As California enters its seventh week under a statewide stay-at-home order, a group of protesters converged in downtown Palm Springs on Sunday to protest mandatory business closures.

As cars honked and demonstrators wearing Trump 2020 and American flag paraphernalia cheered, protest organizer Rod Garcia demanded local and state officials lift restrictions put in place to contain COVID-19.

"Really, people are shopping in masks at these big stores and they’re still shopping. I can’t see why they have a problem with opening up a small shop. People can wear their masks. People can still distance. You can still wear gloves if you want to wear gloves," Garcia told fellow demonstrators huddled in a group in front of him. "You know, all of that. I just don’t understand this."

Garcia said the government's decision to allow certain businesses it deems essential — including big-box stores like Costco and Walmart — to remain open, while small businesses are forced to shutter is discriminatory. If it's safe to shop in a grocery store, he asked, then why not any store?

"Now's the time to open small businesses! Governor (Gavin) Newsom is blocking opening up small shops. I call it a lockdown," he said, as supporters booed at the mention of California's governor and yelled "Brainwashed!"

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Country music and 20th century rock blared on speakers, with the sound blanketing the sea of protesters wearing American flag cowboy hats, bandanas and Trump 2020 gear. Protesters carried signs that read "SM BIZ MATTERS," "No Mandatory Vaccines," "Stop the fear" and "My constitutional rights are essential."

Palm Springs has 91 cases and nine deaths from COVID-19, while Riverside County has a total of 3,563 cases and 118 deaths — more than any other California county besides Los Angeles.

As the county's doubling rate has slowed to about every 18.9 days, local officials have begun to take steps to lift restrictions implemented to contain the spread of the virus. Last week, the county lifted closures on golf courses and allowed community pools to reopen to be used by only one swimmer at a time.

The closures have taken a harsh toll on the Coachella Valley, where the economy relies heavily on hospitality and tourism, and protesters said the government was moving too slowly to reopen.

From underneath a surgical mask he said he was wearing due to politeness rather than necessity, Palm Desert's John Galbraith said he wanted the state to reopen the economy immediately. Although the majority of epidemiologists say some sort of shutdown is necessary to contain COVID-19, Galbraith said he believed the scientists who don't believe in reopening pose a threat to society.

"It should be our decision, not the government's, to stay at home or do whatever unless we're proven beyond doubt that we're carrying a deadly disease," Galbraith said. "But, until then, we get to live our lives."

Desert Hot Springs' Steve Gibboney came to the protests wearing no mask and a tee shirt with the "Don't Tread on Me" Gadsden flag he bought on Infowars, the far-right conspiracy-driven website run by Alex Jones. Although he doesn't agree with all of the points Jones or Infowars makes, he said they often report facts that traditional media doesn't.

"They bring out data that the mainstream news won't bring out," Gibboney said.

"The data shows that this is really ending up to be no worse than a really bad flu season," he continued. "They scared a lot of people in the very beginning with a lot of numbers, and it gave them the pretext to be able to go aggressive with it. They need to back off now."

Across the street on Palm Canyon Drive, a smaller contingent of nurses and counter-protesters gathered to oppose the "Reopen" contingent's message. The nurses, who declined to be interviewed out of fear of losing their jobs, carried signs that said "Humanize Me," and "Rest at Home is better than Rest in Peace."

Sam Metz covers politics. Reach him at samuel.metz@desertsun.com or on Twitter @metzsam.