Michigan barber ‘not caving in’ after state suspends license

Michael Levenson

A Michigan barber who reopened his shop in defi- ance of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s orders had his business and professional licenses suspended on Wednesday, the latest step in his escalating battle with the state.

Karl Manke, 77, who has been cutting hair in Owosso, Michigan, for almost 60 years, likened Michigan under Whit- mer, a Democrat, to “a police state.” He said he planned to keep cutting hair, despite the suspen- sion of his licenses.

“I’m not closing up; I’m not caving in to this,” he said Wednesday. “I’m not a rabble-rouser and I’m not a scofflaw. I’m a smalltown barber. I just want to make my living.”

“I’m not going to kow- tow to these unreasonable demands,” Manke added. “I have a craft that

I’ve worked at for nearly 60 years, and to just arbitrarily and unilaterally say, ‘I’m going to take your work right away’ — this is more of a police state now than anything I’ve ever experienced.”

Manke is just one of the latest business owners to defy orders to keep their doors closed to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Last week, Shelley Luther, a Dallas salon owner who reopened her business amid the pandemic, was released from jail after serving two days of a weeklong sentence for being in contempt of court. Her release ended a legal drama that turned her into a red-state icon for openly disregarding orders to keep her salon shut as the virus continued to spread in Texas.

Manke has also drawn attention far beyond Owosso, which is about 32 miles northeast of Lansing.