Photo for the Mirror by Colin McGuire A protester holds a sign aimed at Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday at the Capitol building in Harrisburg as part of the Reopen PA rally aimed at raising awareness for reopening the state.

HARRISBURG — State Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, faced a hostile reaction Monday when the registered nurse said attendees at a rally Monday at the state Capitol should be wearing face masks.

The rally was to urge Gov. Tom Wolf to allow businesses in Pennsylvania to reopen and permit people to return to work amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Unfortunately for Ward, the crowd, which featured hundreds of attendees without any form of facial protection, rejected her advice.

“I’m a nurse, and I recognize that we’re in a pandemic,” she began, “and it frightens me that so many of you don’t have face masks and are standing shoulder to shoulder.”

For the next minute, loud boos from the crowd drowned out her amplified words. After the 75-second mark passed, attendees morphed the boos into an emphatic “USA!” chant that continued to overshadow the senator’s voice.

It was nearly two minutes before Ward won the crowd back, asking the hundreds in front of her if they felt the government should mandate that its state’s citizens wear a face mask in public.

“No!” onlookers shouted before eventually chanting “Open now!”

Ward and other speakers also had trouble communicating at times because of vehicle noise.

Police kept Third Street in Harrisburg open to local traffic, dividing gatherers between those who stood on the Capitol’s steps and its adjacent sidewalk, and those who chose not to cross the street. Meanwhile, as speakers took the microphone around noon, cars would oftentimes drown out an official’s microphone as travelers honked horns and revved motorcycles.

Doug Mastriano had better luck. The Republican senator who represents the state’s 33rd District began his speech by leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. He then spoke about how he felt Wolf’s order to close businesses was an overreach of his authority.

“Never before in the history of this commonwealth has a governor exercised so much power,” Mastriano said. “Never before has a governor decided what businesses are essential and nonessential — ‘you shall be closed, you shall be open.’ … It’s time to rise up.

“I see nothing but patriots out here,” he eventually concluded to an uproarious ovation. “Great Americans. We are Pennsylvania, where the light of independence and freedom was lit in Philadelphia. In 2020, we’re going to fight for our freedom and say no to tyranny.”

Wolf, meanwhile, announced Monday that he was extending the state’s stay-at-home order until May 8 and shoppers must wear masks when they enter a store.

Protesting from afar

“I think the governor has heard you,” Joel Underwood, a spokesman for the groups who organized the rally, told the crowd as the program wound down. “This is only the beginning; this is not the end of the movement. Remember, this is still a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Let’s continue to apply the pressure to safely reopen our businesses.”

Rick Arnold agreed.

He drove 103 miles to attend Monday’s rally. Hailing from Jersey Shore, he’s a retired steelworker who made the trek on his own, simply to see what all the fuss was about. As groups of protesters broke out in chants on the Capitol’s steps, waving homemade signs, Arnold stood across the street, away from the action.

He likes President Donald Trump, he said, because he speaks his mind. In his hand was a cup of coffee that he said he bought from a coffee shop down the street — a shop named Roxy’s that’s in danger of shutting down for good because of Gov. Wolf’s order. He was in favor of reopening the state because as far as he’s concerned, so many jobs force people to stay at least 6 feet away from one another in the first place.

“We need to get back on track, and we need to keep things going,” Arnold said between sips of coffee. “In my industry, we all stood far apart when we worked anyway. We need to start things back up.”

He then went on to explain how he found irony in the notion that the rally landed on the birthday of one Adolf Hitler.

“It’s fitting,” he noted. “We’re on the brink of bringing back socialism and Hitler was the biggest socialist the world has ever seen.”

Rick and Cindy, for their part, kept their distance from the Capitol altogether, calmly sitting next to their truck, which featured an inflated Statue of Liberty in its bed.

Wary of talking to the media, the couple declined to give their last names before explaining that because Cindy is a hairstylist, she hasn’t been able to keep her business open as a result of the statewide shutdown.

“It’s a violation of our rights,” she said before taking a moment to think.

“I mean, is any of this really helping people?”

Cashing in on Trump

It was barely 10:30 a.m. Monday when Mike Nester began unloading the final bits of merchandise he brought with him to sell at the rally to reopen Pennsylvania.

Yet instead of offering items that encouraged the state to get back to work, Nester was taking inventory of gear that promoted President Trump. Flags. Signs. Shirts. He had them all, and each one depicted a different slogan designed to rally the troops not behind the day’s proceedings, but rather, the president.

“A lot of people hate him, but they don’t even know why,” Nester said in reference to Trump. “I think he’s doing a good job. I mean, he’s a businessman, and there aren’t a lot of people who understand that business is fluid. People that don’t like him aren’t capable of understanding him.”

Understanding him, it turns out, can potentially lead to big business. Nester wasn’t the only attendee selling President Trump memorabilia at the rally.

Rocky Granata, who has received national attention for his RV that dons posters proclaiming “Women For Trump,” “Trump 2020: Make Liberals Cry Again” and “Trump: No man, no woman, no Commie can stump him,” was nearby as he stopped a man, asking if he could buy the shirts the stranger was selling for a wholesale price.

Nester and Granata said they know each other from attending similar events across the country, each selling their own President Trump products. When asked about why they were attending the rally, each gave their own take on what they felt was most important to not only the day, but also Pennsylvanians.

“It’s time to open up the state,” Nester proclaimed. “My brother-in-law’s miserable. He ran out of whiskey.”

Granata, meanwhile, had his mind elsewhere.

“Donald Trump has a heart,” he said when asked about attending the event, shying away from more questions. “He really cares for people.”