‘Live Free or Die’: Protesters march against California stay-at-home rules in Huntington Beach

A group of more than 100 protesters converged on Huntington Beach on Friday in a demonstration against California’s coronavirus stay-at-home rules, part of a series of national demonstrations organized by conservative groups.

The protesters — some with Trump banners and American flags — mostly were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing by standing at least six feet apart. And they offered views about the spread of the coronavirus that differed sharply from scientific findings and experts’ recommendations.

One of the first people to trickle into the afternoon’s protest in Huntington Beach was 62-year-old Paula Doyle.

The Costa Mesa resident arrived with a hand-held American flag and a “Live Free or Die” sign and was “sick” of social distancing and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order, which she said was “killing business.”

“I don’t think there’s any reason for us to be on lockdown now,” she said shortly after arguing with another Trump supporter who was in favor of quarantine. “We didn’t have any dangers; we have no danger in our hospitals now of overflowing.”

The comments of protesters fly in the face of what California public health officials and other experts have been saying about the coronavirus.

California’s relatively quick action to close businesses and order residents to stay home has tamped down the coronavirus pandemic and left many hospitals largely empty, waiting for a surge that has yet to come.

Sarah Mason, from Covina, protests the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

The initial success of the unprecedented shutdown of schools, businesses and other institutions has pleased experts and public health officials, prompting calls to keep the restrictions in place at least into May to help cement the progress.

Social distancing will be a critical factor. Lifting restrictions too early would likely lead to dangerous new jumps in cases.

Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan, said earlier this week deploying stay-at-home measures required a degree of patience not to pull back too early.

“If you pull the triggers off too early, not only is there a circulating virus to do what it naturally does, but you will have incurred all the economic and social disruptions of [stay-at-home orders] for nothing,” Markel said in a webinar hosted by the American Public Health Assn. last month.

Markel said that during the 1918 flu pandemic, more than 20 U.S. cities that relaxed physical distancing orders too quickly — even as the flu virus was still circulating — soon saw a new rise in cases. There will continue to be the threat of the coronavirus being reintroduced in areas where the outbreak has eased.

Singapore, which took early, effective action against the coronavirus, was forced last week to order the closure of schools and nonessential businesses for a month as the numbers of cases rose when residents who lived and studied abroad rushed back home. Officials in Singapore now say it is important to find sustainable ways to slow the virus through the end of the year.

1/37

Customers defy social distancing and the wearing of masks to stand in line at the recently opened Nomads Canteen in San Clemente. The restaurant opened its doors to dine-in services over the weekend in defiance of the California’s stay-at-home order.  (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

2/37

Christina Dagle and her daughter, Eleanor Eades, 4, of Seal Beach, wait in line to buy flowers for a friend from Devynn’s Garden in Seal Beach.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

3/37

Station 17 owner Cynthia Freund says that roller skates, shown at left, has been her most popular on-line sale item as she reopens for curb-side shopping in Seal Beach.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

4/37

Armando Mendoza, of Anaheim, celebrates with all his health-care professionals and his family and supporters as he is released after spending 45 days at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

5/37

Health care workers dance and take images while a mariachi band plays as Armando Mendoza, of Anaheim, gets released from St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. Mendoza was the hospital’s second-ever COVID-19 patient and spent 45 days at St. Joseph Hospital before being released.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

6/37

People stroll along Main Beach in Laguna Beach as city ,with State’s blessings, reopened its beaches for active use only.   (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

7/37

Ian Hanna skimboards along the shoreline on Main Beach in Laguna Beach, after it reopened to active use only.  (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

8/37

A sailboat cruises by as a lone beach-goer in Newport Beach, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s hard closure of the beach.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

9/37

An aerial view of a few surfers and beach-goers in Newport Beach despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s hard closure.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

10/37

Beach goers ignore social distancing and beach closures as they walk in groups to the beach access stairs to Salt Creek Beach.   ( Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

11/37

Elizabeth Robles of Laguna decides to park in a “No Parking” zone and get the $30 ticket so she could walk to Salt Creek Beach to surf. “The ticket is worth it to me. I broke my arm recently and haven’t surfed in 8 months,” she said.   ( Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

12/37

With parking lots closed, a man heads to the beach on the bike path with kids, beach chairs and paddle board loaded on his electric bike in Capistrano Beach.   (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

13/37

John and Jamie Garcia, of La Habra, celebrate Jamie’s birthday by relaxing in loungers at the Beachcomber Inn with a view of an empty, closed beach and pier due to the coronavirus restrictions amid a heat wave in San Clemente. The council voted to reopen the beach for recreational activity such as walking, running, swimming and surfing, but have also said residents should not bring a blanket and hang out.   (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

14/37

Cal State Fullerton student Linh Trinh, 21, right, and her boyfriend Tan Nguyen, 21, walk around a deserted CSUF campus. The school is planning to begin fall semester with online classes, one of the first universities in the nation to make that move as campuses throughout the country grapple with how long to stay closed to most students amid the coronavirus outbreak.  (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

15/37

Russel and Kathleen Sion, of Torrance, celebrate tying the knot in a parking lot at the Honda Center in Anaheim, where the County of Orange Clerk Recorder is performing wedding ceremonies.  (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

16/37

Irvine couple Xiakuan Qian, left, and Qingyun Zhu, get married in a parking lot at the Honda Center in Anaheim.  (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

17/37

UC Irvine Medical Center healthcare workers wave as about 25 Orange County first-responder vehicles participate in a drive-by parade of gratitude as healthcare staff battle COVID-19 at the hospital.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

18/37

UC Irvine Medical Center healthcare workers bang on the windows as they watch about 25 Orange County first-responder vehicles participate in a drive-by parade of gratitude as they battle COVID-19 at the hospital, which currently has eight patients with the virus.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

19/37

Healthcare workers tend to a driver in line at a drive-through coronavirus testing site at the Westminster Mall in Westminster.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

20/37

MaryAnn Lawson collects prayer requests from people gathering in their cars in a parking lot in Santa Ana to worship in an Easter service by Rev. Robert A. Schuller. Schuller is reviving a practice that launched his father to worldwide acclaim -- the drive-in ministry.   (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

21/37

Security guard Carlos Reyes wears a protective mask and gloves while patrolling the nearly empty Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center amid coronavirus physical distancing restrictions in Santa Ana.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

22/37

Charlton Paul, 31, and his soon-to-be wife, Heather Paul, 32, arrive at the Honda Center where the County of Orange Clerk-Recorder set up three booths for marriage licenses and weddings in Anaheim.  (Raul Roa/Times Community News)

23/37

Paul Jones, left, wears a custom-made face mask as does his bride, Annamarie Sucher-Jones, during their wedding in a parking lot at the Honda Center where the County of Orange Clerk-Recorder set up three booths for marriage licenses and weddings in Anaheim.  (Raul Roa/Times Community News)

24/37

Kayakers, boaters and a paddle boarder observe coronavirus social distancing rules while exercising and gliding through Huntington Harbor on the first warm day in weeks with a view of recently snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains in Huntington Beach.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

25/37

UC Irvine Medical Center healthcare workers react as an Anaheim police officer joins about 25 Orange County first-responder vehicles participating in a drive-by parade of gratitude as healthcare staff battle COVID-19 at the hospital.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

26/37

Ashley Amon, and her daughters, Alysha, 2, and Alexandria, 4, who are currently homeless, attend a gathering with fellow worshipers in their cars in a parking lot in Santa Ana to worship in an Easter service by Rev. Robert A. Schuller.  (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

27/37

An aerial view of the closed San Clemente pier and beach. Officials said the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Marine Safety, Code Enforcement and Park Rangers will increase monitoring and people who do not comply could be cited.   (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

28/37

A couple takes in a sunset together near the San Clemente pier after San Clemente closed its beaches to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

29/37

Kristen Edgerle of Victorville collects information from a blood donor before drawing blood at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library blood drive during the coronavirus pandemic in Yorba Linda.  (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

30/37

Protest organizer Elizabeth Coe, waves the American flag out of her sun roof and Laguna Woods resident Debbie Bloom, 67, left, parades her sign while joining mostly Laguna Woods seniors protesting after learning nearby Ayres Hotel will be used to treat homeless COVID-19 patients in Laguna Woods.   (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

31/37

Kylie Wortham, who was laid off when her entire company was closed due to coronavirus restrictions, relaxes with a book in a hammock overlooking the beach in Huntington Beach.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

32/37

A social distancing sign alerts visitors to keep their distance from other people on the mostly empty board walk in Huntington Beach.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

33/37

Jose Secundino, center, joins fellow recently hired Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County temporary employees, who have been laid off from restaurant jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, as they pack boxes of food for the needy.   (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

34/37

Daniel Guzman, right, an unemployed pool supervisor from Garden Grove, sits alone in the mostly closed and normally crowded Pacific City shopping mall in Huntington Beach.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

35/37

Jessica Estebane, a temporarily unemployed restaurant worker from Huntington Beach, rests from her jog in front of closed Huntington Surf & Sport.  (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

36/37

Laguna Beach closes all city beaches and their adjacent parks.  (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

37/37

Laguna Beach has closed all city beaches and their adjacent parks  (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

In Lansing, Mich., demonstrators took to the streets, snarling traffic as part of an “Operation Gridlock” rally. Though Michigan has reported more than 1,760 deaths — third-most in the U.S. — the protesters contend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, went too far in extending a stay-at-home order that, among other things, shuttered indoor restaurants and placed limits on people allowed to work outside the home.

In Huntington Beach on Friday, protesters were quick to point out that California has not seen the same level of deaths as New York, which was slower to impose social distancing. Doyle said the relatively low number of deaths statewide should not have led to “drastic measures.”

She saw little difference between COVID-19 and the flu (the death rate is actually significantly higher for COVID-19) and credited much of her information to conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham.

“We need to get back to normal ASAP,” said Doyle, adding she’s sent “crazy letters” to the governor explaining as much.

During the protest, police occasionally warned gatherers to clear the streets to allow vehicles to pass.

Benny White, a 33-year-old Compton resident dressed in a faux white hazmat suit complete with goggles and a Trump 2020 hat, bounced around from corner to corner, often drawing a sizable crowd. The suit had hand-written Sharpie messages that included the name of an extreme right-wing website and “China Lied People Died.”

White accused China of “constantly attacking our president.” White was also angry about social-distancing guidelines and hugged other protesters.

“It’s not dangerous out here. It’s not,” White said. “I’ve seen plenty of people out here. The beaches are open. It’s a nice beautiful day. What are we doing? Stop being a germophobe.”

Anaheim resident Bryan Hunt kept a close eye on officers from the Huntington Beach Police Department.

The 57-year-old said he was a member of the 31st Field Force Light Foot California State Militia.

“I’m here for one purpose and that is to ensure that the police don’t start beating on citizens,” Hunt said. “I have a cameraman here taking photos and documenting everything. If they step out of line, we’ll get them.”