× Expand Thomas Kolbeck Protestors in Brookfield, Wisconsin, calling for an end to Governor Tony Evers's Safer at Home order.

In a triad of tweets, President Donald Trump recently called on Americans to “liberate” their states from stay-at-home orders imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19. In doing so, the “law and order” President sparked protests around the country from citizens seeking to “reopen” their states. The next big protest is set for Friday, April 24, in Wisconsin.

Reopening too soon could undo the progress Wisconsin has made in slowing the spread of COVID-19.

On Facebook, more than three thousand people have indicated that they will gather in Madison, the state capital, to vent their disapproval of Governor Tony Evers’s decision to extend his order through May 26. And despite the Department of Administration’s denial of a protest permit, the protest organizers intend for Friday's demonstration to carry on.

Even if a fraction of these protesters show up, their numbers exhibit a gross disregard for Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order and federal guidelines.

Last Wednesday, thousands of demonstrators assembled in Lansing, Michigan, to protest Governor Whitmer’s stay-at-home order. The protesters blocked streets with their cars, causing traffic jams in what they called “Operation Gridlock.” Hundreds of protesters left their vehicles to demonstrate in front of the Capitol building, in blatant disregard for social distancing.

This past weekend, a protest in Brookfield, Wisconsin, previewed what is to come in Madison. Protesters gathered on a sidewalk to demonstrate their discontent with Evers, mirroring the demonstration against Whitmer in Michigan.

Protesters held signs smearing Evers and demanding liberty. The Gadsden (“Don’t Tread on Me”) flag was common, and a number of Trump 2020 flags were seen. At both events, the Confederate flag was also present. In one video of the Brookfield protest, a protestor held a flag for QAnon, a rightwing conspiracy theory.

The majority of people at these events may not be white nationalists, but a radical fringe is present and visible. That is part of the story here.

For the more radical protesters, this lockdown is less about economic woes and more about a perceived violation of their rights. These protesters cast Evers’s Safer at Home order in absolutist terms.

Despite their grassroots appearance, these groups are part of a larger coordinated effort to oppose stay-at-home orders across the nation.

In a Facebook group of more than 100,000 people named “Wisconsinites Against Excessive Quarantine,” the description claims that Evers “hates freedom.”

“Politicians are on a power trip,” it reads, “controlling our lives, destroying our businesses, passing laws behind the cover of darkness, and forcing us to hand over our freedoms and our livelihood!”

To these radical protesters, quarantine is a form of tyranny. The temporary restriction to go shopping in certain places, take part in crowded gatherings, and yes, go to work and get haircuts, is abhorrent and intolerable.

As their flags indicate, these restrictions are akin to a sort of authoritarian crackdown. They see their experiences as akin to early American colonists against the British Empire or, abominably and fallaciously, the American South before the Civil War.

Despite their grassroots appearance, these groups are part of a larger coordinated effort to oppose stay-at-home orders across the nation.

Michigan’s Operation Gridlock was organized in part by the Michigan Freedom Fund, which has received more than $500,000 from the family of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Greg McNeilly, a Republic political strategist and president of the Michigan Freedom Fund, has worked closely with the DeVos family for more than a decade.

“Wisconsinites Against Excessive Quarantine” was created by Ben Dorr, the political director of a group called “Minnesota Gun Rights.” His brothers created similar groups in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. For years, the Dorr brothers have lobbied against gun control and for other conservative causes.

President Trump has amplified the brothers’ message tying the quarantine to gun control, tweeting that the Second Amendment was “under siege.” A link on Wisconsinites Against Excessive Quarantine’s Facebook page brings people to the Wisconsin Firearms Coalition webpage, a group dedicated to “defending and advancing the Second Amendment.”

Across the nation, these anti-quarantine groups have a similar core message and demand. They are critical of their state’s Democratic governors and say it’s time to reopen the economy.

At the Brookfield protest, homemade signs read: “Restore Our Rights!,” “Recall Evers,” “Open Our Churches Now,” and “Open My State.” Many signs were, in one way or another, connected to the economy.

There is no debate that COVID-19 will be bad for the economy. The only question is how many people will die along the way. The crucial hinge is to what extent we are prepared to lose lives to revive the economy. The Economist calls this trade-off between human lives and economic output a “grim calculus.”

Social distancing has worked. Nationally, new cases are slowing. In more hard-hit parts of the country, there are signs that the curve is flattening. But this isn’t cause for immediate celebration. Much of the recovery, both economic and in terms of public health, depends on how we react and what steps we take next.

As of yesterday, Wisconsin had reported 4,620 confirmed cases of COVID-9 and 242 deaths, ranking the state 20th in the total number of deaths.

Reopening too soon could undo the progress Wisconsin has made in slowing the spread of COVID-19. It could lead to a new spike in cases, as has already happened after the state held an in-person election on April 7.

The compromise to remaining in lockdown and a complete reopening is a gradual, measured reopening. But the difference between a succesful, measured reopening and a botched one depends on testing that Wisconsin simply doesn’t have.

Aside from the concerns about the economy and stock market, there are human lives on the line.

Among those highest at risk from COVID-19 are the elderly. A New York Times review of infection cases shows that about a fifth of all U.S. COVID-19 deaths are linked to nursing facilities. People with chronic illnesses, particularly immunocompromised systems and respiratory illnesses, are at higher risk as well.

COVID-19 also affects black Americans at a disproportionately greater rate than whites. So far, in Milwaukee County, more than 65 percent of those who died from COVID-19 were black, despite them only making up about 27 percent of the county. New national data shows that 30 percent of COVID-19 patients are black, while they make up only 13 percent of the population.

Historian Ibram X. Kendi, writing for The Atlantic, has called COVID-19 a “racial pandemic.”

Observers have pointed out that nearly all of the Americans taking part in anti-quarantine protests are white.

The most shocking images from the protest events depict masked protesters bearing arms. In Michigan, protesters ascended the capitol steps carrying assault rifles. Together, the protesters stood shoulder to shoulder, disregarding the CDC’s social distancing guidelines and in violation of Governor Whitmer’s stay-at-home order. Police stood by and did nothing.

A few weeks earlier, at a public park in Detroit, a gathering of mostly African American residents, in defiance of the same stay-at-home order, was broken up by police and at least one ticket was issued.

These instances demonstrate that selectivity of law enforcement, especially when it comes to COVID-19, cleaves along racial lines.

The good news is that a majority of Americans support social distancing measures. In fact, only 10 percent of voters believe Americans “should stop social distancing to stimulate the economy, even if it means increasing the spread of coronavirus.”

This is important to remember when images of the Friday protest in Madison inevitably flood our news feeds. These anti-quarantine protesters are a radical minority.

Following this criteria, which aligns with the Trump Administration’s guidelines, Wisconsin is not prepared to reopen.

Governor Tony Evers has recently laid out criteria for an eventual reopening of the state. It includes more testing, expanded contact tracing, and more protective equipment. Reopening of businesses will depend on a fourteen-day downward trajectory of influenza-like illnesses and COVID-19 symptoms, and a fourteen-day downward trend in positive tests as a percent of total tests.

Following this criteria, which aligns with the Trump Administration’s guidelines, Wisconsin is not prepared to reopen. Nevertheless, Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature filed a lawsuit challenging Evers’s shutdown order.

By remaining shut down, we buy ourselves the most valuable commodity: time. More time to prepare for another spike. More time to take care of our sick.