The Photographer Who Took The Viral Photos Of People In Scrubs Blocking Anti-Lockdown Protesters In Denver Described What Happened

To help keep this news free, become a member and sign up for our newsletter, Outbreak Today.Like millions of others in the US, Alyson McClaran, a Denver-based freelance photographer, is out of work during the lockdown.So she decided to go to the state Capitol on Sunday to photograph hundreds of people who had gathered there to protest the stay-at-home order in the Colorado capital."I wanted to document history," McClaran told BuzzFeed News on Monday.The protest, dubbed Operation Gridlock, is part of a wave of similar demonstrations across the country by right-wing groups and conservatives who are calling for an end to lockdown measures implemented to stop the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.Alyson McClaranBut McClaran soon decided to leave because many protesters at the demonstration didn't have masks on and weren't practicing social distancing."I didn't feel very safe, healthwise," McClaran said.While walking toward her home from the Capitol, McClaran saw two people in scrubs and N95 masks standing in the middle of the street to block anti-lockdown protesters from going to the Capitol."This is it. This is what I needed," McClaran said, recalling the moment she witnessed the striking scene.McClaran's photos of the scene perfectly captured the ongoing tension in the US amid the coronavirus pandemic: Conservative demonstrators, supported by President Donald Trump, are fighting against stay-at-home orders and demanding states be reopened, while health care workers are risking their lives fighting against the deadly pandemic that has taken more than 40,000 lives in the country.McClaran said people in the cars were continually honking at the man and the woman in scrubs, but they both stood their ground even as the light turned green.One woman in a car, holding a "Land of the Free" poster, leaned out of her window and repeatedly yelled at the male counterprotester to "go to China" and other "hateful" things, McClaran said.McClaran's boyfriend, Marc Zenn, took a video of the woman screaming at the man who stood quietly through her tirade.Two nurses, who have witnessed first hand the toll Covid is taking in Colorado, stood up and peacefully counter protested.