'Freedom or death’: Protesters rally in Raleigh demanding to reopen the state

RALEIGH — Protesters who want North Carolina to reopen weeks after Gov. Roy Cooper issued a stay-at-home order held another rally Tuesday morning in front of the General Assembly.

After expressing concerns about being arrested for rallying, Reopen NC got a letter from Cooper’s legal counsel alerting them the protests are not banned, but demonstrators must follow the rules on social distancing.

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Hundreds of frustrated protesters walked through the streets of Raleigh with signs calling on Cooper to roll back his coronavirus safety measures. They were escorted by Raleigh police motorcycles.

At one point, protesters broke into chants of “USA,” “Freedom or death,” as well as “Roy Cooper has got to go.”

The rally began minutes after North Carolina announced that 34 more people had died from COVID-19 --the largest single-day increase to date.

This is the group’s second rally in hopes of reopening the state.

Protesters were in the state’s capital last week demanding that Cooper not extend the stay-at-home order that runs through the rest of April.

The group argued the economic cost to the state outweighs the public health threat of the coronavirus and they are asking the governor not to extend the stay-at-home order that runs through the end of the month.

Another group in support of reopening North Carolina held a rally Tuesday in Cornelius.

They want the state to open under Phase 1 of Trump’s reopening plan -- which would mean opening businesses but still promoting working from home and social distancing.

“I wanted to get out and speak my mind and say we need to follow the White House plan, step-by-step and in a slow incremental way get back to business. May one we’ll be ready,” Reopen NC supporter Diane Gilroy said.

Gilroy was laid off from her job in cybersecurity.

“I would hate to see for the economy to collapse completely. We will have more problems, dire consequences,“ she said.

At the other side of the argument, stay-at-home group Stay at home NC, is asking people to abide by Coopers order. The group is prompting supporters to call local senators asking them to uphold Cooper’s stay-at-home order and keep it in place for as long as it’s needed.

Michael Morgan who leads the group supports Cooper’s direction and as a cancer patient battling luekemia, he’s at risk.

“We are in favor of opening, we just want to do it safely. That’s the thing,“ he said. "We’re not close yet. We are getting there, but we’re not close.”

It’s up to Cooper to put Trump’s three-phase plan into action when his order expires next week.

Governors of nearby states have already have announced plans to reopen some businesses.

At his news conference Tuesday, Cooper explained that the state’s coronavirus taskforce is working on plans to ease restrictions, and get back to work, but he also stressed efforts to protect public health.

“I think the people of North Carolina want us to rely on science and data and facts and consultation with our business community who are out there wanting to protect their employees,” Cooper said.

He told reporters last week the state needs more help from the federal government to reopen and that includes more supplies to test more people.

Gov. McMaster easing restrictions on some SC retailers, beach access Gov. McMaster easing restrictions on some SC retailers, beach access

“Easing restrictions here in our state without enough masks, gowns and gloves is like setting off on a three day camping trip with enough food for just one night,” Cooper said.

Cooper also said the state needs to make more progress on testing, contact tracing and trends. He said it is important for the state to increase testing and trace people who may have come in contact with someone who’s infected.

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He added decisions will be made on trends like the amount of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

State and federal health experts have all said that social distancing efforts -- including business restrictions--have helped slow infections and deaths related to COVID-19.

Regardless, protesters said they are unhappy with the governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and they believe it’s time to reopen North Carolina.

Cooper has not yet said if he will extend the stay-at-home order, but did say that more help is coming for small businesses through the state’s Rapid Recovery program.

Return to this story for updates.

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