Members of Congress visited The Big Board in Northeast, Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night in support of its stand against the city’s COVID-19 mandates.
The bar, co-owned by Eric Flannery, has refused to enforce the district’s new vaccine card mandate for entry, according to WUSA. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and other members of Congress visited the bar Tuesday, videos and pictures show. (RELATED: Over 30,000 People Marched To ‘Defeat The Mandates’ In Washington DC)
.@RandPaul enjoying a burger at The Big Board and chatting w/ staffers also there to show support for the DC restaurant, which the DC health dept just just shut down about an hour ago after it openly refused to enforce vax/mask mandates pic.twitter.com/DXAHXcRMmF
— Emily Brooks (@emilybrooksnews) February 2, 2022
. @RepThomasMassie @RepTimBurchett, and @RepSpartz also showed up to support the just-shut-down Big Board joint. Rand Paul had pre planned showing up to support but had no idea the DC health dept was about to shut it down over vax/mask noncompliance pic.twitter.com/77YknC1Kce
— Emily Brooks (@emilybrooksnews) February 2, 2022
“I’m incredibly proud … and I’m very supportive of what he’s [Flannery] doing because he’s saying, ‘My individual liberty is worth the fight even if I lose my business.’ And he’s not giving up, he’s going to fight. It’s a big decision … I’m proud of the owner for not submitting,” Paul told the Daily Caller.
“It’s their livelihood, and each person I think needs to push back to the ability of their means,” Massie told the Daily Caller. “They haven’t followed the science on any of this from the beginning.”
Republican Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennesse, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Ronny Jackson of Texas and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma also came out in support. Spartz slammed the city vaccine mandate, calling it ‘”Soviet-style” in a tweet Tuesday night.
Great to meet Eric from @thebigboarddc which is being shut down because he refused to give in to DC’s Soviet-style vax ID mandate. We applaud your fight for freedom, Eric! Great burgers & company! @SenRandPaul, @RepThomasMassie, @RepRonnyJackson, @repkevinhern, & @RepTimBurchett. pic.twitter.com/sPba0C4PLQ
— Rep. Victoria Spartz (@RepSpartz) February 2, 2022
Democratic Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued the mandate Jan. 15, ordering all businesses to require patrons 12 years and older to provide proof of receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, the mandate requires masks to be worn indoors, only to be removed while eating or drinking.
The Big Board had its liquor license suspended Jan. 28 by Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration
(ABRA), which claimed that the bar was not enforcing the mandate’s vaccine card entry or mask rules, according to Fox News.
“It’s ridiculous. And the thing is customers will come in all the time and some will be there and they repeat their orders to us and we’re like, ‘Oh, it’s just my mask, I can’t hear it. It’s really hard to hear people when you can’t see their lips move,'” Flannery said in an interview with Fox News Host Laura Ingraham.
On Tuesday night, Flannery appeared to break down and said he knows he’s “doing the right thing” by keeping the bar open, despite the vaccine mandate.
WATCH:
.@thebigboarddc’s Eric Flannery emotionally breaks down as he shares how DC punished him for defying the vaccine mandate. pic.twitter.com/R2hU9lh6pV
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) February 2, 2022
“My servers are not lesser people,” said owner Eric Flannery. “They don’t need to be masked. They don’t carry disease.”https://t.co/7I9IuOMAmT
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) February 2, 2022
“I just know that I’m doing the right thing and this place is supposed to be open … I’m gonna keep on going all the way to the end. I’m gonna keep on fighting,” Flannery said.
A GoFundMe page was made in support of the bar following local pressure to shut them down. The fund has raised over $18,000 in support of the bar.
