Texas bar owners, noting the success of scofflaw hair stylists, consider opening illegally

A hair salon owner in Dallas, Shelley Luther, was arrested last week after rebuffing multiple warnings to comply with Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) coronavirus mitigation orders. This earned her hero status among some conservatives, an appearance on Fox News, and an about-face from Abbott, who allowed beauty salons to open more than a week ahead of schedule. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) flew up from Houston for a cut on opening day.

Bar owners, still shut down and losing money, noticed her success, and they "are seriously contemplating opening up illegally to get the governor's attention," The Texas Tribune reports.

"This one lady did it, and she got a lot of attention, and now all the salons are open," Emil Bragdon, who owns several bars, told the Tribune. "Is that something we have to do? Because if we have to do that, we'll do it." Some have already tried.

Philip Archibald, a 29-year-old online fitness trainer from the Dallas area who now volunteers his time and military-style arsenal for illicit reopenings of bars, tattoo parlors, and other businesses — including Luther's salon — recently "helped organize a protest outside an illegally reopened bar in the West Texas city of Odessa," The New York Times reports. "That one ended with the authorities rolling up in an armored vehicle and arresting several of Mr. Archibald's armed friends, along with the bar owner."

Abbott noted May 5 that by its "very nature," a bar "brings people close together" in "the type of setting that promotes the transmission of infectious diseases." On Tuesday, he suggested he might allow them to reopen if they can reduce capacity and make sure patrons socially distance. In South Korea, one or two bar patrons infected at least 102 people on the night of May 1, sparking a cluster of COVID-19 cases Seoul is still grappling to contain.

Jennifer Bonilla, a bartender in Richardson, Texas, told the Tribune Abbott's being unfair. "You're definitely sitting closer to a stylist at a salon than you are with other people at the bar." Added Bragdon: "He let restaurants open way earlier. And it's just not fair, man." Peter Weber