Ross: Stay-at-home rules aren’t some plot against liberty

A police officer has been placed on leave from his job at the Port of Seattle after posting a video in which he said the enforcement of stay-at-home order had gone too far.

“We are violating people’s rights, arresting them and depriving them of their freedom when they are exercising their constitutional rights,” the officer said.

He mentioned two incidents.

The first: A church service in Mississippi last month where 50 people attended a drive-in Easter Service, during which they remained in their cars with windows rolled up, listening to the service on their car radios, and were later ticketed and fined.

The second was an undercover sting operation in Laredo, Texas, where cops busted two women who were running nail salons out of their homes.

“I’m afraid these actions are going to wake a sleeping giant – the American people,” the officer warned.

Well, sure … if you don’t tell the American people what actually happened in these cases.

Here’s what transpired after the fact: Last week, the Governor of Texas nullified the arrests of the nail salon violators, and prohibited any other such arrests. In the case of the churchgoers in Mississippi, the fines were canceled.

So, I have a hard time seeing these stay-at-home rules as some plot against liberty, because they’re intended to make people feel safe enough to go out again.

Maybe you can play baseball without fans, but you can’t reopen an economy without customers.

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