A Washington barber is filling chairs after defying Gov. Jay Inslee's stay-at-home order, saying he was not worried about being in trouble for running his business without the government's permission.
"If they fine me, take away my license, or not renew it, I'm going to operate anyway," the barber, Bob Martin, a former Marine who has run his barbershop for 50 years in Snohomish, Washington, told Fox affiliate KCPQ in Seattle, per Fox News. “What are you going to do now? I don't need a piece of paper to do what I've been doing for 60 years."
Martin had initially followed Inslee's directive to remain closed, but as time went on, he decided to reopen secretly. But when Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney said he would not enforce Inslee's order to stay at home through May 31, as he believed it to be a violation of constitutional rights, Martin said he decided to turn back on his lights and turn back on his "Open" sign.
According to state health department data, 15,462 people in Washington have been infected with COVID-19, and 841 have died.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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