Lansing
Demonstrators
Protest Whitmer
With Hitler Signs

Organizers say the Nazi
signs weren’
t theirs; ADL
condemns comparison.

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

Jews in the D

T

housands of demonstrators drove
to Lansing on April 15 protest-
ing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’
s
extension of her “Stay Home, Stay Safe”
order in response to the coronavirus out-
break. Some protestors were seen waving
Confederate flags and holding signs com-
paring Whitmer to Adolf Hitler, complete
with swastikas.
Throughout the protest, signs ranged
from “let us work,” “recall Whitmer” and
“all workers are essential” to explicit Nazi
connotations, including “Heil Witmer”
[sic] with a swastika, and a blow-up doll
of Whitmer dressed with a Hitler mus-
tache and Nazi armband. American flags
were flying throughout the streets, and
some protesters carried rifles.
Many of the demonstrators were also
seen wearing hats and waving flags show-
ing support for President Donald Trump.
“
Anytime somebody equates any
current issue with an incident that was
state-sponsored genocide, I think that is
wrong,” said Carolyn Normandin, region-
al director of the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL)’
s Michigan office. “The governor is
trying to save the lives of Michiganders.”
On April 9, Whitmer announced the
extension of the executive order until
April 30, requiring all non-essential busi-
nesses to remain closed, imposing restric-
tions on stores and prohibiting travel for
unnecessary reasons.
The protest, “Operation Gridlock,” was

organized by the Michigan Conservative
Coalition, a nonprofit political organi-
zation that works with groups such as
Michigan Trump Republicans to help
organize and elect conservatives to the
statehouse in Lansing. The group said the
Hitler signs were not theirs.
“The people holding the signs compar-
ing Whitmer to Hitler were absolutely not
members of our organization,” Marian
Sheridan, co-founder of the Michigan
Conservative Coalition, told the Jewish
News. “There are people who piggyback
on other organization’
s events, and I
believe that is what happened.”
Many of the protestors remained in
their cars, draping signs on the outside of
their vehicles or holding them up through
windows. However, according to multiple
reports, there were approximately 100-
150 people protesting on the Capitol lawn
— most of whom were not wearing masks
or following social distancing guidelines.
“People across Michigan started fearing
more for their rights than COVID-19,”
Sheridan said. “So much of the last exec-
utive order just didn’
t make sense to a
lot of people. This is a free country and
people can say what they want due to our
freedom of speech.”
Normandin said the signs were indica-
tive of a larger trend of Nazi comparisons.
“It is certainly the right for someone
to voice their disagreement, but it is
never OK to use Hitler, Nazi propagan-

da, swastikas or anything that belittles
the Holocaust,” Normandin said. “These
kinds of references have seeped into
popular culture, and the use of the word
‘
Nazi’
every time someone doesn’
t agree
with something is at the root of the mis-
understanding of what the Nazis stood
for.”
The Jewish Community Relations
Council/AJC told the Detroit Free Press
that “the use of symbols of hate are never
appropriate as part of political discourse”
and they “condemn these actions.”
The organization also asked the
Michigan Conservative Coalition “to
immediately condemn the use of all hate
speech and specifically, the imagery used
at (the) rally.”
Whitmer expressed her disappointment
with some of the protestors for putting
themselves and others in harm’
s way by
not following social distancing guidelines.
“The governor supports Michiganders’

right to free speech and the right to
protest, but those participating should
not put themselves or first responders at
risk,” Tiffany Brown, press secretary for
Whitmer, said in a statement to JN. “It’
s
disappointing to see people congregating
without masks and without practicing
social distancing. People were flying
Confederate flags and passed out candy to
kids without gloves. This kind of activity
will put more people at risk, and it could
mean that more people will die.”

AP PHOTO/PAUL SANCYA

16 | APRIL 23 • 2020

Dawn Perreca protests on the front steps of the Michigan State Capitol building in Lansing, Mich.,
Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Flag-waving, honking protesters drove past the Michigan Capitol to
show their displeasure with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’
s orders to keep people at home and busi-
nesses locked during the new coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.