Conservative activists encourage DOJ to sue governors, local leaders for coronavirus restrictions, calling them ‘rampant abuses’

by Marty Johnson - 04/18/20 5:54 PM ET

The Conservative Action Project (CAP), a group comprised of conservative leaders from around the country, penned a letter to Attorney General William Barr asking the Justice Department to sue states governors for “rampant abuses of constitutional rights.”

“We urge you to undertake immediate review of all the orders that have been issued by the states and local governments across the nation,” the group wrote Friday.

“Although the orders are for the purpose of slowing the spread of the coronavirus, the nature and enforcement of the orders have increasingly raised serious concerns about violating the basic protections and rights guaranteed under the United States Constitution.”

The letter lists several examples of their qualms, including “prohibitions on citizens’ rights to purchase firearms” and dubbing “the right to assemble in protests against state shelter-in-place orders” as a nonessential activity.

CAP asked Barr to “review all local and state orders” that have been issued by governors and to “initiate litigation to enjoin the enforcement of orders that are not narrowly tailored and which infringe upon the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution.”

Protesters took to the streets in several states this week to protests their governors’ stay-at-home orders. In addition, plans for a “Freedom Rally” in Wisconsin were announced for April 24 after the governor extended his state’s stay-at-home order this week.

Many health experts and state leaders, such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), have repeatedly stressed that more widespread testing is needed before the country can reopen safely.

On Friday, President Trump took to Twitter, issuing a series of tweets calling to “LIBERATE” Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia — all states that have endured protests against stay-at-home orders issued by Democratic governors.