So proud of my fellow Californian's for turning out on the doorsteps of the Capitol building to let our public officials know just where we everyday Americans stand on the shutdown. By midday, the Capitol grounds in Sacramento was covered with thousands of protestors. Everybody seemed unified in their message: It’s time to #reopencalifornia for business.

It was inspiring to see a sea of red, white and blue patriots exercising their constitutionally-guaranteed right to peacefully assemble and flouting the governor's directive to stay home. The icing on the cake was the plane circling the Capitol overhead with a banner that read “End the Tyranny,” complete with a headshot of our illustrious Governor Newsom sporting a Hitler stache.

I imagine the first thing that the #stayhome tards will notice is that nobody was observing the six-foot rule and very few people were wearing masks. Some will read this and think something like, “good, hope they all die.” If you found yourself wishing death on people who don’t share your opinions, you should probably stay home–while the rest of us reboot the economy without you.

Even the first shift of law enforcement personnel wasn’t wearing masks in large numbers, nor were they observing the six-foot rule, as one protestor rightly – and repeatedly – pointed out to them. As if suddenly aware of the optics, the next round of law enforcement was decked out in riot gear, and had medical masks on behind their faceplates, looking not altogether unlike a gaggle of stormtroopers posing as nurses.

Law Enforcement's order to disperse went totally ignored by the crowd and it would take about two hours for a line of CHP officers stretched across the Capitol grounds to slowly walk the crowd off the premises.

We will guard this planter box. Hold the line!

I just want to say that I have the utmost respect for our LEOs. I do not blame them for doing their job or collecting a paycheck during the shutdown. Their presence has its intended effect, to keep order and have a calming influence on the crowds. On more than one livestream you could hear protestors voicing their support of law enforcement, even though they were there at the Governor’s behest. Generally, law enforcement conducted themselves professionally and didn’t antagonize the protestors. One can imagine that some of them would be right there in the crowd if they weren’t on duty.

The Capitol protests were joined by protests in Huntington Beach, San Diego and Ventura County, amongst other places across the state of California. The protest at Huntington Beach matched or even exceeded the turnout at the State Capitol.

For the most part, protestors and law enforcement at all venues were peaceful and respectful. My family and I took bets on how the mainstream news would cover them. True to form, they underreported the turnout numbers, avoided images depicting the true scale of the protests, focused on a couple of arrests, and used the airtime to reinforce the official narrative that if you don’t #stayhome, you “could die.”

#lockdown2020 #reopencalifornia #letsgetbacktowork #Sacramento #protest