Protesters rally at Arizona Capitol to open the state back up amid COVID-19 pandemic
PHOENIX - Protesters surrounded the Arizona State Capitol Sunday morning but in a different kind of way.
They rallied from inside their cars calling for Governor Doug Ducey to reopen the state during the coronavirus pandemic.
They say they want to get back to work after being ordered to stay home.
From noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, you could hear the message loud and clear. As we continue to see a rise in COVID-19 cases, demonstrators told state leaders to get out of their way.
The horns didn't stop for hours as protesters proudly waved the American Flag in traffic. It was gridlock traffic they purposely created to make a statement, calling it “Operation Gridlock Arizona.”
“We’re here to liberate Arizona," said organizer Bill Way. "Governor Ducey, flip the switch.”
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Way says he spent all week organizing the rally using Facebook as a way to gather people from all over.
Similar events have been going on across the country.
The common goal is trying to get state leaders to take restraints off the economy.
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“This whole thing was a mistake from the beginning to shut down America. We didn’t know it was probably a good decision at the time, but now it’s clear it was a mistake now, it’s time to just flip the switch, just flip the switch," Way said.
Another man says he traveled to Phoenix from Colorado with this reasoning, “If you open up where I [want to] go to ... and take the risk of getting a virus or whatever, that should be my right and my choice to do that ...," he said.
Another man is concerned about the lack of dental care during the pandemic, saying, “I think there could be a staged opening but we need to make sure the health and welfare of Arizona citizens isn’t jeopardized first.”
Ducey’s stay-at-home order has been in effect for nearly three weeks, set to last until April 30th.
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As of Sunday, Arizona has nearly 5,000 cases and more than 180 deaths.
“It’s about your constitutional rights," a protester said. "The rights to assemble, the rights to travel, and right to many things, right to religion, if you’re atheist or not, so it’s not only constitutional rights, it’s your human rights.”
Ducey has not given any detail about a potential May 1st reopening, but protesters with "Operation Gridlock Arizona" hope he's listening.
“Were not children, we don’t need to be told how to stay safe, open up Arizona and governors across America, hear us, get out of our way,” a protester said.
On Monday at noon there is another rally expected in Phoenix called the "Patriots Rally," it's a group of different organizers with the same message, demanding Arizona be reopened.
It's unknown how they will practice social distancing and Department of Public Safety officers will likely be at Monday's protest as they were at Sunday's.