OWOSSO, MI — An Owosso barber who has defied the governor’s orders by reopening his business amid the COVID-19 crisis could face contempt of court if he doesn’t close his shop.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued a Health Protection Order on Friday, May 8, against Karl Manke’s Barber & Beauty Shop, 421 W. Main St. Manke, 77, opened his shop on Monday, May 4, and had kept it open since in spite of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order mandating salons, barbershops, and other nonessential businesses to stay closed through at least May 28.
In a statement, the MDHHS said Director Robert Gordon “acted under the authority granted to him by state law to issue an order that is necessary to correct conditions that pose an imminent threat to the health or lives of people in Michigan.”
The order requires the barber shop to immediately close.
“Michigan has had more than 45,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 4,300 deaths,” Gordon said. “Shiawassee County alone had had 201 cases and 16 deaths. People continue to die in our state every day due to the coronavirus. It is critically important for businesses and the general public to follow the executive order to reduce further spread of COVID-19 and save lives.”
Manke has told MLive that Michigan State Police troopers on Wednesday issued him two citations, for which he must appear in court on June 6. Regardless, he said he planned to remain open, adding he has no choice and needs the income.
“Heavens yes, I’m staying open unless they take me out in handcuffs or Taser me,” Manke previously said.
On another occasion, Manke said he’d stay open “until Jesus walks in or until they arrest me.”
Manke has also said customers have come from as far away as Saginaw, Milford, and Lansing and that he worked from 10 a.m. to midnight on Monday.
More than two dozen protesters from various counties gathered at Manke’s business on Thursday.
“Operation of the barbershop brings a large number of persons from different households into close proximity to one another, increasing the risk that COVID-19 will be transferred from person to person,” the MDHHS statement reads. “People from different parts of the state have gone to the barbershop, which further increases the chances of the spread of COVID-19.”
If Manke does not comply with the governor’s order and shut down, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office on Monday will ask a Shiawassee County Circuit Court judge to issue a temporary restraining order. If a judge does issue such an order and Manke refused to comply with it, he could be held in contempt of court.
Ryan Jarvi, press secretary for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, on Friday issued a statement regarding the matter.
“It is without question that we are in the middle of a public health crisis,” Jarvi said. “Both the governor, through her executive orders, and the DHHS Director, through his orders, are focused on protecting the public health of Michigan residents. Based upon our present knowledge of COVID-19, businesses that require close contact – like Mr. Manke’s barbershop – present one of the highest risks for spreading the virus, not just to the city of Owosso, but to the ctate of Michigan as a whole.”
Jarvi went on to say Manke has been “given every opportunity to voluntarily comply with the governor’s Executive Order and the order of the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services Director. As a result of his continued operation, today his business was deemed an imminent danger to the public health and ordered to be shut down by the DHHS Director.
“Mr. Manke’s actions are not a display of harmless civil disobedience,” Jarvi continued. “His actions are counterproductive to the collective effort businesses and communities everywhere have made to slow the spread of COVID-19, and by opening the doors to his business, he’s putting the lives of many more Michiganders at risk.”
Related:
Owosso barber confirms he was ticketed by police for opening shop
Supporters rally around Owosso barber who refuses to close shop
Owosso barber says shop will stay open 'until Jesus walks in or until they arrest me’
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