Rep. Dan Crenshaw slammed Dallas officials who had a local salon owner arrested for breaking lockdown orders and opening her business.
Dallas Judge Eric Moye sentenced Salon À la Mode owner Shelley Luther to a week in jail and fined her at least $3,500 after she opened her business last month, violating state emergency orders. Crenshaw shared a video of Luther’s court hearing on Twitter, bashing the public officials who cracked down on her.
“These punishments are NOT just. They are not reasonable. Small-minded ‘leaders’ across the country have become drunk with power. This must end,” Crenshaw (R-TX) said Tuesday.
These punishments are NOT just. They are not reasonable. Small-minded “leaders” across the country have become drunk with power. This must end. https://t.co/d31aEZg8b4
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) May 6, 2020
During the hearing, Moye gave Luther the chance to walk free as long as she admitted she was wrong to open her salon and apologized to elected officials for violating their orders. Luther refused.
“Judge, I would like to say that I have much respect for this court and laws and that I have never been in this position before and it’s not someplace that I want to be. But I have to disagree with you, sir, when you say that I’m selfish because feeding my kids — is not selfish,” Luther said.
“I have hair stylists that are going hungry because they’d rather feed their kids,” Luther continued. “So, sir, if you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision, but I am not going to shut the salon.”
Luther shut down her business on March 22 but reopened on April 24 in defiance of a state-wide stay-at-home order. Police officers issued her a citation the first day. On April 25, Luther appeared at a lockdown protest in Frisco, near Dallas, and tore apart a cease-and-desist letter ordering her to close her salon. Luther kept her salon open for a week before officials forced it to close.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has begun gradually reopening parts of the state. He announced on Tuesday that another wave of businesses, including hair salons, would be allowed to reopen at the end of the week on Friday, according to The Dallas Morning News.
“It’s up to Texans whether or not we remain open and in fact open up even more, or alternatively, if actions need to be taken that will lead to greater containment in certain areas,” Abbott said.
The governor’s order opening up barber shops and hair and nail salons came after two Republican state lawmakers protested Abbott’s shutdown order by getting illegal haircuts. State Reps. Steve Toth and Briscoe Cain visited a salon in Houston Tuesday morning and told reporters that “there’s absolutely no reason” why hair and nail stylists could not operate while following proper health guidelines, according to the Texas Tribune.
“I think these businesses need to be open,” Cain said.
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