Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy says if things don’t change soon with the Michigan ‘Stay Home Stay Safe’ order there is going to be a “revolt”.

 

Murphy says if you had asked him 2-weeks ago he would have told you the harsh statewide lockdown order was the right thing to do. However, as it has become clear the Covid-19 outbreak is much less severe than he and others expected his opinion has changed. “People need to get back to work and get back to normal,” he said. 

 

The statewide lockdown was ordered by Governor Gretchen Whitmer on March 23rd and then extended and expanded on April 9th with much more harsh restrictions. The current order which is set to expire on April 30th has been hammered by critics across Michigan and all over the country for its utterly indefensible, bizarre and arbitrary limitations and vague guidelines for behavior.

 

For example; most businesses have been deemed non-essential by the Governor and as a result, landscapers and those that do lawn services have been told they are not allowed to work. Golf courses are closed and people are not allowed to use second homes they own. You can use a boat but only if it doesn’t have a motor. You can buy a lawnmower but not a rototiller. 

 

Stores have been told they cannot sell so called non-essential items from the lawn and garden sections or risk being closed down by the heavy-handed administration. They also are prohibited from selling paint or furniture.

 

However, lottery tickets, liquor and marijuana are all still for sale as they are apparently essential according to Governor Whitmer.

 

Violating the rules can result in a fine of $1,000 and possible jail time too. It is something that has people all over the state hopping mad. “Can you believe she thinks she can fine people for using their own boat by themselves,” was a question put forth by Michael Cooper, an avid outdoorsman who thinks the Governor has gone way too far.

 

The threats are being backed up by Whitmer’s far-left activist Attorney General Dana Nessel and some overly eager law enforcement agencies around the state. Scores of people have already been issued fines.

 

The pushback on the Governor’s Executive Orders reached a high point when tens of thousands of Michigan residents crammed into Lansing, the State Capital to express their outrage on April 15th. Whitmer turned a deaf ear to the protest and instead blamed those in attendance in advance if she extends her order.

 

Not everyone however is on board with Whitmer’s iron fisted declarations and threats. Numerous Sheriff’s departments in Michigan have said they simply will not enforce orders they believe are inappropriate or just go too far. 

 

Charlevoix County Sheriff Chuck Vondra, for example, says he is not worried about enforcing the Governors demand that no gatherings of any size be allowed. I asked if he had put in a hotline for people to turn in their neighbors for violating social distancing rules, he laughed and said, “No I haven’t and I don’t intend to.” He says he hasn’t paid much attention to many of the other specifics either.

 

Sheriff Murphy went further and issued an ominous warning, “if the Governor tries to extend the lockdown past May 1st there is going to be a revolt in this state.” Murphy said in addition to not having hotlines for people to turn in others for violating Whitmer’s lockdown order, he wouldn’t do it anyway. “People have had enough and they need to get back to living their lives,” Murphy said. “If they are told they cannot use their boat or mow their neighbor’s yard or go the nursery and buy tomato plants, it’s just not going to go very well.”

 

Murphy said people will just start doing all of those things anyway and there isn’t much his department or anyone else could really do about it. “You’re not going to start arresting people because they are doing the normal legal things they have always done.”

 

Whitmer has said she may begin to loosen restrictions on May 1st but so far has not given any specifics.