Online group plans Harrisburg protest over continued covid closures

A private Facebook group that has gained more than 90,000 members in the past month is planning a protest Friday in Harrisburg against Pennsylvania’s quarantine measures to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

ReOpen PA, described as a non-partisan group “for residents of Pennsylvania to organize and work towards a reasonable and measured response to the covid-19 crisis,” will protest what founder Matt Bellis called an abuse of emergency powers by Gov. Tom Wolf.

“This is now a state where one man is calling the shots and not abiding by the Constitution of the state or the country,” said Bellis, a Lancaster County resident.

Three state lawmakers and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, last week joined a group of local business owners and four southwestern counties in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders.

County commissioners from Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties claim they have suffered a loss of tax revenue due to the shutdown.

Their complaint is the most recent suit challenging Wolf’s authority.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court previously ruled for Wolf. And on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a similar action from eastern Pennsylvania.

“The governor is using laws for mobilizing aid for disaster areas during a time of emergency. These laws are meant for just a short time, but are now being used to disable resources, businesses, and people to lock them down,” Bellis said. “This is no longer in the best interests of the state.”

Most of Western Pennsylvania is slated to move into the state-designated “yellow phase” on Friday, May 15, with the exception of Beaver County.

ReOpen PA formed on April 13, the same day that Wolf announced the phased plan to gradually ease covid-related restrictions.

The ReOpen PA protest will be at noon, Friday, on the steps of the state Capitol on North Third Street.

For more, search “ReOpen PA” on Facebook.