Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Massachusetts State House on Monday afternoon to protest Governor Charlie Baker’s extension of the state’s shutdown to non-essential businesses until May 18th. The leader of the rally was the same who organized Boston’s Straight Pride Parade back in September. Photos from the event can be found below.
Photos by Alyssa Nations.
News reports are this was organized by biker groups as well as the same group who organized the straight pride parade.
If they gat fined at $300 each, it should balance the State’s budget.
The police should have checked IDs before letting people gather. Anyone who was not a resident of Massachusetts should have been turned away. The crowd would probably have been 10% of the size we saw on TV.
Next week Baker and Walsh will be giving briefings about the new surge in the number of people infected and the number of deaths. These demonstrations prove the point that You just can’t fix stupid1
Nice try at painting all of the attendees as right wing extremists by pointing out who organized it. Maybe some of these people are on the verge of losing their businesses or have already lost their jobs. Many of them have families that they are responsible for.
But paint them as crazies to push your agenda…
Shameful.
I did see that the organizer’s of this event were the organizer’s of the straight parade. Over the weekend I watch the Protest in Michigan I think it was in the state capitol people draped in the American flag holding their AK- 15 rifles.The only thing missing was these red necks wearing their white sheets & hoods.To gather in a group at this time is stupidity & selfishness beyond belief.
Michael D Donald Curse at it again this time on a episode of protest economy reopening even though MA is the 3rd worst state. Protest when this pandemic is over. Greedy people. Health comes first before anything else. They should’ve known that Walsh and Baker are cautious. We’re not Georgia over here. I feel ya man.
Do we have in place a rule or directive, here in Boston, stating the punishment for gatherings of more than 10 people? What is law-enforcement allowed to do in this situation?
I read many were hired protesters and didn’t even know where in Boston the State House was.
I saw about 100 people yesterday morning on the streets in Boston. Some appeared lost and needing directions to the State House. About 80% were not wearing face masks. They were unremarkable.
When is enough enough? Mass unemployment, people losing their businesses, people losing their rights, and a depression. What next? Let business people open their business and give them a chance at survival
.Home Depot has a successful model. Customer service person stands at door and allows so many people in at a time. Carts inside are sanitized. wears mask. Have to wait in long line with customers distancing themselves. If Home Depot can do it. Give others a chance. I’m sure you have examples, share them
Also Mahoney’s Garden Center in Winchester, BRAVO
Mary, the other side of that coin is the deaths of two Walmart employees one in Quincy & one in Worcester leading to the state closing both stores. There were two deaths at Market Basket stores as well. “People losing their rights”? The emphasis should be on people losing their lives.
Per “Mass department of public health”, the avg age of death in Mass is over 80 years old, most with underlying conditions. While I recognize any loss of life is terrible, reality needs to set in at some point and recognition that 98% of the population will be just fine should start to dictate the policy response.
“While I recognize any loss of life is terrible”
No, you don’t recognize it…..
Where are you getting the 98% number? A guess? I suggest you talk to a RN at MGH who has worked nonstop for the last 6 weeks and then get back to us.
I agree that at some point, we need to get back to work…but the time is not now. Still seeing 100 new deaths per day in MA. I don’t care if they are 100 years old or 1 year old.
You mean a nurse such as my mother? I’ll guess I’ll check in with her….
Point was simply that most have a pretty good idea of who is at risk and who isn’t. We as individuals can choose for ourselves whether we’re willing to take the risk or not.
Anonymous, your comment both disturbs & angers me. Let’s assume for a moment that your 98% figure is correct ( which it isn’t) these 80 year olds are someone’s Mother ,Father,Grandmother/father spouse ,Sister/Brother aunt/uncle etc.What has happened to these people in Nursing homes ,assisted living facilities & Soldiers/Veterans homes in this state and throughout the country is disgraceful. They are not sacrificial lambs to be used as statistics. The families, loved ones and friend of these victims will not be “Just Fine”The response should be outrage. I guess that the “were all in this together” is now better them than me.
Actually the figure is closer to 99% of the coutriy’s population has not been recorded to be infected. The actual infection rate might be higher, because some people don’t appear to get sick. Massachusetts has done a horrible job, at just shutting down businesses and hoping the problem would go away. Well it hasn’t. On. the other hand people who work at businesses considered essential, were left unprotected. Workers at nursing homes were never checked for illness prior to coming into the workplace and most places still don’t check. Only now requiring face masks in public places. I was reading where in India they were temperature checking people arriving at work and requiring masks in the workplace early in the pandemic. These lazier temperature readers can be purchased for $50 on Amazon. Many places in the country have 0 active cases and shouldn’t be held up because Masschusetts. Can’t find the handle. The people running a family store shouldn’t be out because the State can’t fix the nursing home problem. Let’s face it, the one place where they should have circled the wagon, were the places no one cared about until the death count was out of control. Probably 90% of the people were from outside Boston. But they were in front of the STATE House. Charley Baker is supposed to represent the state, not just Boston. The rest of the State shouldn’t be punished because Boston lost control.
Absolutely , in early March I watched the report of what was happening in the nursing home in the state of Washington .They had several deaths and many residents & staff tested positive. If the virus was wiping out Nothern Italy and spread to Washington state it should have been a no brainer to be pro active &protect the most vulnerable people in our country. It’s common sense that in nursing homes & prisons the population of staff & visitors needed to be tested. The deaths I nursing homes is staggering with no end at site.