The attorney found a coalition of roughly 5,000 Ohio citizens who were fed up with the state’s dramatic overreaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, and together they formed Ohio Stands Up!, a grassroots organization that has now filed a massive lawsuit against the governor and his administration in an effort to have the state’s arbitrary “state of emergency” lifted, and the rights of all citizens restored. Their effort was immediately applauded by Citizens for Free Speech (CFFS), a 501(c)(3) dedicated to defending First Amendment rights.

“This is exactly what we have been waiting for,” declared CFFS Executive Director Patrick Wood. “CFFS has been working hard to mobilize citizens in every state to fight in defense of the rights that have been stolen by elected executives who seem more addicted to their own power than they are about leading responsibly during the pandemic. We stand solidly behind Tom Renz and his organization.”

Speaking exclusively to CFFS, Renz explained the goal the suit filed by Ohio Stands Up! is to restrict the executive branch’s ability to declare a health emergency without any consultation with state legislators

“We do not believe the executive branch does not have the capacity to declare a real emergency,” the attorney said. “If there’s a biological terror attack or something like that, they’ve got to be able to act, and act quickly. No one denies that. What we can’t have is six months of non-stop emergency orders. If these orders are that important, and it’s six months down the road, pass them through the traditional (legislative) process. But that process involves actual protection of rights, and they don’t want to do that.”

As is the case in other states, Ohio’s businesses continue to suffer under burdensome restrictions that limit their capacity and operating hours, and tens of thousands remain unemployed as a consequence. State residents are also limited in where and how they can worship, where they can gather, and most of Ohio’s children are forbidden from attending in-person classes. Renz does not believe the government is being honest with the people.

“One of the key things that is done in public health, that’s not well known in the public, is that they intentionally use fear to manipulate the public,” he explained to CFFS. “The view of public health is to create ‘health within the public’, the public being the collective. So individuals’ rights don’t matter. But that doesn’t really mesh with the Constitution. And in Ohio, it’s been a master work of the use of fear to scare people into compliance.”

Wood agrees.

“The reason we stand with Mr. Renz and Ohio Stands Up! is because these scare-tactics are becoming commonplace throughout the country. If they are successful in getting Ohio’s state of emergency lifted, we are confident that the precedent will be set for other states to follow.”

While passionate about defending the rights of Ohio citizens, Renz does not want the public to think they do not take the Chinese Coronavirus seriously.

“We know the coronavirus is real,” Renz told CFFS. “We know people are dying from it. But we believe that the response to COVID-19 has been the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the American public.

An email press release from Renz went into more detail.

“The entire U.S. economy was shut down based on fraudulent models that predicted 2.2 million American deaths. The State of Ohio violated the U.S. Constitution with an emergency declaration that ignores the fundamental rights of all Ohioans. As a result, millions of Ohioans are suffering financially, physically, and mentally.”

Wood concurred with Renz’s analysis, and declared CFFS’s intention to support the legal action in any way they can.

“This is not just about Ohio; it’s about every state in the nation. We have all suffered greatly as a result of governmental overreach in response to this pandemic, and if this lawsuit succeeds on behalf of Ohio Stands Up!, perhaps the rest of us can stand up, too.”

For more information about CFFS please visit www.CitizensForFreeSpeech.org.

Contact:

Bob Frantz

National Director of Communications

[email protected]

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