Governor Gordon Comments On Meeting With Protestors

Doug Randall, Townsquare Media

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon spoke with protestors calling for the reopening of the state economy on Monday at the Wyoming Capitol Building.

The governor later posted the following comments on his Facebook page:

''I met with protesters who came to the State Capitol today to exercise their 1st Amendment rights to demonstrate and urge that we “reopen” Wyoming. While I disagree with their decision to violate a public health order, I nonetheless thought it was important to listen to their concerns.

I appreciate hearing these voices and I want all our citizens to know it was not an easy decision to put our public health orders in place. I recognize the incredible impact these orders have had on our state’s businesses and workers.

We will continue to prioritize the health and well being of our state’s residents and we will take a measured approach to easing the restrictions we have in place. In the next few days we will release more detailed information about the metrics that will be used to determine how we can move forward to get our economy rolling again.''

The crowd was estimated at around 100 to 150 people. Protest organizers say they will hold another rally at 4 p.m. on Friday.

The governor later in the day added the following comments, again on his Facebook page:

''Today I spoke to protesters outside the Capitol. I hear you. We all want our businesses and workers to be able to thrive again. But, we must be deliberate about our process. We need to remember that COVID-19 can spread easily, even among people without symptoms. We are working on a plan to transition Wyoming, but social distancing must continue to be part of that transition.''