-Back up.
-Pouring rain and high tension in Lansing, Michigan,
as around 300 protestors, some of them armed,
converged on the state capital building.
-We didn't particularly bring the militia to it.
I did get to speak to some of those guys,
and that is not their mission at all to scare people.
It's to protect people on both sides.
-The demonstration centered around Governor
Gretchen Whitmer's shut-down orders,
but two protestors fought over a noose display,
and police confiscated an ax from another man.
-What do you think should happen with the stay-at-home orders
and what the governor should do?
-I think she should quit playing politics
and do the job that she was elected to do.
If this is the motive, to be criminal, she's fired.
Fire her, Trump! Fire her, whoever!
Fire her, whoever's organization!
Whoever's in charge of her, fire her ass!
Whoever's paying her, whoever the lobbyists are,
get rid of her!
These protests have been going on for weeks,
organized by a group called "Michigan United for Liberty."
-Lock her up! Lock her up!
-In April, demonstrators entered the capital,
chanting, "Our house,"
and "Let us in" at the doors of the house chamber
as Michigan state police held the line.
On this day, protestors were kept outside.
Betsy Miller was there with her small children.
-So, you disagree with the stay-at-home orders right now?
-Absolutely. -Tell me about that.
Why?
-It's a hard question.
I can't put it into words.
I can definitely tell you
that I feel it's deeper than what they really feel it is.
I feel like it's deeper than just a virus, for sure.
-Governor Whitmer has acknowledged
the concerns of protestors
while defending her stay-at-home order.
-I get it, you know?
People are feeling isolated, they're lonely,
they're worried about their business reopening,
they're worried about getting a job again.
It's not about taking your right to assemble away.
It's about making sure that my father's right to live
is protected, and that's the trade-off here.
-Because we are fighting for freedom.
We are not inciting violence.
-Whitmer issued her first stay-at-home order
on March 23rd.
It has since been extended until May 28th.
-This goes pretty deep, and we're looking at a $12.
5 million deficit.
-And that's just in the last two months.
Lansing mayor Andy Schor says his city is struggling
and will need federal financial help moving forward,
but he is concerned with the messaging
coming from some protestors on social media,
including threats to assassinate public officials.
It's frustrating to me.
These are very serious threats.
What can you do about open carry?
Very little.
Michigan is an open-carry state,
and people can carry their AR-15s and their AKs.
The question is brandishing.
You can't threaten, and you can't aim at someone or point,
so there's gonna be a question about what's threatening
and what's not, and that's a gray area.
-The state has over 48,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus
and over 4,700 deaths.
That's one of the top in the nation.
Now, the mayor of Lansing is concerned, clearly,
about the health of the residents,
but he's on high alert by some of the rhetoric being used
and worried about violence.
It's not a good situation,
but, you know, people have the 1st Amendment
right to go to the capital and to protest,
and that's reflected in the executive orders.
-We want to see, you know, businesses reopening,
obviously, safely.
We want those precautions in place,
but we need to get people back to work.
There's people who have not received
unemployment payments yet.
It's been, what, two months now?
-Polls show a majority of Americans
still support measures to contain
the spread of coronavirus despite the economic pain.
But those opposed are demanding their voices be heard.
-Stay at home! Starve us all out!
Food shortages! What food shortages?
! Bring us the cows!
We'll slaughter them and butcher them,
and we'll feed the population!