A protester was filmed at an anti-lockdown rally carrying a placard calling on politicians to ‘Sacrifice the weak’ to Covid-19. The protester, who covered the lower half of their face with a scarf and wore sunglasses, was spotted at a ReOpen Tennessee rally in Nashville on Tuesday.

Their banner read ‘Sacrifice the weak, reopen TN,’ and was spotted in the background of a news report by WKRN reporter Elizabeth Lane. It is unclear whether the protester meant what their placard said, or if it was intended as a sarcastic rebuttal to others calling for Tennessee to reopen. The sentiments on the poster were echoed on other placards elsewhere at the same protest, with one woman toting a sign saying ‘Trust God for safety not man.’ Another woman who appeared to be along with her held a sign taking aim at ongoing efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine, which said: ‘Natural immunity over man-made poison.’

Others who attended the same protest carried signs begging for the chance to be allowed to return to work. One demonstrator took aim at White House immunologist Dr Anthony Fauci with a poster claiming ‘Fauci lied, main street died.’ Tennessee Governor Bill Lee says he believes that social distancing measures have worked, and that the economy can soon begin to reopen.

He spoke after Tennessee met the White House’s criteria for the first phase of reopening, by recording 14 consecutive days of falling coronavirus diagnoses numbers. Tennessee has seen close to 7,400 coronavirus diagnoses, and 157 Covid-19-related deaths. The virus is particularly dangerous for the elderly, and people with certain underlying health conditions or compromised immune systems.

Protesters took to the streets of Tennessee as the newly-christened ReOpen America movement held rallies elsewhere across the country. Tuesday also saw a large rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, with protesters filmed tightly packed together.

That came on the same day North Carolina recorded the highest number of Covid-19 diagnoses since the crisis began. Donald Trump appears to have offered tacit support for the protest, despite his own administration’s social distancing guidelines, and last week issued tweets calling on followers to ‘Liberate’ the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia from lockdown.