Around 800 Texas Bars Opened This Weekend Defying Governor Abbott’s Orders
One month ago, bars were forced to shutdown, once again in Texas. Some bar owners are fighting back with a lawsuit and some have decided to reopen anyway.
Back on June 26th, bar owners were shocked to see that Governor Abbott decided to re-shutdown the bars. Bars were permitted to reopen on May 22nd. This meant owners had to put money back into their businesses to reopen and then shut down again with only three hours notice on June 26th. At the beginning of this month we announced several bar owners banning together to sue Governor Greg Abbott for this latest shutdown.
They believe bars are being used as the scapegoat for the increase in Covid-19 cases, while other similar businesses can remain open in the state. Some of of those bars also decided to reopen on Saturday for what they called Freedom Fest. Several Texas outlets report that close to 800 bars were open on Saturday. Other bars that have opened early have not faced any punishment from the state of Texas.
However, the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission has been handing out punishments. One of those places that got punished was the Rail Head Club Live in Fort Worth. They lost their liquor license for 30 days. The TABC said if they defy the order again they will lose it for 60 days, and if they do it again it will be permanent. Rail Club Live did open this past weekend, with no alcohol, to join in solidarity with the other bars opening.
A band performed for 80 people. Social distancing and masks were required and everyone had a good time on Saturday according to reports. We will see what happens to the other bars this week that did open and sold alcohol this weekend.