Militias provide security for some coronavirus protests as lockdowns prompt armed defiance

Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.

The ongoing protests in Michigan over Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's approach to fighting the coronavirus crisis has highlighted the role of militias amid a backlash against government mandates that have escalated in recent weeks.

Anti-lockdown rallies are continuing to sprout up in state capitals and have attracted a range of participants. The attendees singled out, however, are individuals seen carrying rifles and dressed in tactical gear with their faces partially covered.

Such was the case during last month's "American Patriot Rally" in Lansing, Mich., where members of the Michigan Liberty Militia stood guard over hundreds of angry residents gathered in front of the state Capitol. The rally was in opposition to Whitmer's lockdown measures that have temporarily shuttered businesses and limit outside activity.

When the demonstration moved from the statehouse steps into the Capitol, some protesters confronted police and demanded to be let on the House floor as lawmakers were debating whether to extend Whitmer's emergency powers.

Firearms have long been allowed in the statehouse.

The scene shocked lawmakers, some of whom wore bulletproof vests and complained of being aggressively yelled at. It also highlighted the partisan divide over how to best weather the pandemic.

Ryan Kelley, 38, a real estate broker who organized the rally and invited the militia to provide security, told Fox News that the event was intended to pressure Senate Republicans into rejecting a plan to extend Whitmer's emergency declaration, which they did when lawmakers adjourned without taking up the matter hours before it was set to expire. Whitmer, a first-term Democrat, was unfazed and extended the mandate a few hours later.

Kelley said he invited the militia to keep things orderly and help protect the First Amendment. Images of the gun-toting men inside the Capitol went viral and prompted questions about armed protests.

"Part of what we want to do is bring back a good light on the militia," Kelley said. "These guys are law-abiding citizens that are here to protect people. They want to uphold the Constitution. They're not there to hurt anyone. They're there to help."

He said another rally is planned for Monday in Grand Rapids. The militia, which is labeled as an anti-government group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, will attend that event as well, he said.

More demonstrators gathered in Lansing on Thursday in a rain-soaked rally that drew a few hundred, the third such gathering this month.

Some GOP lawmakers who believe Whitmer's orders are an overreach of her authority condemned some protesters who attended Kelley's accusing them of using violent rhetoric, which has become increasingly common among protesters.

"Several other so-called protestors used intimidation and the threat of physical harm to stir up fear and feed rancor," state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said in a statement. "At best, those so-called protestors are a bunch of jackasses."

Others accused law enforcement of racial bias for their hands-off approach to the armed demonstrators versus the treatment of minorities at peaceful gatherings.

A female African-American state lawmaker enlisted her own security comprised of armed black and Latino activists to escort her to the Capitol building in Lansing days after the rally, partly because of the armed individuals and racist imagery she saw, she told local media outlets.

Earlier this week, the Michigan Home Guard, a militia with several chapters across the state, stood outside a barbershop in Owosso over the weekend that opened in defiance of state emergency orders. The armed members stood guard in case the police arrived to enforce the lockdown order.

Messages to the Michigan Home Guard and the Michigan Liberty Militia from Fox News went unanswered.

Small business owners in several states have turned to militia-style security in displays of armed defiance against government restrictions. In one example, a tattoo shop owner in East Texas had five men armed with rifles, camouflage vests and walkie-talkies guarding her studio last week, the New York Times reported.

Last weekend, dozens of protesters converged in Sacramento to decry Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order. Among those present were unarmed members of the 2nd Regiment of the California State Militia, who held a silent vigil on a sidewalk.

Darrel Paue, a regiment commander in the militia, defended the militias but noted to the Fox News the difference between actual militias and groups that claim to be.

"There's only one state militia and all the other ones are just a bunch of hootenannies. They're the ones that gives us a bad name," he said.

Second Amendment groups have been involved in organizing some of the demonstrations across the country. Gun rights advocates have voiced concerns over the closing of gun shops, businesses and government offices as a threat to gun ownership, said Michael Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"The actions of the gun owners were lawful actions and part of a long tradition of peaceful protests," he told Fox News. "You have these infringements ... I think these people are concerned about all of those things but that fact they have guns basically makes it clear to everyone that it is the Second Amendment movement flexing its muscle and I think that's a good thing."

In Michigan, a judge heard arguments Friday on a lawsuit filed by GOP state lawmakers to declare the orders invalid. Whitmer announced efforts to slowly reopen the state earlier this month and has relaxed her orders in recent weeks.