Protesters don’t want to stay home

Around 200 people showed up to Moscow City Hall on Monday evening in protest of state and local emergency orders banning gatherings of more than 10 people and shuttering businesses throughout Idaho.

In March, Moscow Mayor Bill Lambert issued bans that shuttered gyms, tattoo parlors, barber shops and salons, prohibited gatherings of more than 10 people and limited bars and restaurants to curbside pickup and delivery. Those bans were later extended until May 5.

Last week, Idaho Gov. Brad Little extended a statewide stay-at-home order issued in mid-March through the end of April.

On a Facebook page announcing Monday’s protest, the group claimed the closures have cost Latah County more than 3,000 jobs and have amounted to economic losses in excess of $22 million.

Organizer Gabriel Rench, who is running for Latah County Commissioner, said the protest was meant to honor political leaders “while peacefully and respectfully standing up to them when they are wrong.”

“We are here today because of our love for our city and our state,” Rench said. “When the government takes unprecedented actions and have devastating effects on our communities, it is important that we exercise our freedom of speech and the right to assemble.”

Lambert said he couldn’t speak to the numbers the group shared, but noted Congress recently passed $2.3 trillion in stimulus spending meant to curb the worst economic effects of the pandemic and more relief measures are in the pipeline.

Protesters indicated Monday that state and city orders are an overreaction, noting there have been four confirmed cases of the disease in Latah County and no deaths. “Overkill kills businesses,” one sign read.

However, Lambert said he believes the low numbers in the region are precisely because of the measures being decried by protesters. He said these decisions were not made lightly.

“I go by scientific medical professionals who know what they’re talking about, not just some guess, about what may or may not be,” Lambert said. “I feel very fortunate that we were able to close it down quick enough that we haven’t had the consequences one of our southern counties has had.”

Lambert is referencing Blaine County in southern Idaho which has one of the highest rates of the COVID-19 in the country.

In his speech to the crowd Monday, Rench called for the government “to get back to a sensible solution.” Rench said a more reasonable approach would have been to have the elderly and others vulnerable to the disease self-quarantine while others go about their lives as normal.

“Citizens generally make better life decisions for themselves than the government so we encourage individual responsibility as opposed to the current situation of the government taking these liberties away,” Rench said. “Quarantining the vulnerable and elderly makes sense, while a blanket quarantine only exacerbates the pandemic and destroys the economy.”

Lambert noted that many seemingly healthy patients have died of complications related to COVID-19.

Lambert said he supports the governor’s order, saying it was known that mandated closures of businesses across the state would cause a great deal of economic turbulence — which speaks to the seriousness of the situation. COVID-19 is no flu and it is no hoax, Lambert said.

“We don’t do these things lightly,” he said. “I mean, it’s been gut-wrenching for everybody.”

Scott Jackson can be reached by email at sjackson@dnews.com.