Just days after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey warned that allowing churches to open up for in-person services, even at 25% capacity would be a “public health disaster” for the city, his government announced they would be providing protective masks to the closely packed-together protestors and rioters who are running rampant through the city, and unsurprisingly would not be enforcing social distancing protocols.
On Monday, speaking to reporters, the mayor suggested that he may disregard Governor Tim Walz’s plan to allow churches to reopen, as that would put people in his city in danger:
“I support our governor, I think he’s doing a tremendous job and he’s looking out for the entire state of Minnesota, whereas I’m looking out for the unique characteristics associated with the city of Minneapolis. Moving up to 25 percent capacity and up to 250 people in places of worship is a recipe in Minneapolis for a public health disaster.”
He continued.
” That is not the route that we can or should be going on right now. We are considering some form of an emergency regulation ourselves to prevent that number of people gathering in one place.”
Within a couple of days of the thought of those obstreperous Christians insisting on having peaceful services on Sundays was no longer a pressing concern, as riots and looting have broken out in the city due to the death of George Lloyd at the hands of a police officer.
As the city burns, rioters torch businesses, police stations, and assault bystanders, Frey has been pleading for peace, noting late Thursday night that his government was giving face masks to rioters in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
“The City encourages everyone to exercise caution to stay safe while participating in demonstrations, including wearing masks and physical distancing as much as possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” a press release read. “The City has made hundreds of masks available to protesters this week.”
As the protests rage on, we can only hope the government will leave the churches alone and focus on bigger problems than the saints wanting to peacefully gather and worship their Jesus, even if the government isn’t giving them masks to help them do it.
