City Imposes Up to $5,000 Fine and a Year in Jail for Violating Mask Order
While residents in western Washington state — Seattle, to be more specific — are dealing with an ineffectual government, oppressive regulations on business and leftist activists who at one point occupied an entire neighborhood, not a lot of attention has been paid to those living in the eastern part of the state.
Rural Washington, like rural areas in most states, tends to be more conservative.
However, that doesn’t seem to be the case in Whitman County, which sits just west of the state’s border with Idaho.
Officials in Pullman, the home of Washington State University, haven’t had to break up too many armed “Summer of Love” protests, but they are apparently dealing with citizens who aren’t wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Those officials apparently aren’t too pleased with it, either.
Some people apparently refuse to follow Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s mask mandate to the letter, and now they’re having their freedom threatened with a warning from the Pullman Police Department.
In fact, residents who refuse Inslee’s mask mandate or other health orders could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.
KREM-TV reported the department has outlined the “consequences of violating face mask, social distancing, and other health guidelines” until the coronavirus no longer poses any threat to public health.
The warning sounds as if it could have been authored by the KGB.
“Violations of the Governor’s proclamations not only put the violator’s health at risk but the health of our entire community. We implore everyone to abide by Governor Inslee’s declarations,” the news release from Pullman Police Chief Gary Jenkins says.
“It is the right thing to do for you; it is the right thing to do for your community. We are in this together, and Pullman Police officers are here to help in keeping our community members safe and healthy.”
The police chief went on to say his officers would be enforcing the following:
“Individual violating a proclamation requirement (facemask, social distancing) … Gross misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $5,000 and/or 365 days jail.
“Individual violating an order issued by local or State Board of Health, or by local health official (facemask, social distancing) … Misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $100 and/or 90 days jail.
“Person allowing a party or gathering with attendees not in compliance with facemask or social distancing requirements, or gatherings of more than 10 people … Class 2 Civil infraction punishable by a $250 fine; $350 fine for subsequent violations.
“Failure to disperse a party/gathering as described above … Misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $100 and/or 90 days jail.”
How awfully progressive of the small Washington city.
Draconian mandates and unequal application of them must be a Pacific Northwest thing.
Not even the former inhabitants of CHAZ/CHOP were threatened with such strict language when they were occupying a Seattle Police Department precinct and its neighborhood in June.
Likewise, down in Portland in neighboring Oregon, crimes such as arson, assault and vandalism apparently have been decriminalized.
The city has seen riots and nightly protests since May 25, and criminals are acting with apparent impunity when they storm onto government property in droves, assault police officers and start fires.
In Pullman, meanwhile, refusing to cover your face with a mask — which might or might not be effective at preventing the spread of the coronavirus — could get you a year in jail.
The city’s nearest neighbor, the community of Moscow, Idaho, might share a name with the former capital of the Soviet Union, but Pullman is apparently home to the area’s totalitarian leftists.
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