Coronavirus pandemic creates a new criminal class in America :: 04/08/2020

The coronavirus pandemic has created a new class of criminals in America. Among them are fathers playing T-ball with his young daughter, the hosts of a wedding and a woman out for a drive.

USA Today reported Pennsylvania state police cited 19-year-old Anita Lynn Shaffer for taking a drive. They allege she was in violation of a stay-at-home order for York County, which allows "outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking or running" but only if it's "essential."

She was fined $200.

WND columnist Michelle Malkin wrote about the father in Brighton, Colorado, who was "handcuffed in an empty park by three police officers for playing T-ball with his 6-year-old daughter and wife."

She said the restrictions have become "arbitrary, irrational and unevenly applied."

"While children's swings and slides are now crime scenes, golf courses and pickleball courts in my city are wide open," she wrote. "Weed and booze stores are considered 'essential.' Ice cream, dessert joints and fast-food outlets with takeout and delivery services are still operating. But family-owned, sit-down restaurants that have been staples in our community have been forced to shut their doors after decades in business."

ABC News reported the father, a former Colorado State Patrol trooper, Matt Mooney, was cuffed and held in a patrol car for a time.

He said he walked with his wife and daughter from their home to a nearby park Sunday to play softball.

"We're just having a good time, not near anybody else. The next closest person is at least 15 feet away from me and my daughter at this point," he said.

Brighton police soon arrived to halt the activity.

The police department later apologized and said it was reviewing the incident.

MSN reported two New Jersey residents were arrested for allowing other people in their home for a wedding "in defiance of social distancing orders."

They were reported by their neighbors.

The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio reported Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein warned that anyone who attempts to fake coronavirus symptoms to avoid arrest should expect additional charges.

Klein said his office has been made aware of "a few instances."

In one case, police apprehended the suspect in a car breakin who claimed to have trouble breathing. He was "flailing on the ground coughing."

The officers took extra precautions with the suspect and then began an investigation into falsification charges.
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Malkin pointed out an apparent double standard. While going to the gym is forbidden, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's personal trainer "bragged that until last week, she was working out at the private Supreme Court gym."

"Wealthy L.A. denizens were still flocking to trendy farmers markets last week – until they were shamed on Nextdoor and other social media outlets," she wrote. "Throngs descended on the D.C. Maine Avenue Fish Market last weekend in defiance of stay-at-home orders. Mardi Gras partiers and spring break students formed contagion-friendly mobs while authorities sat on their hands. Philadelphia hoodlums are still holding tailgate parties with carloads of boozers. New York subways remain stuffed to the gills with commuters on trains and platforms. But cops in Florida did crack down on a pastor in Tampa for holding services at his megachurch, and police in New Jersey arrested 15 attendees at an Orthodox Jewish rabbi's funeral."

'Not a declaration of martial law'

Meanwhile, CNN reported an 18-year-old Texas woman was arrested when she claimed to be "willfully spreading" the coronavirus. Fox10 in Phoenix said a man was arrested for posting on social media that Navajo people were carrying the coronavirus, calling for their deaths. In Georgia, a woman was arrested after being exposed to COVID-19 and refusing to quarantine. Also, several people have been arrested for coughing on others.

And some might wish they would only have been arrested. Cincinnati.com reported a 24-year-old man was charged with violating a stay-at-home order after he was shot. He had walked some three miles from his residence "to conduct non-essential business," police said.

In Honolulu, there were arrests for "violating emergency rules." In Lancaster County in Pennsylvania there were arrests for sitting on a sidewalk and drinking.

Fox News reports a California sheriff is warning that he could arrest people for not wearing face masks. But Riverside County Sheriff Chad Biano assured residents it was "not a declaration of martial law."

Nevada Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak threatened to break up large family dinners on Easter.

https://www.wnd.com/2020/04/coronavirus-pandemic-creates-new-criminal-class-america/