Posted on 06/01/2020 1:12:28 PM PDT by karpov
Newark, N.J.
‘To all the jackasses out there who we now have to carry—get with the program,” Gov. Phil Murphy fulminated on Twitter April 6. “We know who you are and we will not relent until we have 100% compliance.” On May 2 he added: “ATTN KNUCKLEHEADS: KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE #FlattenTheCurve.”
But New Jersey relented on Saturday as thousands massed in the streets of Newark, the state’s most populous city. While many protesters did avail themselves of masks, standing 6 feet apart—as per the state’s oft-repeated guidelines—was impossible. Mr. Murphy’s prohibition on “outdoor gatherings” was still in effect, although on May 22 he increased the limit to 25 people from 10. And a variation of Mayor Ras Baraka’s “shelter in place” order was still in effect in the city—as recently as last Wednesday the mayor’s office issued a press release imploring residents, “We still have to stay inside and stay alive.”
“This is a violation, but we’re doing it anyway,” Mr. Baraka told me Saturday when I asked if Newark’s emergency order was still legally binding. Is a huge, unwieldy assembly in the streets of a city with 585 reported Covid-19 deaths a good way to promote social distancing? “It’s not,” he conceded.
Mr. Baraka wasn’t merely a concerned observer. He marched prominently through the streets in the protest procession, and addressed the subsequent rally at Springfield Avenue. Donning an N95 mask, he stood at attention as the chief organizer, Larry Hamm, called for a “citizen’s arrest” of Donald Trump on the grounds that the president had allied with “the white supremacist movement in America.” Mr. Hamm, who was state chairman for the Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign, is challenging Sen. Cory Booker in the July 7 Democratic primary.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I don’t know what to write. NJ seems foreign to me. I don’t personally know people like that.
Stupid is as stupid does.
I hope decent citizens’ lawyers are beating down the courts’ doors (figuratively) today.
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