Apr 21, 2020 4 min read

HARRISBURG – 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. Taking place in front of the state’s Capitol building, the gathering was aimed at putting pressure on Gov. Tom Wolf to lift restrictions he put in place weeks ago to battle the COVID-19 outbreak.

Yet instead of offering items that encouraged the state to get back to work, Nester was taking inventory of gear that promoted a different topic altogether: 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 of the United States.

“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 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 Trump products on the street. 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 Pennsylvania’s citizens.

“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.”

As the day grew longer, the crowd grew bigger. 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.

One of the speakers who struggled to cut through the noise was Pennsylvania state Sen. Judy Ward, who not only was once a small business owner, but is also a registered nurse. She quickly tried to turn the tenor toward health after stepping to the podium for her speech.

Unfortunately for her, however, 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 she 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!”

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 non-essential – ‘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.”