Things Just Got A Whole Lot Worse For Gov. Whitmer After New Lawsuit Is Launched
Things just got a lot worse for Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after a pro-life group launched a new lawsuit.
Governor Whitmer is being forced to back down after Andrew Belanger and his pro-life group launched a federal lawsuit against her and the Detroit police department.
On March 31st a group of pro-life activists was protesting outside of the Scottsdale Women’s Center and Family Planning when they were approached by multiple police officers that showed up and threatened to arrest them if they didn’t leave.
The Detroit police officers told the protestors that they were violating Whitmer’s stay-at-home order despite that the order allowed people to be outside, the officers told them their activity wasn’t “essential.”
During the encounter a pro-life activist asked if he could pray for the officers and started to pray, three officers turned and walked away.
Two of the officers talking to the pro-life group bowed their heads to pray. Soon after all the officers left but they did cite the group.
One week after the citation was issued, Whitmer “clarified” that her stay at home order exempted those engaging in their First Amendment rights.
Whitmer was late to the punch because Belanger filed a federal lawsuit against her and the Detroit police over the citation. Detroit News reported:
Muise, a lawyer with the conservative, Ann Arbor-based American Freedom Law Center, had argued that the citation violated Belanger’s First Amendment right to free speech and free exercise of religion and his 14th Amendment right to equal protection. He further argued Belanger’s activity should have been allowed under Whitmer’s original March 23 stay-home order because it exempted outdoor activity.
Whitmer tried to cover-up her mistake when she posted the addendum and wanted to make it clear “that the constitutional protections remain in place and the governor is fully committed to protecting them.”
The police dropped the citation since the lawsuit was launched and Belanger said that he feels the lawsuit accomplished his goal and that he will not proceed with any more litigation.
