Austin Coronavirus: 'You Can't Close America' Rally Draws Crowds

AUSTIN, TX — Protesters converged in Austin Saturday for the "You Can’t Close America" rally. State police looked on as citizens held signs that said things like "Open Texas Now" and "End Medical Tyranny Now," some referencing martial law.

Owen Shroyer hosted the rally. The commentator for far-right media source Infowars organized the demonstration "in an effort to protect our God given and Constitutional rights," according to the Facebook event page.

"This weekend, Texans of all stripes will assemble outside the capitol building in Austin, Texas, to protest the authoritarian lockdown orders being imposed by petty tyrants at the local level," the event posting reads on conspiracy site, InfoWars. Among that website's claims are that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing.

Protesters called for the state's economy to reopen, after the government closed nonessential businesses and schools to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. It was the second this week in Austin, where a peaceful protest Thursdayalso called for workers of nonessential businesses to go back to work. "We can stimulate the Texas economy while we contain the spread," the group Reopen Texas posted on its Facebook page, along with the event listings.

Attendees at Saturday's rally did not appear to adhere to social distancing guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for remaining at least 6 feet apart to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, according to this video from the rally posted by the New York Times' Houston bureau chief, in which many event-goers pumped their fists in the air and chanted "Fire Fauci!"

Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the figureheads of the federal government's coronavirus response, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, serving under six presidents. He and President Trump have occasionally butted heads over the federal response to the public health crisis, culminating in the president retweeting a call to "#FireFauci" Sunday.

Despite his Twitter activity, Trump said at a press conference Monday he has no plans to fire Fauci, calling him a "wonderful guy."

This week after the president told governors they would "call the shots" in determining when to lift social distancing guidelines in their states, he again took to Twitter, giving groups like the Texans at Shroyer's rally a shot in the arm.

"LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" Trump tweeted Friday, followed quickly by a call to "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!"

"LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!" Trump also tweeted, a reference to the state's expanded background checks and limits on gun purchases signed into law last week.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday outlined a multi-pronged plan to gradually reopen the Texas economy that called for the creation of strike teams and creation of new social distancing standards.

There are 1,074 cases of the new coronavirus in Austin as of Saturday, according to city officials, and there have been 21 deaths there attributed to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

Other demonstrations calling for states to reopen sprung up in Maryland, Nevada and Wisconsin.

The protest at the Texas State Capitol was from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday.

See Also:

• Reopen Maryland Protest Illustrates Divide Over Coronavirus
• Coronavirus: Governor Outlines Plan To Reopen Texas Economy
• U.S. Coronavirus Blog: With Trump's Backing, Protests Continue

Patch editors Meghan VerHelst and Alex Newman contributed to this report.