'We're winging this.' Coronavirus protests tout independence as national groups eye election

Madison Elmer got the offer shortly after she and some friends started organizing a protest to oppose Wisconsin's coronavirus stay-at-home order: An outside group wanted to chip in some money to help pay for the rally she plans this week.

Concerned about the strings that could be attached, Elmer turned it down.

"We felt like it had a political agenda behind it,” said the Wisconsin native, who declined to name the group. “We didn’t want to be pawns in somebody’s else’s game.”

As protesters across the country plan to challenge statewide coronavirus orders, they fiercely resist a growing narrative that they are aligned with or funded by national groups, gun rights organizations or entities supporting President Donald Trump’s reelection – even as some of those groups take part in the events.

The protests, focused on rolling back stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of coronavirus, snarled traffic in Michigan, blocking a hospital entrance. Thousands of cheering, flag-waving drivers cruised around Pennsylvania. Some demonstrations feature Trump campaign flags, but homemade signs – such as one in Tennessee that encouraged Americans to "fear your government," not the coronavirus – are more prevalent.

They have continued even as some states tentatively began reopening businesses and easing distancing guidelines. More than 46,000 Americans have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University. Trump encouraged states with fewer cases and deaths to begin bringing their economies back online.

Wisconsin had more than 4,800 confirmed cases of the virus by Wednesday and had recorded 246 deaths, according to the state health department.