Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz criticized Democrats for enforcing stay-at-home orders in a way that he thinks cross a line.
“This is absurd. To Dem politicians (and it seems to be only Dems doing this, eg Wolf in PA, DeBlasio in NYC, Cooper in NC), protect public safety, but WE DON’T LIVE IN A POLICE STATE. Resist authoritarianism & don’t abuse power. Driving a car alone is not a public health threat,” Cruz tweeted Sunday.
This is absurd. To Dem politicians (and it seems to be only Dems doing this, eg Wolf in PA, DeBlasio in NYC, Cooper in NC), protect public safety, but WE DON’T LIVE IN A POLICE STATE. Resist authoritarianism & don’t abuse power. Driving a car alone is not a public health threat. https://t.co/tTNszTGNgA
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 5, 2020
Cruz was responding to a report of a 19-year-old Pennsylvania woman who was pulled over by state police — and given a non-traffic citation — for failing to obey Democratic Governor Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order. Police initially pulled her over because of a “vehicle code violation,” but the only citation issued pertained to her violation of the governor’s order. (RELATED: ‘102 Americans Died’: Ted Cruz Lets Democrats Have It For Blocking Coronavirus Relief)
The citation explained that the woman, identified by PennLive as Anita Shaffer, “failed to abide by the order of the governor and secretary of health issued to control the spread of a communicable disease, requiring the closure of all non-life-sustaining businesses as of 20:00 hours on March 19, 2020. To wit, defendant states that she was ‘going for a drive’ after this violation was in effect.”
Shaffer explained to PennLive that the state police told her they had pulled her over for a faulty tail light, but said that once she returned home, her father was unable to find anything wrong with it. She also said that she was aware of the governor’s order, but “didn’t know it pertained to just driving.”