A vocal few across Texas defy Abbott’s emergency order
Protests against governor’s measure mostly met with warnings for salons, other places
Despite a restraining order, a Dallas salon owner continues to keep her beauty business open, cheered on at times by armed demonstrators who congregate outside her doors.
A strip club in Houston briefly reopened at midnight Friday but shut down after police threatened arrests.
And officials in several Texas counties have publicly declined to enforce the emergency order enacted by Gov. Greg Abbott to restrict businesses in the name of slowing down the spread of COVID-19.
They were among those testing the strength of Abbott’s order Friday,
the first day after Abbott lifted his monthlong stay-home order and allowed most Texas businesses to reopen with conditions.
The governor has said the emergency order — which calls for salons, bars and massage parlors to stay closed for the time being — will be enforced by local law enforcement and state regulatory agencies. But so far, the protests have mostly been met with warnings.
Shelley Luther, owner of Salon a la Mode in Dallas, which opened last week and stayed open, says it will take a lot more than that to close her shop.
“I will never shut down just to prove the point: There’s nothing that the government can do to take away God-given rights,” she said Friday.
Some Republican local leaders, state lawmakers and business owners have expressed similar views.
Former congressional candidate Chris Putnam was planning a “Honkytonk Crawl for Freedom” Friday night at the Fort Worth Stockyards.
“Let’s be clear. You are breaking no actual laws supporting these businesses this Friday,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Rather you are doing precisely what our Founding Fathers (who are turning over in their graves right now) would want and expect you to do.”
Abbott on Friday enacted phase one of his plan for reopening the economy, allowing retail businesses, restaurants, movie theaters and malls across the state to reopen at no more than 25 percent capacity. A second phase, tentatively planned for May 18, would increase that capacity to 50 percent
and allow other businesses, such as bars, beauty salons and gyms, to reopen.
But after the first day, it was clear that there are no officials snooping around counting diners or looking for violations.
In Harris County, for example, no local law enforcement agency has said it plans to conduct patrols or otherwise check on businesses for compliance.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, the city of Houston had received 50 complaints to its 311 call center. The Houston Fire Department had responded to 32 complaints in the 24 hours leading up to 7 a.m. Friday and cited one business — the strip club that had tried to open at midnight but closed after the police threatened to arrest the owner. He received a warning but said he would open again Friday night.
The strip club, Onyx Club, won a temporary order from federal court Friday night allowing it to resume business.
Onyx Club had opened just after midnight, claiming it was a full-service restaurant and that strippers there were merely “entertainment.”
Regulatory agencies also had relatively little action to report. State Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury, a member of the Texas House Freedom Caucus who has opposed stay-at-home restrictions, said in an advisory letter Wednesday that he asked the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation how it was enforcing Abbott’s order. The agency replied that it can’t cite businesses and is instead forwarding complaints to local law enforcement.
“At this time, our laws and rules do not speak to enforcement solely based on a violation of the governor’s order,” Lang quoted the agency as saying.
At the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which regulates liquor license holders, spokesman Chris Porter told the Houston Chronicle this week that the agency’s efforts will be mainly educational at first with no warnings or penalties issued. Repeated violations after warnings could result in additional action, he said.
Hood County Attorney Matt Mills on Wednesday called Abbott’s orders “unjust and unconstitutional” and said he would not prosecute anyone for violating them, according to the Hood County News.
It appeared the same was going to occur in Montgomery County until Friday, when the order took effect.
County Judge Mark Keough earlier this week had said that the governor’s plan was vague. Abbott responded quickly and amiably, conceding that he could have been more specific and calling the judge “a good guy trying to do the right thing” on Fox 26 (KRIV), a Houston TV station.
“I actually went back and looked at the order, and I can understand why he’s saying that it needs clarification, and so we will provide that clarification,” Abbott said. “I can now see why the judge views the language as being ambiguous, and we will clear up that ambiguity.”
Late Thursday, the Texas Attorney General’s Office issued guidance making it clear that all businesses deemed nonessential in the governor’s order are to remained closed. That seemed to appease Keough, who backed down from his original comments, but stressed that he still wants to see the salons, barber shops and other businesses up and running as soon as possible. Keough asked for local legislative leaders’ support.
“I have worked hard and will continue to work hard to get these businesses open as fast as we can; I believe it is essential for us as a county and the future of the state of Texas,” Keough said. “We’ve got to get back rolling our businesses as safely as possible and make sure we protect those who are most vulnerable. That’s my plan.”
Some, however, including Salon a la Mode owner Luther, don’t think they need to wait. She said she’s been encouraged by conversations she’s had with Abbott’s office and other state officials about allowing salons to open sooner. In the meantime, she has no plans to change what she’s doing.
Several Republican state lawmakers have backed her cause, including Rep. James White, R-Hillister.
“Respectfully, ENOUGH!!! You are the only one that can STOP this!!! ENOUGH!!!” White wrote on Twitter. “Where is the science about two people, a hair stylist and his/her customer, being any worse than 25% people in a store and why 25%! Please have this stopped!”
On top of sanitation standards required under her license, Luther said her stylists are wearing masks, and she’s sterilized the store and created a makeshift waiting room outdoors with chairs 6 feet apart.
“When people ask, ‘How can we help you?’ I say open your business,” Luther said. “That’s the kind of help I’m asking for: Just open your business. They can’t stop all of us.”