Dozens of local residents fed-up with COVID-19-related restrictions rallied in Cody on Friday afternoon, calling on Gov. Mark Gordon to “reopen Wyoming.” Speakers at the event decried the state’s current public health orders as both damaging to business and unconstitutional, while expressing doubts about the true danger posed by the new coronavirus.

Among those taking the bullhorn was James Andrews, the owner of The Red Zone Sports Bar and Grill in downtown Powell. Like other other restaurants, The Red Zone has been limited to takeout-only service — and Andrews said the restrictions have put the establishment on the verge of collapsing. Thanks to a loan through the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, Andrews said he has enough money to continue operating for about another month. “... And then we’re just going to close and probably for good,” he said.

“The common cold is what’s going to close us. This is crap,” Andrews said, concluding his remarks with a call to, “live free or die!”

Public health officials have said the new coronavirus is proving more infectious and deadlier than the common cold or flu, in part because the human population hasn’t had the chance to develop any immunity. Federal, state and county health officials have encouraged people to stay home when possible and to limit their contact with others to slow the spread of the disease — and Gov. Gordon has said the state must be careful in easing off the restrictions.

The governor has also disputed the idea that Wyoming was ever closed, noting he broke with most other states and refused to issue a shelter-in-place order. In deciding when to lift the current limitations on businesses and gatherings, “we will not be driven by politics” or specific dates, he said Thursday.

One of the organizers of Friday’s rally in Cody, Wyoming Health Freedom Director Kristy Tyrney of Powell, said ahead of the event that Gordon is “dragging his feet” and “that’s just not good enough.”

“Every passing day is damaging to our economy. It’s damaging to the wellbeing of the individuals in our community; it’s making it harder to recover,” Tyrney said in a video. A petition she read at the rally noted that, as unemployment rises, so do deaths.

More than 50 people showed up at Cody City Park on Friday, generally not observing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation to stay 6 feet apart. Some attendees exchanged handshakes and hugs. A couple of counterprotesters — wearing face coverings — also attended, carrying signs that said things like, “Ignorance kills.”

The roughly 10 people who at the rally spoke, generally rejected the facts and perspectives laid out by public health officials on COVID-19.

“This is one of the grandest hoaxes in the history of the world,” said Bob Berry, a Cody bed and breakfast owner and conservative activist. Underscoring his skepticism, Berry suggested the disease may have passed through the Cody area back in November, even though the United States didn’t document its first case of COVID-19 until Jan. 20.

With the restrictions now in place, Berry said that “we might save one 90-year-old person” from the disease, which poses the greatest risk to people over the age of 65 and those with underlying health conditions.

But Berry stressed that he sees the issue as not being about deaths, but about Constitutional rights.

“We are giving our country away,” Berry said, adding, “I do not want to be one of those people that just sat at home and watched my country dissolve without a fight.”

He urged people to “get involved and get this over with.”

‘What the liberals want’

A pair of elected officials — state Rep. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, and Powell City Councilman Scott Mangold — attended Friday’s rally. Neither took to the bullhorn, but in an interview, Laursen said he would have liked Gov. Gordon to give some more specific dates for easing the state’s restrictions.

“I think some optimism out there would be good,” the lawmaker said, adding that, “people need some encouragement.”

Laursen also opined that the current COVID-19 shutdown is “definitely what the liberals want … bigger government.”

“I do really think the Democrats are in on it,” he said, adding, “If they’re not, they’re cheering it along, along with the big media, for sure.”

Roger Brunk of Cody — who helped organize the event alongside Tyrney, Wyoming Health Freedom (which opposes mandatory vaccinations) and Wyoming Gun Owners — also suggested an underlying agenda in the government reaction to the “supposed pandemic.”

Brunk’s wife is among those put out of work by the economic slowdown and he said her unemployment checks have sometimes included “extra” money. “I think they’re trying to get us hooked on the government providing for us,” Brunk said.

One woman who spoke on the open mic, Lauretta Walker of Cody, went further in contending that the current events are part of a “one-world order” conspiracy; she said COVID-19 could either be a common cold or an engineered bioweapon.

Bail bondsman Boone Tidwell of Cody contended that people should be allowed to make their own decisions.

“If I want to open my business, I have the right to open my business. You also have the right to either patronize me or not,” Tidwell said. “That’s the question in this environment: Does anyone have the authority to put you out of business and make you sit in your home? And I say no to that.”

Sunny Burns, who offers river trips and other tours through Cody Wyoming Adventures and owns short-term rentals, said she’s lost more than $40,000 worth of bookings in recent weeks. Additionally, 30-35 employees who’d normally be gearing up for the summer season have been idled, she said.

Burns said Cody must keep tourists coming this year — and she said businesses can adapt for social distancing in Wyoming’s wide open spaces.

“... We do need to have that money coming in into summer,” Burns said. “We need to figure this out.”

Among those out of work is Jennifer Gould of Cody, who lost her job as a server at a Cody restaurant.

“Businesses that have been around for so many years have shut their businesses,” she said. “It’s really sad.”

Gould encouraged attendees to support local establishments.