Hundreds urge governor to let them go back to work, school and church
Cameron Sheppard/WNPA News Service Hundreds gather with flags and signs on the capitol campus.
Cameron Sheppard/WNPA News Service Tim Eyman, one of Inslee’s gubernatorial opponents, excitedly gathers the crowd’s attention.
Cameron Sheppard/WNPA News Service Jim Collins pleads for reconciliation after claiming the governor’s “stay home, stay safe,” order killed his business.
Cameron Sheppard/WNPA News Service Protestors to Inslee’s “stay home, stay healthy,” order hold signs in front of the legislative building.
Cameron Sheppard/WNPA News Service Protestors to Inslee’s “stay home, stay healthy,” order hold signs in front of the legislative building.
OLYMPIA — Hundreds of protesters assembled at the capitol in Olympia on Saturday to protest Gov. Jay Inslee’s “stay home, stay healthy” order.
Frustrated residents gathered from all over the state, bearing flags and signs to show disapproval of Inslee’s social distancing mandates, which have closed schools, prevented church meetings and caused skyrocketing unemployment.
Protesters Tom and Ericka Dietrich, of Gig Harbor, said they are still able to work despite the “stay home, stay healthy” order, but they said they came to the capitol to stand up for those who are not able to work.
Tom Dietrich is a roofer and is working on a project on a building owned by Microsoft. He said it does not make sense to him that that kind of construction work is deemed “essential” when construction and modification work on private homes is not being permitted.
Jim Collins has owned an inn in Ocean Shores for over 13 years. He said the governor’s order has put him out of business and forced him to lay off his own family who had been working there.
“This is the new death count right here,” Collins said as he stood next to the capitol with a large photo of his family’s inn.
Furthermore, the mayor of Ocean Shores asked people not to visit the small beach tourism community this summer on account of the COVID-19 virus. If tourists are ordered to stay away, it would deprive the inn of its prime summer-time business.
Tim Eyman, tax activist and gubernatorial candidate, helped organize the protest. Eyman said Inslee’s order was an overreach and said he favored the approach the governor of South Dakota took, which allowed individuals to make their own choices about how to be safe.
Eyman said we do not have to choose between safety and a strong economy and that people should be allowed to go back to work.
When asked whether it was safe to organize such a large gathering of people amid a pandemic outbreak, Eyman said people frustrated with the stay-home order need a peaceful way to protest.
“You can’t livestream this kind of activism,” Eyman explained.
Similar demonstrations have occurred in other parts of the country recently.
