Amid concerns of the spread of COVID-19, City of Dallas officials finish up issuing a citation to salon owner Shelley Luther, left, for reopening her Salon A la Mode in Dallas, Friday, April 24, 2020. Hair salons have not been cleared for reopening in Texas. Luther was asked by the officials to close and was issued a citation when she refused. Luther said she will remain open for business. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:39 PM PT — Monday, April 27, 2020

A Texas salon owner recently took a stand against non-essential business lockdowns. During a protest at Frisco City Hall in Dallas on Saturday, Shelley Luther tore up a cease and desist letter from county Judge Clay Jenkins. The owner of Salon Salon A la Mode received the notice Friday after deciding to reopen last week in defiance of social distancing orders.

Luther and her 19 stylists haven’t seen a paycheck since they were forced to close on March 22. She said the last straw was when she had to decide whether to pay the mortgage on her house or the lease on her business.

” I chose to pay the lease instead of my own mortgage, so we could have something to come back to,” she stated. “So we are in a serious bind and if I didn’t do something right now, this salon would be gone and 19 stylist would have to look for somewhere else to work.”

Over the weekend, several other cities in Texas like San Antonio and Austin held similar demonstrations urging officials to lift virus restrictions keeping them from work. It’s an outcry that’s been heard among a growing list of more than 20 states over the past few weeks.

Moving forward, Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) approved of his state reopening.

“I think we are absolutely ready, we’ve had a relatively speaking very low number of cases, our hospital system has never become close to becoming overwhelmed and again that’s because of actions we took early,” he stated. “I am not dismissing the stay-at-home orders that we had before, but it is time for a structured reopening and a staged reopening.”

Meanwhile, Luther faces a $1,000 fine for her civil disobedience. She said she doesn’t plan on paying it.

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