Three people were arrested today during a rally at the Hawaii State Capitol to protest local government restrictions aimed at stopping COVID-19.
Organizers of the rally, which began at noon and was promoted online at change.org, called the restrictions an “illegal lockdown.” In addition to the arrests, five people were issued citations for violating emergency rules, according to the Honolulu Police Department.
About 200 participants demonstrated on the mauka pedestrian entryway of the Capitol with signs containing messages that included “Open Hawaii Be Akamai” and “Tyranny is nonessential.”
Honolulu Police Department officers moved in after a half-hour to enforce an emergency order from Gov. David Ige that prohibits gathering in public places.
The rally thinned out a bit by 1 p.m. but continued along nearby sidewalks.
Click here for more photos of today’s rally.
This story has been updated with Honolulu police officers issuing five citations. An earlier version, based on preliminary information from HPD, said at least 20 people were cited.
DerTukThimy on May 2nd, 2020 at 07:48 UTC »
How about protesting that your government isn't providing you with a suitable safety net.. That would make sense.. Not this reopen shit
RobbexRobbex on May 2nd, 2020 at 06:57 UTC »
I've worked for the state of Hawaii for emergency management for COVID and Hurricane prep, and let me tell you: Hawaii has no concept of surviving a disaster, be it a disease or or natural event.
People freak out and buy everything until nothing is left, the government has no prepared data to predict resource needs, the leadership is all these really old, untrained army reserve colonels. We gathered in a tiny gym area and spent a week trying to build a power point that eventually successfully showed data that was outdated a week ago, and we absolutely never had any idea what government resources were at our disposal.
takeaway: once again hawaii is lucky that the virus left them largely untouched. But someday hawaii won't be so lucky and its going to be bad.
Edit: my posts aren’t ever nearly this popular. If you like HAWAII but see the sad truth in my comment, go vote. Vote for people who know how to manage your state, who have experience and the wisdom to think ahead. And give your time if you can. Go volunteer for some civic program if you can and gain some experience so you can help make things better. Hawaii doesn’t have to learn the hard way, but it will if nothing changes.
bustead on May 2nd, 2020 at 03:15 UTC »
As an Australian, I don't understand why Americans are so against a lock down. I mean Scott Morrison is a cunt but when he came up to urge people to stay at home, most followed his advice.