Tensions ran high briefly as two vehicles blocked the intersection of Second Street and Capitol Avenue and other protesters had to be removed from the walkway by Springfield police and Secretary of State Capitol police Sunday afternoon.

The protest was part of Operation Gridlock, organized on Facebook. Similar protests over "stay at home" mandates have flourished in state capitals around the country in the past several days.

There were no arrests Sunday.

The state is currently under a "stay at home" order through April 30 Gov. JB Pritzker has not yet determined whether that order will be extended or modified. An executive order shuttered businesses and operations not deemed "essential."

A crowd of about 75 people chanted "Open Illinois" and "Recall Pritzker" and held signs like "Fire Fauci" on the steps in front of the Lincoln statue. Dr. Anthony Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Counter-protesters later appeared across Second Street.

Lori "C.J." Van Note of Heyworth, one of the protesters blocking the intersection with her vehicle, said she was tired of the "tyranny of the Democratic Party" that is causing people to lose their jobs. She also called the numbers of COVID-19 related illnesses and deaths "fake."

"It’s fear-mongering the public," Van Note said.

The two vehicles that had been blocking the intersection were re-directed to a bike lane on Second Street.

"It was a good compromise," said Ashley McLemore of Dixon, who organized the protest.

Tom Link of LaHarpe said a police officer grabbed his upper left arm when he didn’t move from the Second Street walkway.

At one point, Link said he told the officer "’I understand you’re doing your job.’ He said, ’Then let me do it.’"

Link said he thought about sitting down in the middle of the crosswalk, "but I thought best of it."

Jamelle O’Brien of Springfield said she is ready for Illinois to be open for business.

"We can’t run an economy on some of us working," said O’Brien, who works in emergency child care at the YMCA of Springfield, where she had been a site coordinator.

"Our rights and our freedom mean something to me. To chip away at our rights, to have someone tell you what is ’essential,’ that’s when I started to get angry."

Laura Ryan of Pleasant Plains said the numbers of COVID-related infections "do not warrant this reaction for this long. My heart goes out to these small businesses which are closed for no reason."

Ryan said "at best what they should do is start opening up each county where people are healthy."

McLemore said earlier that she and her husband, Jon, have watched their small business, Rock U School of Music in Dixon, which gives individual music lessons and provides music therapy, "go down the drain."

"I’m hoping somebody, somewhere is going to listen to us as far as the little people," said McLemore, who said her business account is down to around $150.

Asked about protests at the Capitol and at the Thompson Center in Chicago, Pritzker, at his daily briefing, said, "I want people to get back to work. I want people to go back to school, but we're in the middle of an emergency, a pandemic."

Contact Steven Spearie: 788-1524, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/stevenspearie.