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.

