Published: 5/2/2020 5:32:43 PM
NORTHAMPTON — About 40 demonstrators turned out early Saturday afternoon at the foot of the Coolidge Bridge on the Northampton side of the river to take part in a rally in support of loosening COVID-19 restrictions and reopening the economy. The event, held in coordination with a pro-Trump group called Women for America First, was one of a series of rallies around the country billed as a MAGA May Day “rally for freedom.”
A main organizer of the Northampton rally, Christopher Ryan, said Saturday it was a “Trump standout and China virus liberation day victory celebration.”
Wearing pro-Trump gear and waving Trump flags and “Don’t Tread on Me” banners beginning at noon, the protesters drew a group of more than a half-dozen counterprotesters, some dressed in medical gear, who questioned the safety of quickly lifting stay-at-home restrictions and business closures.
The MAGA May Day web page urges protesters to “take a stand for liberty” “to engage in activities we, as free people, desire,” a repudiation of the lockdown measures that have dramatically slowed the spread of the novel coronavirus while bringing much of the country’s economy to a standstill and throwing almost 30 million Americans out of work.
Rally organizers do not dispute that COVID-19 is real and that “we must protect the most vulnerable,” but also say “America cannot destroy the lives and dreams of the majority to protect a few.”
An emergency order by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker prohibits groups of 10 or more from gathering, but his order does not apply to outdoor public gatherings, so long as social distancing is maintained. However, even though organizers had urged protesters to maintain social distancing and not “give the liberals things to talk about,” as one woman put it in a video on the MAGA May Day page, some of those protesting Saturday in Northampton appeared to not be observing health guidelines.
In addition to the counterprotesters on the ground, the event drew dozens more protesters in vehicles who drove past several times denouncing President Trump’s policies or advocating for more personal protective equipment for front-line health workers.
Another contact for the event was given as “Correctional Officers for Trump 2020,” which prompted a letter Friday from defense lawyers to the sheriffs of Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin and Berkshire counties expressing alarm.
“Since the purpose of this rally is explicitly to support relaxation of social restrictions,” the letter reads, “we believe it is your responsibility to ensure that none of your correctional staff will be attending this rally, and then reporting for duty at your jail.” Noting that the lawyers who signed the letter, written by David P. Hoose of the firm Sasson Turnbull Ryan & Hoose, had worked to reduce jail populations and keep staff and inmates safe during the pandemic, it said that jail guards attending rallies, and then reporting for work, would be “endangering both our clients and jail staff.”