Steve Patterson

spatterson@jacksonville.com

Scores of people waved flags and carried signs through downtown Jacksonville Tuesday demanding an end to restrictions that have shuttered businesses and raised unemployment to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Put Healthy People Back to Work,” read a sign carried by one of at least 20 children among roughly 70 people who stood outside the Duval County Courthouse or rode in vehicles that circled the gathering, honking horns.

People in the crowd, which eventually marched to City Hall, reflect one wing of a conversation that local and state officials have been hearing for more than a week as they debate the correct time to lift orders issued last month closing non-essential businesses and limiting building occupancy and crowd sizes.

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Those orders were a mistake from the start, said Jeff Blackburn, 59, arguing the pandemic’s local effects haven’t justified the disruption that has occurred in a city of close to a million people.

“We’ve had 14 deaths [from coronavirus] in Duval County,” Blackburn said. (The actual cumulative number by Tuesday was 17). “We have that every day.”

While critical of both local and national responses to the virus that has killed about 44,000 Americans, demonstrators – who didn’t wear masks and often stood less than 6 feet apart – were overwhelmingly supportive of President Donald Trump. Vehicles in a makeshift motorcade flew Trump flags and people wore Trump/Pence shirts or hats.

Trump has gotten bad advice, said Lisa Farrell, 57, who carried a sign saying infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci should be fired from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Ferrell’s sign also denounced billionaire Bill Gates, who a number of people at the gathering suspected of using the coronavirus to introduce a new level of vaccinations that would infringe on personal privacy. Large amounts of Gates’ fortune have been directed to health initiatives, including vaccinations.

Susan Callahan, 59, said she’s a nurse who has tracked information on Gates’s support of vaccinations for eight years. She said she suspects vaccinations against the coronavirus might be used as an opportunity to implant devices that could access people’s medical history or other information without their consent.

She said people ultimately need “herd immunization,” when the virus has circulated through the population enough to stop finding vulnerable hosts.

Demonstrators’ signs mixed political thinking and suspicion.

“Quarantine is when you restrict the movement of sick people. Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people,” read one side of a sign Blackburn held. On the other: “Bill Gates, the same person that believes the earth is overpopulated, wants to ‘save’ your life with a vaccine.”

People at the gathering said they had learned of it through online discussion groups, but weren’t aware of an organizer who planned the event. The Libertarian Party of Duval County placed a link on its website leading to an event page for the gathering, but wasn’t involved in planning it, said county party chair D.L. Cummings.

He said the party supported the demonstration without agreeing with very viewpoint there, saying it represented a peaceful gathering to air grievances.

Bystanders had mixed thoughts on the event.

Curtis Renew, 61, a homeless veteran, said he’d like to have some federal offices at least partially open. Renew said he stopped receiving payments from the Social Security Administration after being incarcerated, but since being released he hasn’t been able to present paperwork to restore his benefits because that has to be done in person at an office that’s closed due to the pandemic.

Frank Buffolino, also 61, stood out wearing a mask and gloves as he walked through the gathering after dropping off papers at the courthouse.

He said he empathized with a desire to return to old routines, but didn’t think that was practical right now. It’s about setting priorities, he said, and protecting people’s health is more important than the problems people are complaining about because of government restrictions.

Steve Patterson: (904) 359-4263

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