks – but it should also be their choice.

“People have their individual liberties, and that comes with individual responsibilities,” he said.

One person was detained after ignoring repeated warnings to leave a secure area. The person was cited and released, an official said.

Visitors came from all around the state, like Mercedes and Pete Nebroski, a daughter and father from State College. They sat in lawn chairs in the bed of their truck, waving an American flag. They were pleased to see the gathering crowd.

“We recognize that COVID-19 has the potential to become a dangerous virus,” she said. “But we dislike the interference in the economy the government has been inflicting upon us and we worry that the cure may be worse that the disease in this case.”

She said she knows there is risk involved in gathering, but she said she is also for common sense protections. It is up to her if she wants to assume the risk, she said, and she is prepared to deal with that and take responsibility for her own health.

Mercedes and Pete Nebroski

Mercedes and Pete Nebroski, of State College, attended the Reopen PA rally in Harrisburg Monday.

Eric Orwig and Cody Rodgers didn’t come as far. They traveled from Red Lion, decked out in red, white and blue. Both are temporarily unemployed due to business closures, and they say it’s time to go back to work.

Rodgers works in construction, and he said this would be the prime time to be out there working, which he cannot do now due to the shutdown.

“We take a risk every day going outside. Let us do that at our own discretion,” Rodgers said. “They can’t shut down the economy. They’re taking away our livelihoods.”

“I want my civil freedoms back,” Orwig added. “You can advise us to wear a mask, but you can’t tell us what to do if it’s not breaking the law.”

Eric Orwig and Cody Rodgers

Eric Orwig and Cody Rodgers, of Red Lion, attended the Reopen PA rally in Harrisburg Monday.

There were at least several thousand protesters by the time the rally started at noon, carrying signs with slogans like “Let us work,” “Stop government tyranny” and “We are all essential.”

The speakers included a host of Republican legislators.

State Rep. Aaron Bernstine, of Lawrence County, took the stage first. He told the crowd they have given up a lot for the pandemic, but businesses need to reopen.

“Our new normal does not mean we’ll give up our freedoms for safety,” he said, getting a huge cheer from the growing crowd.

He called for Wolf to sign the Senate bill to open up businesses, and not just the ones he deems to be “essential.”

“Every one of you is essential,” state Rep. Russ Diamond, of Lebanon County, told the crowd.

Their right to assemble is “life-sustaining,” too, he added.

What is not life-sustaining, though, he said, is the governor arbitrarily picking “winners and losers” to remain open or close, putting 1.5 million Pennsylvanians out of work.

And he said returning to work can be done safely under the bill, approved by the Senate 29-21. It would would require Wolf to develop a plan adhering to federal guidelines and allow certain employers to reopen their businesses and get workers back to work within the next three weeks.

State Sen. Doug Matriano, who represents all of Adams County and parts of Cumberland, Franklin and York counties, told the crowd “We’re going to fight for our freedom and say ‘no’ to tyranny.”

He said Pennsylvanians are losing their freedoms in the name of safety with the stay-at-home order and business shutdowns, adding, “Gov. Wolf can keep his socialist ideas. We are free people in a free state.”

State Sen. Judy Ward, who is also a nurse, started her speech by saying she worries about so many people standing so close, shoulder to shoulder and maskless, eliciting loud boos from the crowd. As she tried to speak, telling them she is proud of the cause they’re supporting, their boos drowned her out, turning into chants of “USA, USA.” She seemed to win them back toward the end, though, saying “Please, Gov. Wolf, give us a plan to reopen businesses.”

The rally wrapped up at 1, but two hours later, cars were still filing out as thousands headed home, blaring their horns, waving flag and calling for the state to reopen.

“This is the beginning,” Laspina told the crowd as the rally came to an end.

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