Posted on May 1, 2020

27 Surreal Photos Of The American Patriot Rally At The Michigan State Capitol

"Surreal" is the only way to put it.

Matt Stopera

by Matt Stopera

BuzzFeed Staff

1. The Michigan State Capitol has been pretty chaotic lately, and yesterday was no exception.

2. The American Patriot Rally was held there Thursday.

3. People came to protest Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order, which was set to expire May 15.

4. The protesters demanded that Michigan's businesses reopen.

5. Some of the protesters were armed with rifles:

6. LIke this guy:

7. These guys:

8. This guy:

9. This guy:

10. This guy:

11. And these guys:

12. There were, of course, lots of signs:

13. A few were Bill Gates–related:

14. Others compared the governor to Adolf Hitler:

15. "wHitler Driven by Power. Not Data":

16. Other signs read, "Virus Hoax":

17. "I <3 America":

18. "Live Free or Die":

19. This woman led an army of screaming children with protest signs:

20. This man wore an entire protective suit:

21. Protesters eventually occupied the capitol during a vote to approve an extension to the lockdown:

22. A militia group stood in front of the governor's office:

23. A militia group watched the protest before the vote:

24. Protesters pushed back against state police:

25. They were trying to get into the state House of Representatives chamber:

26. The Republican-led legislature ended up passing bills to replace Whitmer's orders.

27. But ultimately, Whitmer ended up signing an executive order extending the lockdown until May 28.

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