‘I’m not trying to be a rebel and go against Governor Cooper but I got to make a living’: NC Barber Defies Order to Open Shop, District Attorney Says He Won’t Prosecute

COLUMBUS – The resistance to continuing shutdown edicts from Governor Roy Cooper has now entered it’s second, and more consequential phase. Protests and public rebukes came first, and now business owners, tired of waiting and withering away, are exercising their God-given rights to resume their livelihoods. Many of them feel as if they’ve no other choice, and all are confident that the right is theirs.

A barber from Columbus, after staying closed for six weeks and hundreds of unanswered calls to unemployment, Paul Heyer has opened up his doors for business. A handful of salon owners or tattoo artists in North Carolina have done the same in recent weeks, only to be shutdown or arrested and cited by police enforcing the Governor’s order. This time, though, no police are showing up to shutdown Heyer; the local district attorney has said he won’t prosecute, and police say they won’t arrest someone for making a living.

From WLOS:

“[…] Owner Paul Heyer said he had no other choice, afraid of losing his business if he didn’t reopen.

“Yeah I’ve been pretty busy,” said Heyer as he was cutting someone’s hair.

Heyer said he had around twenty people come for haircuts on Wednesday.

Heyer said he was closed for six weeks.

“I applied for unemployment every week, over 400 phone calls, never talked to anyone, never got a dime,” Heyer continued, “I’m not trying to be a rebel and go against Governor Cooper but I got to make a living.”

He said he is taking precautions: sanitizing and distancing.

“I feel like my customers are safer here than Walmart,” said Heyer. […]”

The reporting says Heyer reached out to the licensing board and received assurances that opening would not be cause for suspending his license. After that, it’d be up to local police and prosecutors to enforce the Governor’s forced-poverty order.

“[…] “I’m not going to go out there and arrest Paul who’s trying to make a living,” said [Hamby].

Chief Scott Hamby said he gave Heyer two verbal warnings, but will not do anything further.

“If you don’t like it call the governors office and find out what he’s going to do about it but as far as I’m concerned and every other DA we’re not going to criminalize men and women who want to make a living,” said District Attorney Greg Newman.

Newman said he won’t prosecute, telling law enforcement the same.

“I find it appalling that somebody would call and try to report somebody for opening a business,” said Newman. […]”

Now that is the kind of police chief and DA you’d expect to have in the First in Freedom state. ‘Governor doesn’t like it? What’s he gonna do about it?‘ Such a take is refreshing when the authorities are standing up for the individual rights of their constituents.

Heyer seems like the unlikely patriot that our Founding Fathers would be proud of, and the police and district attorney the kind of servants that take their sacred oath to the Constitution seriously. Hopefully it inspires similar acts of independence, if you will, to hasten the lifting of Cooper’s economy crushing orders.

Read more about Paul’s Barber Shop here.