Protestors crowded the lobby of the Michigan State Capitol building, some armed with assault rifles and other firearms, in viral photos, as state lawmakers met inside on April 30.
Tensions had been bubbling for weeks since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a statewide stay-at-home order to fight the spread of COVID-19. The state has over 48,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and about 4,700 deaths.
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“With all those people crowded together, carrying those types of weapons, all it takes is an accidental discharge and then it’s mass pandemonium,” said state attorney general Dana Nessel.
In a formal opinion issued on May 11, Nessel said the Michigan State Capitol Commission has the legal authority to prohibit firearms in the state capitol. In a meeting that same day, the State Capitol Commission voted unanimously to study the issue of whether it can or should do so.
"We've been thrown into an issue that by its very nature has political implications," said Randall, according to the Detroit Free Press. The commission was formed six years ago in order to manage, maintain and restore the building, according to its website.
The state’s supreme court has previously banned firearms from courtrooms, offices or other spaces used by judicial employees and Nessel noted that the capitol building already prohibits visitors from carrying signs.
“If you brought in a sign with an illustration of an AR-15, they would take that away from you. But if you walked in with an AR-15, that would be permitted,” she said.
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Openly carrying a weapon in public spaces is legal in Michigan "as long as the person is carrying the firearm with lawful intent and the firearm is not concealed," according to Michigan State Police. But intent can be hard to police, Nessel said.
“We have seen an insurgency of anti government groups, militia groups and white supremacists, she said. “Many of those [protestors] would never hurt a hair on your head, but mixed in with them are others that do have criminal intent and that have made threats to the governor, to law enforcement and to other state officials.”
There were no reported instances of violence or arrests during the protest on April 30. Online, some people have noted that the protestors at the state capitol were mostly white, and questioned whether armed black protestors would have been received in the same manner.
Thinking of all those Michigan Black Lives Matter protestors who were arrested for blocking the streets or highways.
And they were unarmed. https://t.co/o6zQEISjCm
— zellie (@zellieimani) April 30, 2020
Nessel, the first openly LGBTQ person elected to statewide office in Michigan, worked as a prosecutor for more than a decade in Wayne County, which encompasses Detroit. In her experience, she said, concerns of biased treatment are valid.
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“If you had a person of color armed with a weapon who was in the face of a police officer and screaming at them, the result would be different,” she said. “I think that these protestors and frankly open-carry advocates are treated with kid gloves, compared to people of color.”
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