Retailers report pushback against ‘Social Distance’ enforcers; Are we headed for Independence Day 2.0?

Tensions are escalating across America as people have had enough of power-mad governors and state officials trying to enforce tyranny in the name of protecting people from a virus. If this continues through the July 4th weekend, will things turn into Independence Day 2.0?

The feature image at the top of this page shows an Alabama woman after she was body-slammed to the floor after what started as a police officer ordering her to wear a mask.  Things escalated (the officer’s ego didn’t allow him to de-escalate, and neither did the woman’s – a classic case of when anuses collide) and you see the final result.

But it’s not just in Alabama.

The Illinois Retail Merchants Association reports that customers have already begun pushing back on busybodies scolding them to follow Governor J.B.Pritzker’s executive order mandating masks for people in stores. And they report the problem has quickly grown worse – with increasing violence.

CapitolFax, a well-known, hard-left political blog in the Land of Lincoln, has the story.

Mask-haters causing problems at retail establishments

The Illinois Retail Merchants Association is receiving regular updates from its members about the issues around the new face-covering requirement in the governor’s revised executive order. I asked them to send me a roundup. Here it is…

DeKalb – Consumer Wearing Hunting Knife Refuses to Wear Mask

Have had 3 or 4 customer issues about asking them to wear a mask. One was somewhat disturbing. Very large man about 6 foot 6 with what I believe was a hunting knife told me that he would not wear a mask and we can’t legally ask him to put one on and he was going to shop in the store and asked how I was going to enforce it…

Even police are ignoring the governor’s mask order. But to be fair, the governor’s own wife and kids ignored the “stay at home order” and flew down to the Pritzkers’ $12 million horse farm in Florida where they don’t have to stay at home or wear masks.

Peoria—Law Enforcement Officer in Uniform Refuses to Wear Mask

A police officer visited the grocery store without a mask. Several customers and the store manager challenged him on it. The officer told them he was making a political protest. The manager asked him to leave which he ultimately did but how do you get enforcement help when the police aren’t abiding?…

Carbondale—Employees Threatened

I want to share with you the issues we are having at our Carbondale store around the face covering mandate. This is putting our Teammates and Customers in harm’s way. We have already had several issues at this location as we attempt to enforce this. The issues arise not only between Customers and our Teammates but also between Customers. The public is on edge and even a passive approach has sent several Customer’s over the edge to a point they are shouting at our Teammates. Our Teammates fear for their safety. When someone refuses to comply, we have had complying Customer’s verbally attack the non-compliance Customer. We should not be the police or enforcers. My fear is that these instances will escalate into a situation where someone will get hurt.

And then there’s the Romeoville mayor who seems eager to kick off the boogaloo…

Romeoville #2—Mayor Advised Law Enforcement to Arrest Retail Workers Not Enforcing Mask Requirement

The Romeoville Mayor sent a police officer to let me know that going forward, we must refuse any individuals at the front doors that are not wearing a mask. If not, the store manager in charge will be arrested for reckless endangerment. He did not have any documentation of the sudden change.

Americans are reading stories about overzealous law enforcement “protecting and serving” people good and hard while enforcing radical state dictates. This one from Las Vegas.

Today the #lockdown gestapo burst into our shop while we were there grabbing sanitation supplies for our home. No lights on, signs off. In busts SIX ARMED #LVPD! And now we have lost our license. This means we can’t take care of our fam when this is over. #COVID19 #OverReach

— Grace in Your Face 🙏🏼❤️🇺🇸 (@MediumGrace) May 4, 2020

BREAKING: Shelley Luther, a Dallas hair salon owner who opened in violation of the governor’s executive order, sentenced to 7 days in jail for civil / criminal contempt of court and fined $7,000. @CBSDFW

— Andrea Lucia (@CBS11Andrea) May 5, 2020

The judge told Shelley Luther she
could avoid jail time if she apologized, admitted she was wrong, and agreed to close her hair salon until it was allowed to open.

This is her response…@CBSDFW pic.twitter.com/1phdNUsLme

— Andrea Lucia (@CBS11Andrea) May 5, 2020

If some governors follow Oregon’s lead and extend these lockdown rules past the July 4th weekend, this year’s celebration could become Independence Day 2.0.

On Tuesday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker told Oregon’s governor to hold his beer. Pritzker announced that the Land of Lincoln will not fully reopen until a vaccine for the Wuhan flu is available.

All that’s needed to kick off a real revolution is for a busybody Karen, pressing her nose up against her window, to call authorities and report on a July 4 gathering of her (or his) neighbors. America’s Independence Day weekend has a long tradition of cookouts, social gatherings, and even some drinking.  These are all things Karens and chickified man-child Karens (would that be a Kyle or a Greg?) may find repugnant.

“Hi. 911? Please send police to break up the unlawful group next door. They might spread the virus! I can smell their grill, which means they might be exposing my family to COVID!  Please hurry! OMFGBBQ!”

Add if a couple of cops like these below show up, things could easily go sideways.

Caught On Video: A pair of Wisconsin police officers on a crazed power trip show up at a woman’s home because she “violated a state order” by allowing her daughter to play at a neighbor’s house pic.twitter.com/JTtogvoE1X

— Darrin McBreen (@MediaRival) April 29, 2020

If this happens more than a few times or to the wrong person, someone is going to get hurt. Or worse.

Because you can only push someone who’s lost their livelihood, their jobs, their dignity and their hope so far before the pushback goes from verbal to physical to downright revolutionary.

If things continue, someone, somewhere is going to exercise the cartridge box method of protest against one or more oath-breaking politicians issuing tyrannical decrees or police officers rigidly enforcing them.

It took three strikes of the match in April of 1775 to kick off the first American revolution. Who knows how many strikes it will take to start a second one. Hopefully we won’t find out in our lifetimes.