RALEIGH — In a press conference held via Zoom earlier today, Ashley Smith, co-founder of the ReOpen NC movement said that Cooper’s “Phase Two” was not good enough and that a major rally was planned for next week.
“Cooper’s new phase is filled with more arbitrary rules that have no data to back them up,” Smith said. “Safer at home Phase Two is not good enough for us.”
Smith announced that on Memorial Day, which is this coming Monday, May 25, ReOpen NC would hold a “Freedom” rally in five cities from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cities include Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh and Wilmington. Details for the event can be found on the ReOpen NC Facebook page under “events.”
“Everything Cooper said is the opposite of what nationwide data and trends indicate in states that are already open,” said Smith. She added there was a growing base of evidence that staying at home is the “wrong course of action.”
Smith went on to say that “Businesses will continue to struggle if they operate under these unconstitutional state government guidelines.”
When asked about the possibility that fitness and health clubs could be suing Governor Roy Cooper over his Phase Two order, Smith said “good” and that they would have the support of ReOpen NC.
Smith said that ReOpen NC itself does not have any plans to engage in a legal battle. She said that the movement would support any groups and sectors of business in the state that were considering such options.
“We are encouraging business owners to open and to open by the thousands and to do it now,” Smith said. “We will not accept this current state of affairs as the ‘new normal’.”
The Memorial Day protest marks the sixth such protests organized by ReOpen NC since early April.
