California officials erected a fence around a restaurant that repeatedly defied coronavirus orders, which the Burbank saloon called a “Tyranny on the Common Man.”
“This is way beyond an illegal restaurant closure now. This is about Government over-reach against Small Businesses and Battling Tyranny on the Common Man,” Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill posted in a caption of an Instagram post on Saturday after a fence was built around the establishment.
The saloon has received $50,000 in fines since the start of the pandemic, and a judge ruled on Friday that the restaurant cannot reopen until it receives new permits.
The owner, Baret Lepejian, said he will not pay the fines.
“Show me one shred of evidence how I am endangering the public,” he said. “This has never been about safety or the public. It’s never been about that. This whole thing is about fear and control.”
The fence was erected after a court also ordered the establishment’s electricity be shut off for violating coronavirus health orders.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order on Tinhorn Flats on March 8, demanding the restaurant close until a county health permit and a city conditional use permit were issued.
The restaurant remained open, and a judge subsequently ruled that the power could be cut.
Hours before the judge’s order, the restaurant posted on Instagram that it “will NEVER comply,” accompanied by a Thomas Jefferson quote.
“I simply will NEVER comply. Not for any reason and not from any advice from anyone. I choose to disobey rules that have zero science behind them and rules that directly threaten my livelihood needlessly. These people implementing and following these rules do NOT represent my values nor my beliefs. I will go down with my ship if need be,” the caption of the post said.
The city had also placed sandbags around the restaurant to prevent it from opening, which the owner’s 20-year-old son, Lucas Lepejian, reportedly tried to remove. He was arrested last Tuesday.
“We only opened outdoors to customers during the lockdown. We never served inside,” the restaurant said in another Instagram post on Sunday. “Employees followed all mask rules.”
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“THIS TYRANNY HAS NEVER BEEN ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY … IT IS ONLY ABOUT FEAR AND CONTROL. WE WILL NOT COMPLY.”
California restaurants have endured some of the most restrictive lockdown measures, which have stoked calls to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.
