FRANKFORT, Ky. — Saturday hundreds of people gathered at Kentucky’s State Capitol for a protest called the Kentucky Freedom Rally. Organizer Chaplain Lee Watts said the rally’s message was “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Social distancing nor wearing face masks were enforced, but Watts told Spectrum News 1 before the rally’s start that people could follow that if they chose to.
“We are here today standing up for liberty, so if someone wants to use their liberty to social distance, they are free and welcome to do that,” said Watts, who is a volunteer chaplain at the Capitol that organizes prayer breakfasts every Friday during the legislative session.
The approximately two and a half-hour rally consisted of several speakers, which included four Kentucky state representatives, a Kentucky state senator, Watts, and Pastor Jack Roberts of Maryville Baptist Church in Bullitt County. The church made national news for holding in-person church service on Easter, despite Governor Andy Beshear’s warning of Kentucky State Police recording license plate numbers to identify who would need to self-quarantine for 14-days.
There were several messages throughout the rally. One was disapproval of abortion clinics still open as an essential business and Beshear’s veto of Senate Bill 9 also known as the "Born Alive" bill. The rally held two moments of silence, one for the victims of COVID-19 and another for abortions performed.
Another message demanded Beshear to re-open Kentucky so people can get back to work.
“Tyranny is when you restrict healthy people,” Watts told the crowd during one of his many speeches between each guest speaker.
“I think a lot of places should be allowed to open with precautions now, and then it’s the people’s choice whether they want to come to it,” said protester Jean Mankin from Somerset. ”They don’t have to come and get their haircut. They don’t have to come and get a pedicure but I think it should be their choice,” Mankin said. 
On Wednesday, April 29, Beshear announced a tentative schedule for a phased re-opening of certain industries in May. He also stated which industries will still need to stay closed until a future date.
“Yea, it should already happen for people who have had no money coming in. None. If you didn’t get a paycheck since March 18 would you be a happy camper?” Mankin said in response to Beshear’s phased re-opening plan.
The majority of protesters did not wear face masks, but Mankin was one of the few. She said it was to respect those who do fear the virus but said she does not.
Cheryl Samons of Lexington attended the April 15 rally held outside the Capitol which partly interrupted Beshear’s briefing that Wednesday. She said there were a lot more people in attendance at the Freedom Rally. “And that may indicate that a lot more people are getting fed up,” Samons told Spectrum News 1.
Samons said she is the owner of a small cleaning business that had to stop operations for the time being because all her clients canceled services because of COVID-19 fears. However, her main motivation attending Saturday’s rally was the right to worship, another key point speakers touched on throughout the day.
“I think that the governor is still discriminating against churches. And has been said here today, he is opening other things before he is opening churches, like racetracks. You know, why are race tracks more important than churches?” Samons said.
She is referring to Beshear’s tentative schedule to re-open certain industries. On May 11, horse racing is among a few tentatively set to re-open, though no spectators are allowed. On May 20, retail and houses of worship are set to re-open.
Spectrum News 1 asked Beshear on Friday what he thought about the Kentucky Freedom Rally taking place the following day.
“The UK model shows we saved lives. I hope we made all the right decisions, but we probably made a couple of wrong decisions, but they have all been aimed at helping people,” Beshear in part said. “If you disagree with it, disagree with it in a way that’s not going to hurt you and ultimately, knowing you could be asymptomatic, don’t do it in a way that gets you around a whole lot of people, just do it safely.”
Democratic representative Maria Sorolis of Louisville told Spectrum News 1 on Friday that she knows people are struggling right now, but the virus is a real threat.
“And our enemy at this point is not the governor but this unseen virus that we don’t quite know how to combat, yet,” Sorolis said.
Protesters of all ages attended, some carrying signs, others holding flags, including the U.S. and Confederate battle flags. There were also several adults exercising their second amendment right to carry a firearm.
Watts told Spectrum News 1 he did apply for a permit for the rally through the Capitol to follow proper protocol. He said he was denied the permit, but that the rally also represented an exercise of the Constitution’s first amendment to peaceably assemble.