At least 50 carloads of people are yelling “reopen the state” and honking their horns. Protestors are parading around the governor’s mansion in downtown Jackson calling on Republican Tate Reeves to re-open all businesses and lift the state’s current shelter-in-place orders.
Don Hartness from Ellisville says his restaurant and food business has lost thousands of dollars during the state lockdown. He says it’s time to open up Mississippi, completely.
“I don’t have anything against Tate Reeves or President Trump but let the people decide. Open it up 100% then let me make the decision on whether or not I want to go into that establishment. Give you the choice. If I’m sick or elderly and I don’t want to go anywhere that's fine they got a choice. Let a healthy person have a choice to get out and go where they need to go,” said Hartness.
Similar protests have been breaking out across the country. People are concerned about the impact of a lockdown economy and what they say is a violation of their civil liberties.
At a press conference on Friday, Reeves spoke about the planned protest.
“While I would rather them not be protesting what’s going on in Mississippi I fully support and appreciate their right to do so. Look, people are upset and frustrated because of the challenges that so many Mississippians are under that they’ve never been under before,” said Reeves.
Reeves says he anticipates over the next few weeks, Mississippi's economy will reopen slowly — perhaps one industry or geographic region at a time.
Ashley Norwood, MPB News.
