An Oregon salon owner has claimed that Democratic Gov. Kate Brown harassed and targetted her after she violated the state’s lockdown order to keep her business afloat.
“Glamour Salon owner Lindsey Graham reopened her salon in May and received a fine of $14,000 from the state,” reported Fox News. “Graham claimed that Brown began to personally ‘terrorize’ her family, and threatened to place her children under the care of Child Protective Services to ‘intimidate’ her into closing her salon doors.”
“As soon as I tried to open my doors against the governor’s mandate back in May, she came at me with the full weight of the state,” Graham said during a Monday interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
“She terrorized myself, she terrorized my stylists, and she terrorized my family,” she added. “She took every government agency she could, and she put her full weight into intimidating me into closing, including sending Child Protective Cervices to my home and threatening the removal of my children.”
Graham said that Child Protective Services soon came to her home and “interviewed my children without my presence.” After opening a full-blown case against her, social services backed down after she threatened a lawsuit. More from Fox News:
The suit, filed on Dec. 18, alleges that shutting private businesses “caused greater negative health effects on Oregonians in the form of increased stress, anxiety and depression,” KATU reported.
Graham claims that Brown does not have the authority to close private businesses that can demonstrate they can operate safely and adhere to the requirements the government laid out.
Graham also claimed that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration closed her case, deeming her business a “hazardous facility” for her employees.
Brown famously instituted an executive order this past November preventing Oregon residents from eating out at restaurants or going to the gym while limiting all social gatherings to just six people.
“We are eight months into the pandemic. We all have COVID fatigue. But we must stay vigilant. As the holidays approach, the best way to show our love this season is to rethink how we celebrate. I’m urging all Oregonians to limit their holiday get-togethers and wear a mask!” she tweeted at the time.
“I know Oregonians have made tremendous sacrifices throughout this pandemic and that these new, temporary restrictions may seem daunting,” she said in another statement. “But, we are at a breaking point. If we don’t take further action, we risk continued alarming spikes in infections and hospitalizations, and we risk the lives of our neighbors and loved ones.”
“I also know that Oregonians come together in times of need, and we owe it to each other to take these measures seriously. It is up to all of us to work together to get this virus under control,” she added.
As rumors spread that people in her state would be violating the order, Brown then encouraged her citizens to snitch on their neighbors should they be in violation.