‘ACE Speedway has continuously and flagrantly violated the plain and unambiguous language of the phase 2 order…’
(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Ace Speedway in North Carolina opened its 2,500-person race venue on Saturday in defiance of Gov. Roy Cooper‘s order, declaring the event to be a “peaceful protest of injustice and inequality everywhere.”
The Alamance County Sheriff’s Office said its officials would determine the “merits” of Ace Speedway’s claim that a race is a peaceful protest, WFMY reported.
Ace Speedway’s defiance comes as bureaucrats, public health “experts,” and the corporate media have demonstrated that coronavirus restrictions apply only to groups that ideologically oppose them.
Cooper sent a letter to Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson on Friday and asked him to enforce his executive decree, which limits outside gatherings to 25 people, unless that gathering is for an ideologically approved purpose.
The order also mandates physical distancing from fellow citizens.
“ACE Speedway has continuously and flagrantly violated the plain and unambiguous language of the phase 2 order,” wrote William McKinney, counsel to the governor’s office, in the letter.
He said the venue’s events pose “a serious risk to the health of people in Alamance County and throughout the state.”
Johnson initially said he would not enforce Cooper’s decree because of the First Amendment, which gives citizens the right to assemble without restriction.
Then he backtracked and said he would ask Ace Speedway to halt future events.
The venue held another event, and Johnson did not enforce the governor’s order.
Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter protesters have gathered in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill without interruption or threat from the governor, The News and Observer reported. And Cooper himself walked with demonstrators last week, without wearing a mask or social distancing.
Yet, Cooper called the race event at Ace Speedway on May 23, which drew about 2,250 people, “dangerous and reckless.”