Group of Texas bars plans to open illegally in statewide protest Saturday against Gov. Abbott's shut
The last time we spoke with Chris Polone, owner of Fort Worth music venue The Rail Club Live, he was preparing for a July 4 Tea Party Protest concert in defiance of Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to shut down Texas bars as a measure to curb the spread of coronavirus. That event got his liquor license suspended, and the shutdown order is still in place.
Polone, however, is now organizing Freedom Fest in alliance with other bars and venues across the state that will open their doors illegally for concerts on Saturday, July 25.
When Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officers gave him the option of shutting the event down or losing his liquor license on July 4, Polone — who was broadcasting on Facebook Live — got on stage, ranted, and tore up the paperwork. Then he went outside, lit up a cigarette, and said his lawyers were ready to sue the state of Texas.
“We were bound to a liquor license,” Polone says. “But we had no alcohol, and no money had exchanged hands. They violated my First Amendment right because it was a protest, not a concert, in a building I own.”
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2020/07/22/group-of-texas-bars-plans-to-open-illegally-in-statewide-protest-saturday-against-gov-abbotts-shutdown-order/
I do have some sympathy for Mr. Polone since his bar is shut down. However, that sympathy vanishes after reading that he is stalking Mayor Betsy Price of Fort Worth at restaurants.
Suspend the licenses for any bar that participates for 30 days, if it is their second offense suspend the license for 60 days. For the people organizing this stunt, suspend the license for 90 days and levy some fines.
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