national attention. the protest was organized by the michigan conservative coalition, a group with ties to the devos family, through facebook. the michigan freedom fund supported the rally by as an event co-host, spending an estimated $250 to promote the event. the michigan conservative coalition is asking the governor to take a more measured approach that would allow certain parts of work and daily life to start returning to normal. the organizers urged participants to practice social distancing, and not leave their vehicles during the protest. lt. darren green of the michigan state police estimated several thousand cars were part of the demonstration, with 100 to 150 people congregating on the capitol lawn. "they're doing a pretty good job of maintaining social distance," green said. "they're being respectful and not causing any issues at all." neither the michigan state police nor the lansing police department had reported any arrests. multiple services have been disrupted as a result of operation gridlock, such as the capital area transportation authority (cata) temporarily suspending their downtown route. governor whitmer said the protest was legal per the first amendment's right to freedom of assembly, and understood the protesters' anger, but warned them they were endangering their health by not following social distancing guidelines and noticed some people were not wearing personal protective equipment, including children, further adding "(it's) not a political decision, it's about public health. the enemy is the virus, not one another." president donald trump supported the protest on april 17 with an all-caps tweet saying "liberate michigan". on april 30, a second protest occurred when hundreds of protesters, many carrying firearms, gathered at the michigan capitol. many protesters were able to enter the building. the demonstration was organized by conservative group michigan united for liberty. governor whitmer said on april 30 that she found elements of the protest 'disturbing.' also, in an appearance may 3 on cnn's state of the union, the governor said the confederate flags, nooses and nazi signs displayed were 'outrageous' and racist, with some depicting her as adolf hitler. on may 14, more armed protesters from michigan united for liberty gathered outside the michigan state capitol. the organization's facebook group was deleted over death threats against governor whitmer and a fight broke out over a doll tied to a noose carried by a man who also had an axe at the protest. the michigan legislature closed its scheduled session to avoid the possibility of another armed confrontation inside the chamber. on may 20, the michigan conservative coalition held "operation haircut" on the lawn of the capitol building, in which barbers gave free haircuts, in support of an owosso barber who was forced to shut down after continuing to operate until the previous week, violating the executive order closing non-essential businesses that included barbershops and beauty salons resulting in the state suspending his license. several of the barbers at the demonstration were issued $1,000 citations by the michigan state police for disorderly conduct. a week later on may 27, the group from operation haircut delivered a letter to the governor with a layout of safe practices to reopen. the charges against the owosso barber were eventually dismissed. the charges against the other barbers arrested during the operation haircut demonstration were dismissed on february 8, 2021. a peaceful demonstration of prayers organized by the religious non-profit transformation michigan was performed on the capitol lawn on may 28. a peaceful protest called "let mi people go" by the religious group stand up michigan took place on the capitol lawn on october 8. on december 15, a protest took place near the home of robert gordon, the director of the michigan department of health and human services, to oppose the new restrictions imposed by the state. plot to kidnap governor whitmer during the summer and fall of 2020, governor whitmer was targeted with an elaborate kidnapping plot. the plot was revealed when the federal bureau of investigation thwarted it. in october 2020, fourteen members of a right-wing militia group called the wolverine watchmen were charged with several federal and state crimes. one of the suspects cited whitmer's handling of the pandemic as part of their motive to kidnap her. lawsuits in april multiple lawsuits were filed challenging whitmer's executive orders. the suits were filed by individuals, business owners, recreational fishermen, a conservation organization, and several county prosecutors. they alleged that her orders were overly broad, violated their constitutional rights, harmed businesses, and amounted to an unconstitutional taking of property rights. governor whitmer's third stay-at-home order, issued april 24, overturned the restrictions on recreational boating and visits to vacation homes, effectively ending some of the lawsuits. on april 29, inmates from various michigan prisons filed a class action lawsuit against the michigan department of corrections in the u.s. district court for the eastern district of michigan, claiming the state is violating the eighth amendment by subjecting inmates to cruel and unusual punishment by not taking necessary pandemic precautions. on may 6, a group of churches sued governor whitmer, claiming "executive order 2020-70 continues to prohibit gatherings of two or more individuals, including at churches, thereby denying them the ability to hold worship services and otherwise carry out their ministry functions until may 28, 2020" violates their first amendment right of freedom of religion. on may 22, a group of independently owned gyms and fitness centers sued governor whitmer and the state's top health official the in u.s. district court for the western district of michigan in grand rapids attempting to overturn the state's stay-at-home order and allow them to reopen. whitmer re-opened gyms and fitness centers on september 9. on may 29, the department of justice filed a statement that supports a lawsuit filed by seven michigan businesses that challenged the restrictions imposed by governor gretchen whitmer in response to the covid-19 pandemic. on june 2, governor whitmer stated in an opinion piece that the coronavirus is a civil rights battle too and that she was surprised by the lawsuit. on october 21, a chiropractors' office in grand haven sued the mdhhs, whitmer, the ottawa county department of public health and the county's deputy health administrator in the michigan court of claims, arguing that it did not have the authority to mandate the wearing of face masks. the business had received warnings and a cease-and-desist order from local officials over its non-enforcement of the state mask mandate. on november 17, the michigan restaurant and lodging association sued the michigan department of health and human service's director to block a ban on dine-in service ordered from november 18 until december 8. on november 20, a federal judge denied the request, but scheduled a hearing on the case for november 30. on december 7, in response to the extension of a partial shutdown order that lasts until december 20, a group of catholic high schools called the michigan association of non-public schools sued the state in the united states district court for the western district of michigan on claims that emergency health orders banning in-school classes and religious training are unconstitutional. emergency powers lawsuit on may 6, michigan house of representatives speaker lee chatfield and michigan senate majority leader mike shirkey, both republicans, sued governor whitmer, who is a democrat, over her use of emergency powers during the pandemic, saying only the michigan legislature has the power to extend the state of emergency. the michigan court of claims ruled in governor whitmer's favor on may 21. the michigan court of appeals affirmed the court of claims' ruling on august 21, in a 2–1 decision. on october 2, the michigan supreme court ruled on questions posed by district judge paul lewis maloney over whether governor whitmer violated the state emergency management act of 1976, and whether the emergency powers of governor act of 1945 was unconstitutional. it was argued that whitmer bypassed a requirement for a vote by the state legislature in order to extend a state of emergency beyond 28 days, by redeclaring it each time it expired. it was also argued that the emergency powers of governor act constituted an "unlawful delegation of legislative power to the executive". the court unanimously ruled against whitmer on the former question. the court ruled 4–3 against whitmer on the latter question. michigan senate majority leader mike shirkey warned that the decision "does not alter our collective responsibility to protect ourselves and others", and encouraged "bipartisan action to transition from government operating in fear of the virus to government managing life in the presence of the virus." governor whitmer argued that the decision was still subject to a 21-day reconsideration period, during which the orders should have still stood. on october 4, michigan attorney general dana nessel stated that she would stop enforcing covid-19-related executive orders. on october 5, governor whitmer told cnn the decision "undermined my emergency rule, my emergency orders that i've had to enact that puts us in the same state as all other states in this nation, to save lives. we've saved thousands of lives." in response to the ruling, the michigan department of health and human services (mdhhs) issued various orders intended to supplant most of whitmer's executive orders, including requiring bars to close indoor gathering spaces, restrict the size of gatherings, and require the use of face masks in "social gatherings", defined as a shared space with two or more people where people are from multiple households. businesses and government offices are required to enforce the requirements for gatherings on their premises. it also requires mask use in all sports except swimming if social distancing is not being practiced. these orders were enacted under the state health code, which gives the director of the hhs the authority to restrict gatherings and "establish procedures" to control an epidemic. the michigan occupational safety and health administration similarly issued its own set of emergency rules for workplaces on october 14, again supplanting whitmer's orders. on october 12, the court denied whitmer's motion for a transition period, officially voiding all executive orders she had issued. statistics new covid-19 cases reported in michigan () report as of confirmed deaths recovered date new total new total new total sources 2020-03-10 2 2 0 0 0 0 2020-03-12 10 12 0 0 0 0 2020-03-13 13 25 0 0 0 0 2020-03-14 8 33 0 0 0 0 2020-03-15 20 53 0 0 0 0 2020-03-16 1 54 0 0 0 0 2020-03-17 11 65 0 0 0 0 2020-03-18 15 80 3 3 0 0 2020-03-19 254 334 0 3 0 0 2020-03-20 215 549 1 4 0 0 2020-03-21 238 787 4 8 0 0 2020-03-22 249 1,035 1 9 0 0 2020-03-23 293 1,328 7 16 0 0 2020-03-24 463 1,791 9 25 0 0 2020-03-25 504 2,295 18 43 0 0 2020-03-26 561 2,856 17 60 0 0 2020-03-27 801 3,657 32 92 0 0 2020-03-28 993 4,650 19 111 0 0 2020-03-29 846 5,486 21 132 0 0 2020-03-30 1,012 6,498 52 184 0 0 2020-03-31 1,117 7,615 75 259 0 0 2020-04-01 1,719 9,334 78 337 0 0 2020-04-02 1,417 10,791 80 417 0 0 2020-04-03 1,953 12,744 62 479 56 56 2020-04-04 1,081 14,225 61 540 0 56 2020-04-05 1,493 15,718 77 617 0 56 2020-04-06 1,503 17,221 110 727 0 56 2020-04-07 1,749 18,970 118 845 0 56 2020-04-08 1,376 20,346 114 959 0 56 2020-04-09 1,158 21,504 117 1,076 0 56 2020-04-10 1,279 22,783 205 1,281 377 433 2020-04-11 1,210 23,993 111 1,392 0 433 2020-04-12 645 24,638 95 1,487 0 433 2020-04-13 997 25,636 115 1,602 0 433 2020-04-14 1,366 27,001 166 1,768 0 433 2020-04-15 1,058 28,059 153 1,921 0 433 2020-04-16 1,204 29,263 172 2,093 0 433 2020-04-17 760 30,023 134 2,227 2,804 3,237 2020-04-18 768 30,791 81 2,308 0 3,237 2020-04-19 633 31,424 83 2,391 0 3,237 2020-04-20 576 32,000 77 2,468 0 3,237 2020-04-21 967 32,967 232 2,700 0 3,237 2020-04-22 999 33,966 183 2,813 0 3,237 2020-04-23 1,325 35,291 164 2,977 0 3,237 2020-04-24 1,350 36,641 108 3,085 5,105 8,342 2020-04-25 562 37,203 189 3,274 0 8,342 2020-04-26 575 37,778 41 3,315 0 8,342 2020-04-27 432 38,210 92 3,407 0 8,342 2020-04-28 1,052 39,262 160 3,567 0 8,342 2020-04-29 1,137 40,399 103 3,670 0 8,342 2020-04-30 980 41,379 119 3,789 0 8,342