California sheriff says he’s done enforcing Gov. Newsom’s ‘flat-out ridiculous’ coronavirus orders: Report

A California sheriff is taking a stand against the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.

The Washington Examiner reports that Chad Bianco, the sheriff of California’s Riverside County, recently announced that he and his deputies are done heeding Newsom’s “flat-out ridiculous” orders and will not be enforcing the governor’s latest coronavirus-related restrictions.

“These closures and stay-at-home orders are flat-out ridiculous,” Bianco said in a video released Friday, according to the Examiner.

“The metrics used for closures are unbelievably faulty and are not representative of true numbers and are disastrous for Riverside County,” he added.

A bully and a hypocrite

In his video, Bianco certainly didn’t pull any punches. The Riverside County sheriff accused Newsom of trying to bully people into following his outlandish orders amid the global pandemic.

“He is expecting us to arrest anyone violating these orders, cite them and take their money, close their businesses, make them stay in their homes, and take away their civil liberties, or he will punish all of us,” Bianco said, as the Examiner reported. “I believe that all jobs are essential to someone. Leaders do not threaten, attempt to intimidate, or cause fear; bullies do.”

Bianco also called Newsom “extremely hypocritical,” a sentiment that has been echoed by many Californians in the wake of news that the governor attended a dinner party at a pricey San Francisco-area restaurant where members of multiple households failed to wear masks or social distance.

“The dictatorial attitude toward California residents while dining in luxury, traveling, keeping his business open, and sending his kids to in-person private schools is very telling about [Newsom’s] attitude toward California residents,” Bianco said Friday.

Bianco’s not alone

Newsom announced his latest coronavirus restrictions last week. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that “the orders, which do not immediately impact the Bay Area, will close personal care services such as hair and nail salons, playgrounds, bars and wineries, movie theaters, museums and zoos in places where fewer than 15% of intensive care unit beds are available across an entire region.”

The regions that will be tracked include “the Bay Area, rural Northern California, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley, and Southern California, stretching from San Luis Obispo to the Mexican border,” the Chronicle reports.

Since Newsom’s announcement, the sheriffs of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, Orange County, and, with Bianco, Riverside County have all issued public statements saying that they will not enforce the new orders, according to the Washington Examiner.

Instead, they’re taking a more reasonable approach to combating COVID-19: encouraging people to wear masks and practice social distancing.

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