Trump-backed rally urges Gov. Tim Walz to 'Liberate Minnesota'
Demonstrators opposing Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home orders rallied outside the governor’s residence on Friday amid a growing national backlash against business closures imposed by state governors to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The “Liberate Minnesota” rally, estimated by St. Paul police at about 800 protesters, was cheered by President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Minnesota who have grown increasingly critical of record job losses resulting from the DFL governor’s stay-at-home directives.
In a sign of the deepening partisan rift over the COVID-19 pandemic in Congress and in state houses across the country, Friday’s rally became a forum for discontent against “tyranny” and big government, echoing themes of the Tea Party movement of the Obama era.
Many waved American flags; also omnipresent were flags, signs and banners supporting Trump and his re-election. Most in the crowd, especially near the mansion’s gates, did not practice social distancing. A few protesters wore masks; most did not. At one point, a man walked down the Summit Avenue bike path with his middle fingers hoisted in the air. Another man followed close behind shouting, “Spit on me, boy! Spit on me!”
https://www.startribune.com/rally-urges-gov-tim-walz-to-liberate-minnesota/569736462/