Michigan Pulls License of Barber Flouting Whitmers Lockdown
A 77-year-old Michigan barbershop owner has had his license suspended, according to legal documents ..
A 77-year-old Michigan barbershop owner has had his license suspended, according to legal documents (pdf) claiming that by cutting hair in violation of Gov. Gretchen Whitmers “non-essential” business shutdown, the elderly barber “has the potential to spread COVID-19 around the state.”
Karl Manke, who runs Karl Manke Main St. Barber & Beauty Shop in Owosso, a small town between Lansing and Flint, has had both his license and that of his business “summarily suspended,” according to a May 12 order signed by Debra Gagrialdi, director of the Bureau of Professional Licensing.
The suspension order claims the situation at the Owosso barber required “emergency action” to protect “the public health, safety or welfare.”
Mankes lawyer, David Kallman, told The Detroit News that under a separate Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) order, his client also faces “$1,000 and 1 year in jail per haircut.”
Barber Karl Manke cuts a clients hair at his barber shop in Owosso, Mich., on May 12, 2020. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images)Manke, who opened his shop on May 4, told ABC12 he is determined to keep working regardless of Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmers “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order for “non-essential” businesses like his to remain closed.
“Im 77,” he said. “What, are they going to give me? Life? Ive got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. I could care less.”
Manke told supporters who gathered outside his shop on Monday that he “cannot believe the support that Ive got.”
“Its overwhelming,” he said, explaining he doesnt want government help, only to continue working in his barbershop.
“Ive never looked for handouts. I dont even know what they are. I had somebody call me and say, Well, why dont you get on food stamps? I dont want to get on food stamps. I want to work,” he said.
People wait in line to have their hair cut in front of the shop of Barber Karl Manke, in Owosso, Mich., on May 12, 2020. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images)Whitmer, meanwhile, has repeatedly asserted the necessity of maintaining the shutdowns, even as protests and civil disobedience against her orders mount.
“These executive orders are not a suggestion. Theyre not optional. Theyre not helpful hints,” she said at a briefing on May 11.
Whitmer said the orders prohibiting barbers from operating are there to prevent a second wave of COVID-19, the disease caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, which emerged from China last year.
“The devastation from a second wave could dwarf what weve already endured together,” Whitmer said, ABC12 reported.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing, Michigan, on April 13, 2020. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, Pool)Since reopening his barbershop on May 4, Manke has attracted customers from across the state, the Michigan DHHS said in its order, noting that photos published in news reports show customers inside not wearing masks, leading the agency to conclude that Mankes business “has the potential to spread COVID-19 around the state by bringing people from different households in close proximity to one another.”
The DHHS Director, in issuing an Imminent Danger and Abatement Order on May 8, ordered Manke to shut dRead More – Source
