Bar crawl ‘for freedom’ planned in Fort Worth Stockyards to protest coronavirus order
A “Honkytonk Crawl for Freedom” is planned in the Fort Worth Stockyards on Friday to protest state and local coronavirus shutdown orders.
Chris Putnam, a conservative who lost against incumbent Kay Granger in Texas’ 12th Congressional District Republican primary in March, is listed as the host of “The Fort Worth Stockyards Honkytonk Crawl for Freedom.” The protest is planned for 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the Basement Bar in the Stockyards, according to the Facebook event.
“Join freedom and liberty-loving patriots as we exercise our Constitutional right to peacefully assemble in support of Fort Worth Stockyards business owners challenging ongoing un-Constitutional, government-imposed closures,” the description of the event said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Putnam declined to comment.
The Basement Bar, which announced on Facebook it would open on May 1, is also listed as a host of the crawl. An owner of the bar, Johnny Cooper, said in a Facebook message that the Basement Bar did not create the event.
City officials said they are ready to issue violations over the crawl, said Brandon Bennett, director of Fort Worth Code Compliance.
“Our lawyers are preparing a letter to the business outlining our intended action for enforcement and we have reached out to TABC for assistance/address liquor license if they proceed in violation of the Governor’s Order,” Bennett said. “We are ready to address any violations.”
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that certain businesses, including restaurants, retail stores and movie theaters, will be allowed to open up at limited capacity on May 1. Bars, however, are not among those businesses that are permitted to operate.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price indicated she would allow the city order to expire as well and follow the governor’s order.
On Tuesday, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley encouraged businesses to wait to reopen until they are allowed.
“If a bar wants to open up, and they are not supposed to, potentially they risk losing their TABC license,” he said. “That’s going to be a lot longer process and something they want to think twice about.
Tarrant County reported five more coronavirus deaths and 69 new cases on Tuesday.
Stockyards bars plan to reopen
The Basement Bar has voiced its opposition to coronavirus-related shutdowns numerous times on Facebook. On April 21, the bar posted it planned to reopen on May 1 despite the coronavirus pandemic shutdown, which it called “nonsense” and “grossly over exaggerated.”
By the next day, the post had thousands of comments, some supporting the bar and others calling the move dangerous and irresponsible. The post was removed by Facebook for violating community guidelines, but the bar posted again on April 22 and doubled down on its plan to open to the public.
Fred Barnett is the PR spokesman for several bars in the Stockyards, including the Basement Bar. He did not immediately respond to requests to comment Tuesday.
In an interview last week, Barnett said if Abbott did not allow bars to reopen, the bars would consider legal action. He said he did not believe coronavirus was as deadly or widespread in Texas as some people think, and the bars’ employees are struggling without a paycheck.
Barnett said the other bars he is a spokesman for — Thirsty Armadillo, Stampede Saloon and Pearl’s Dance Hall — planned to open their doors to the public on Friday as well.
But in a Facebook message, a PR spokeswoman for Stampede Saloon said Barnett is not the PR director of the bar, and the Stampede Saloon did not plan on opening on Friday.
“The new owners, as well as myself, feel it is not worth the risk of our patrons, staff, or others,” spokeswoman Tara Stewart said over Facebook messenger. “Also we value our liquor license and we will abide by our local and state officials as to when we will open the doors of The Stampede Saloon.”
In a Facebook post Monday, Putnam, who previously served on the Colleyville City Council, invited everyone to join him in the Stockyards Friday for the crawl. He said while he supports law enforcement, the event is about “local and state politicians wildly overreaching to restrict our individual freedoms and liberties.”
“Let’s be clear. You are breaking no actual laws supporting these businesses this Friday,” he said in the post. “Rather you are doing precisely what our Founding Fathers (who are turning over in their graves right now) would want and expect you to do.”
Fort Worth Code Compliance said the governor’s order tells people to avoid bars and minimize contact, and going to a bar violates the order. By breaking the order, people are breaking the law, city officials said.
