Virginia County Rebels Against Gov. Northam’s Lockdown Restrictions
– Declares Itself “First Amendment Sanctuary” Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/07/2020 – 20:00
Campbell County, Virginia has rejected Democratic Governor Ralph
Northam’s coronavirus restrictions – declaring itself a “First
Amendment sanctuary” in a resolution which makes it the first
locality in the state to openly resist Northam’s orders.
The County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the measure
last week in response to Northam’s pre-Thanksgiving limits on
public gatherings to 25 people or fewer, as well as an extension on
the state’s mask mandate to include children over the age of five.
Restaurants are also prohibited from selling alcohol after 10
p.m.
Campbell County’s resolution requests that the sheriff’s
department refuse to assist any official – state or federal – in
“attempting to enforce the unconstitutional order of the
Governor.”
The rebellious decision echoes a 2019 measure in which the
county (which voted 71% for Trump in the 2020 election) declared
itself a “Second Amendment sanctuary” as one of several counties
and cities which passed similar measures rejecting new gun-control
laws in the commonwealth, according to
WAVY.
A group known as the Virginia Constitutional
Conservatives has played a vital role in the latest push
to reject statewide guidelines, drafting a template
resolution online that proposes bold provisions for
constitutional officers to follow.The template calls for local law enforcement to arrest
“any State Police officer, State Health Agent, or Federal
Agent” who attempts to enforce the governor’s order
and for commonwealth’s attorneys “not prosecute the
unconstitutional mandates prohibiting the people’s right to
peaceably assemble.” Failure to follow these clauses “will
result in the immediate removal of County funding.” –WAVY
The resolution approved by Campbell County’s board excludes
language threatening budgets of sheriff’s departments and local
prosecutors.
Matt Cline, a supervisor who represents the County’s Concord
district, called Northam’s order yet another example of government
overreach.
“The governor’s order restricts the First Amendment
and this resolution is in support of the rights of the citizens.
Local businesses are struggling, these are real problems, not a
political issue,” Cline said last Wednesday. “It isn’t
right or left, these are real problems, just as covid is real.”
“It’s important to note what’s not in this resolution as
well,” he added. “It doesn’t say be cavalier, or that covid is a
hoax. And it doesn’t say don’t wear a mask. It’s the
responsibility of the individual.”
Campbell, located near Lynchburg, has had an average of 16 new
COVID-19 cases per day in the last week out of its population of
55,000 according to the state’s health department.
