Hundreds of Mainers rally in Augusta to end coronavirus shutdown

Hundreds of Mainers set social distancing aside and rallied side-by-side outside Governor Mill's house on Monday, as well as the Capitol.

They say the Governor's statewide stay at home order is unconstitutional and want her to re-open our state.

They say COVID-19 has not had the same impact in Maine as it has other states.

And that we shouldn't be taking similar precautions.

“But I think it’s elderly and the very sick that we need to protect. The rest of us should be able to go back to our lives," said Diane Rines of

Greene.

In the crowd are a number of small business owners, their struggles have been one of the most common arguments among protestors.

“It’s very hard to budget, it’s really hard to know what we should be preparing for. There’s been no structure what so ever. A lot of us have been out of work for 5 or 6 weeks," said Heather Dempsey of Carmel.

Police monitored the rallies but no one was arrested.

Protestors say the longer the stay at home order is in place, the more damage it could do.

We spoke with Representative Johansen after the rally.

He said he was excited about the turnout and may create plans for another rally in the coming weeks after Governor Mills has had a chance to respond.

We did reach out to the Governor's office, and they said they have no comment on Monday's rally.

But reiterated what the Governor said last week, that she will decide to reopen the state when it is safe to do so.