South Charlotte Today

U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-North Carolina) stood before a crowd of approximately 1,000 #ReopenNC protestors in downtown Raleigh with a bottle of hand sanitizer in one hand and a copy of the U.S. Constitution in the other, and told the crowd, "I knew I had to come here... to remind the governor that our rights don’t exist by his benevolence,” according to the Charlotte Observer.

“The 1st Amendment is not under a stay-home order," he said in supporting the rally in late April. 

Prior to the protest, Bishop explained why he supported the grassroots social media group #ReopenNC.

U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-North Carolina) | Courtesy Photo

In mid-April, more than a hundred protestors from #ReopenNC descended on Raleigh to protest the state's stay-at-home order, which they believe is encroaching on their freedoms and rights, Bishop said in a statement on his official website.  

The Raleigh Police Department arrested a woman at the rally and later posted a tweet on the department's official Twitter account that read, "Protesting is a non-essential activity," according to Bishop's official website.

Bishop told the Carolina Journal, that's when he knew he would attend the next Reopen NC protest.

"I knew that I was going to be here to honor and support the great work being done by the people who formed that social media group and those like it across the county," Bishop said during the spot with Carolina Journal.

Bishop also expressed concerns about how North Carolina residents, businesses and houses of worship are impacted by the governor's stay-at-home Order, according to Bishop's official website.

"When we are emptying our jails of convicted criminals and filling them with protestors when we are selling copious amounts of liquor from state-owned ABC stores yet banning churches from meeting, and when we are denying the press and public access to information government officials are using to make decisions, it is time to protest," Bishop said in a statement on his official website.  

Bishop told Carolina Journal, attending the protest renewed his pride as an American.

"There's an exhilaration that comes from seeing people stand up for liberty," Bishop told Carolina Journal. "Ronald Reagan said it doesn't get passed on in the bloodstream, it has to be fought for and protected."