Protests across the nation gain steam as Americans wonder when stay-at-home orders will lift

Rallies against shelter-in-place orders in states across the county grew over with weekend, with protestors now going to state capitals with Republican governors, including Ohio and Maryland.

On Sunday, protestors in vehicles, in so-called "Operation Gridlock" protests, in Denver, Colorado, were met by health care workers in scrubs reportedly trying to block their way.

Americans are eager to return to work after weeks at home to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, protestors in Michigan drove to Lansing and crowded the streets of the capital primarily from their cars, causing major traffic jams for miles. 

Not everyone maintained social distancing guidelines, though. Some protestors got out of their cars to demonstrate with signs, guns, and and flags on the steps of the state capital.

Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer has come under fire for her executive orders surrounding the state’s coronavirus shutdown. She recently extended the stay-at-home order through April 30, but has also taken steps that include preventing Michiganders from purchasing packets of seeds to garden with, and traveling between their residences.

Similar protests were seen in Minnesota, Kentucky, Utah and North Carolina. The states have a mixture of Republican and Democratic leadership.

Kentucky protestors held up signs saying “Every Business is Essential,” and chanted “You’re not a king, we won’t kiss your ring,” to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

Protestors across the country fear the toll that the continued shutdown will take on the economy, their livelihoods, the mental health of their neighbors, and the economic future of their children.

“The economic disaster that’s going to happen … is going to be worse than any Covid-19 problems that we’ve had,” said one protestor at an Ohio rally.

“I get it. But it’s not going to do businesses and employees any good if we get it wrong. If we get it wrong we’ll have a medical mess and a mess in the economy. The best thing we can do is get this right,” tweeted Ohio Gov. GOP Mike DeWine, in an acknowledgement of his state’s protestors.