Demonstrations to free Tennessee drew large crowds across the state, despite rainy weather. More events are planned this week on Wednesday 4/22 at 10am, Saturday 4/25 at 1pm and Monday 4/27 at 10am at the State Capitol in Nashville.
Last week, Governor Lee had extended an executive order, which was supposed to expire last Tuesday. The order forces businesses across the state to shut down and limits people’s freedom of movement.
The original justification for the first order was to “flatten the curve”, i.e. ensure that not too many Tennesseans would overrun hospitals at the same time. However, Tennessee passed the peak last week, while hospitals are empty and some even laid off staff due to low demand. Tennessee had over three times the number of ICU beds and ventilators needed for the peak. Nevertheless, the executive order was extended for a longer period than the initial order, causing countless businesses to go bankrupt and jobs to be lost, every day the order stays in effect.
Now, Tennesseans are voicing their discontent with this overreach.