Hundreds Rally In Concord Demanding Governor 'Reopen NH': Watch

CONCORD, NH — Hundreds of activists, including business owners, nurses, teachers, liberty Republicans, and others, held a "Reopen NH" rally at the Statehouse in Concord Saturday. The attendees ignored a statewide ban on gatherings of more than 10, as well as signs placed around the plaza warning of misdemeanor charges to anyone rallying on the grounds. No one was arrested or charged at the event.

The rally surprised organizers who were expecting less than 100 people, according to former state Rep. J.R. Hoell, R-Dunbarton. Organizer surprised by the turnout also noted there were a lot of different and new types of people in attendance compared to past rallies, like the annual 2nd Amendment event held last month.

Hoell said currently, about 125,000 people had lost their jobs in about five weeks in New Hampshire — something that would cause a lot of pain, suffering, and grief. Instead of shutting the state down, he called for a slow reopening — starting in Coos County, which had two people infected, out of 30,000, and then moving south.

"We've been told that there is only one option — that we have to shut the state down," Hoell said. "I believe there is another option. We can protect the elderly, we can protect the most vulnerable, we can insist the people that are in long-term health care facilities are well taken care of without compromising the rest of the state."

Thomas McLeod of the Natural Health Media Project read from the state Constitution which protects the right of free assembly even in a pandemic. He said the Founders didn't fear pandemics or plagues — they feared tyrannical government controlling people's lives.

Don't miss updates about coronavirus precautions and information in New Hampshire as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Nobody — previously known as Rich Paul, a well-known marijuana legalization activist in the state, who hosts the annual 4/20 rally and is a Republican challenger to Sununu this election cycle — denounced the governor's orders saying "nobody deserves the right to lock you up for nothing." He congratulated attendees for showing up to standup against the emergency orders, called on an end to the drug war, and quoted from John Adams.

"I don't say that the virus isn't harming anybody," Nobody said. "I just say that shutting down the economy will kill more people than this virus ever would."

Carla Gericke, a Republican state Senate candidate from Manchester, noted that the 125,000 people out of work was the same amount of people who live in Amherst and the Queen City. She said, while driving around in Manchester, imagine everyone you see is out of work. That is what it was like in the state today.

"We are all essential," Gericke said. "It is not the role of government to decide who are winners and losers. It is not the role of government to tell some of us, we are not essential — while making sure every single one of them is still getting paid."

A nurse spoke about the outbreak and said hospitals were encouraged to call every death a coronavirus death in order to receive a $39,000 stipend from the federal government. A teacher talked about remote learning. Other speakers said they wanted to get back to work with one stating residents of long-term care facilities should be moved into hospitals before the emergency orders were rescinded.

During the entire rally, about 40 to 50 cars and trucks circled the plaza, honking horns and waving flags.

Governor Responds, Urges Patience

In a statement, Sununu said the state's "success with social distancing and mitigation efforts" had led some to believe COVID-19 was no longer a serious threat — while urging Granite Staters to be "patient." He said he had no doubt the economy would bounce back and be 100 percent again.

"I empathize with the sentiment behind today's rally," Sununu said, "but we must be responsible and patient in our actions … we are unfortunately in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and only six weeks in … we are being responsible and laying the groundwork with a phased approach that works for NH."

Patch takes community journalism seriously and we want to be as much service to our readers as possible at this very uncertain time. If you are a public health worker, medical provider, elected official, patient, or other coronavirus expert — or you simply have a news tip you'd like to share — please fill out this form. We'll keep names and personal information private.

U.S. Senate Candidate Denounces Sign Placement At Rally

It's been a while since we have seen blatant dirty tricks in the state but at least one happened today.

Don Bolduc, a former U.S. General running for the Republican nomination for Senate to face-off against incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, issued a statement after the rally denouncing the placement of a political flag with his name on it at the rally.

The flag was placed on the Statehouse plaza grounds by an older man and woman who then left the area after putting the sign up. Later, when it became evident that the rally was happening on the city side of the plaza, along North Main Street, the sign was moved.

State Rep. Gates Lucas, R-Sunapee, posted a photo of the flag on Twitter and said it looked like an "official" sign at the "dangerous and misguided" rally — while tagging Bolduc's Twitter account.

"Would be a shame if he had to answer as to why his campaign is engaging people in such an irresponsible manner," Gates wrote.

Bolduc countered: "Misinformation is dangerous and reckless and the responsibility lies on each of us to be mindful of what we say and share on social media. Politics of this sort has no place in New Hampshire, especially during a time in which we should be uniting not dividing."

While he supported the free speech rights of attendees, Bolduc said he was standing by the governor's order because it was "designed to keep us safe and to mitigate the spread of a dangerous virus."

Bolduc called it, "disappointing that someone would represent themselves as part of our campaign at this rally. To be perfectly clear, this sign is not owned by the Bolduc for Senate campaign and is in no way, shape, or form affiliated with our campaign."

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube channel. Follow the New Hampshire Patch Politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.