Capitol News

TV host Mark Meckler spoke with Sergei Kelley, a student journalist and editor-in chief of The Morning Watch at Michigan State University, on April 30 about the paper's coverage of Operation Gridlock protest in Lansing, Mich., earlier in the month.

A reporter for The Morning Watch was at the event, and Kelley discussed what their publication reported, and saw happening, as well as what was reported by other outlets.

Kelley calls The Morning Watch a conservative independent watchdog publication that works to expose leftist bias, including favoritism by the university, student groups, or even the state toward a “leftist ideology.” Kelley said he found out about Operation Gridlock through social media and said he knew they were expecting hundreds of cars, and that “it turned out better than anyone expected.”

“It was really a great show,“ Kelley said.

On April 15, Kelley said that thousands of cars came to Lansing, including people from the Upper Peninsula of the state after a six-hour car ride.

“It really fully gridlocked, once the cars pulled in and surrounded the capital, everything stopped around that block surrounding the capital,” Kelley said.

He described the situation as an “overwhelmingly peaceful protest.”

Kelley said there were a few people who went counter to the guidelines of the organizers: stay in your car, be lawful. There were people who did get out of their cars, and a small group in front of the Capitol building.

“Granted the people who were coming, we were expecting these were peaceful people who just wanted to tell Gov. Gretchen Whitmer they’re not happy,” Kelley said.

Signs ran the gamut. There were a lot of signs supporting President Trump, as well as “Liberate Michigan” and “Let My People Mow” signs, he said.

The organizers told people to follow CDC guidelines and, according to Kelley, most of what he’s seen going through footage of the protest people did.

“Going through footage of the protest, you see cars and cars and cars, people in their cars following the rules,” he said. “To see conservatives or people just angry at what their governor [and then see them described], even by the governor, as a political stunt, it was kind of unwelcoming, and really harmful to bringing up discussion of what she’s doing and what she shouldn’t be doing.” 

Meckler pointed out that the people pointing fingers at protestors, whether the outlet is CNN, the New York Times or another, have jobs and are singling out and attacking and mocking individuals who want to work and who want to buy groceries and feed their families. 

“There’s an incredible separation between the ruling elite, in which I would include Gov. Whitmer, and regular people who are just trying to survive,” Meckler said.

Kelley said that Operation Gridlock organizers are done, but that he has heard of other protests – including one April 29 at the Capitol Building and a protest on April 30 outside the Governor’s Mansion.