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Last Gall for GOVID
PLUS, SCHOOLS RESTARTING, POLICE OK TEAR GAS AND MORE NEWS
By Blake Aued, Chris Dowd and Rebecca McCarthy news@flagpole.com
A lot of things are on hold during this coro-
navirus pandemic, but it’s still a free coun
try, and our God-given right to lick eyeballs
after 10 p.m. shall not be abridged.
With COVID-19 cases spiking, the return
of UGA students looming and reports of
big crowds at downtown bars already, the
Athens-Clarke County Commission passed
an emergency ordinance July 30 moving
last call for alcohol at bars and restaurants
from 2 a.m. to 10 p.m. The commission also
updated its mask ordinance to require bar
patrons to wear masks whenever they’re
not seated.
“I’ve been there. We’ve all been there,”
Commissioner Melissa Link said. “You’re
out at a bar, you’re up in each others’ faces,
you’re hugging, you’re kissing, you’re lick
ing each others’ eyeballs, whatever you do,
but we’ve got to lay down some rules that
we can’t do that in these times. Alcohol
does not give you COVID, but breathing in
each others’ faces does give you COVID.”
The requirement that people who remove
their masks to eat or drink remain seated
was proposed by Link. Commissioner
Tim Denson wondered if that applied to
someone walking down the street eating a
sandwich. Mayor Kelly Girtz reminded him
that the ordinance includes an exception for
outdoor recreation.
“If I’m eating a foot-long hotdog, we can
count that as exercise now?” Denson said.
“They have contests around that,” Girtz
replied. “It’s nearly an Olympic sport.”
Commissioner Allison Wright wondered
if ACC wasn’t wandering further into Gov.
Brian Kemp’s crosshairs. “We’re in the hot
seat as it is,” she said. “This seems like we’re
going into the big flames”
Wright’s concerns proved prescient.
The next morning, libertarian-leaning
local attorney Mo Wiltshire filed a law
suit on behalf of local bars On the Rocks,
Moonshine Bar, Buddha Bar, Cloud, Infusia
and Centro alleging that the last-call ordi
nance violated Kemp’s emergency order,
which prohibits local governments from
enacting stricter COVID provisions than
the state. That provision is currently under
judicial review, as Kemp has challenged
Atlanta’s mask ordinance.
That afternoon, Superior Court Judge
Eric Norris—an Oconee County resident
appointed by Republican Gov. Nathan
Deal—issued an order temporarily restrain
ing ACC from enforcing the new, earlier last
call or the mask ordinance. Ironically, the
order appeared to be written on the back of
a bar napkin. A hearing is set for Thursday,
Aug. 6.
In the meantime, the college students
who are already trickling into town will be
licking eyeballs mask-free into the early
hours of the morning. Clarke County is
adding new COVID-19 cases at the rate of
about 40-50 per day, with the numbers con
strained only by the limits of the county’s
testing capacity. By the time the hearing is
held, Athens’ total cases will be approaching
2,000. Last week, the disease claimed the
life of UGA staff member Ana Cabrera, as
well as former Clarke Central band teacher
Robert Norris. And that is before tens
of thousands of students and employees
return to campus. Bars have been proven
to be places where one “superspreader” can
infect dozens of people in one evening.
“By all epidemiological standards, this
whole state should be shut back down and
quarantined again,” Link said. “The science
is crystal clear that bars are super-spreader
environments, primarily because people do
gather closely face-to-face, and their inhibi
tions are down.”
Even the Trump administration agrees.
The White House classifies Georgia as in the
“red zone” and recommends that states in
the red zone close bars entirely. Kemp had
the opportunity to do so when he renewed
his emergency order July 31. Instead, he
doubled down, adding language intended
to bolster his case for nullifying Atlanta’s
mask ordinance.
“We’re about to see 40,000 college
students descend upon this town this
weekend,” Link said. “We’ve got to do some
thing.” But the powers that be won’t let us.
[Blake Aued]
No Ms for Other Districts
The Clarke County School District first
pushed back the start of school over a
month, until Sept. 8, then pulled the plug
on in-person learning entirely—at least
for now—joining most metro Atlanta and
other large districts around the state that
are moving to virtual learning during the
pandemic. Other area school districts are
taking a different stance.
In the New York Times last week, for
mer Flagpole editor Richard Faussett, who
now works in the Times’ Atlanta bureau,
reported on schools in nearby Jefferson,
about 20 miles northwest of Athens. Even
in that conservative community, some
parents and students are anxious about
the safety of reopening. Jefferson schools
reopened last Friday, without a mask man
date in classrooms.
In Oconee County, where schools start
Aug. 5, parents protested a lack of clarity
on COVID plans, according to Flagpole
contributor Lee Becker’s Oconee County
Observations blog. Teachers “are terrified,”
said former employee Katie Castleberry,
who resigned over the district’s coronavirus
response. “No one has asked them how they
feel. No one has asked them what the year
is supposed to look like digitally or other
wise.” As in Jefferson, masks are encour
aged, but not required.
Barrow County is another district
where face coverings are “strongly encour
aged,” but not mandated indoors. Barrow
schools started up Aug. 4. Jackson County
Superintendent April Howard said that
district will “ask” all teachers and students
to wear masks inside schools when school
begins Aug. 12.
In Madison County, which starts Aug.
14, “masks are expected to be worn when
social distancing is not possible.” Masks are
encouraged but not required in Oglethorpe
County, which considered moving up the
first day of school to avoid a COVID spike
later on in the year, but stuck with Aug. 10.
All of the districts surrounding Clarke
County are offering online as well as in-per-
son options. [BA]
Police Clear Themselves for
Tear-Gassing Protesters
The ACC Police Department has
announced that an internal investigation
found their use of tear gas and bean-bag
rounds against protesters on the night of
May 31 was reasonable and within depart
ment policy.
Lt. Harrison Daniel, commander of the
ACCPD Office of Professional Standards,
summarized the findings of their investi
gation in a press conference on Friday, July
31.
Before the demonstration began on May
31, ACCPD had already received intelligence
from national and state law enforcement
agencies that protesters were planning to
loot and vandalize businesses and govern
ment buildings that day. They also heard
that “extremist groups and agitators” would
be present in the crowd. When self-identi
fied members of the Boogaloo anti-govern
ment group showed up downtown armed
with rifles, ACCPD considered the intelli
gence they received to be confirmed. This
“elevated the threat assessment,” according
to Daniel, making police uncomfortable and
nervous.
As the planned portion of the protest
came to a close, Daniel described how those
remaining downtown were scrutinized by
surveillance cameras and covert opera
tives for any small detail that could betray
violent intentions. From that point, being
dressed in colorful Hawaiian-style shirts or
in all black, wearing long sleeves, entering
a tent, carrying a backpack or wearing a
larger than average mask were all inter
preted by police as potentially threatening.
Police were also concerned by the fact
that protesters seemed to be preparing
to resist violence if it were used against
them. As the night went on, protesters
were bringing gallons of milk, heavy gloves,
respirators and a leaf blower to the scene in
preparation to minimize the damage caused
by tear gas.
ACCPD originally claimed that “many”
of the protesters occupying the area around
the Confederate monument “appeared to
belong to a violent extremist group.” Their
story in this press conference was some
what different—they now claim merely
to have seen indications that “suggested
the presence of extremists,” such as one
protester out of roughly 200 wearing a
Hawaiian shirt.
More troubling, they also overheard
some protesters “agitating others to engage
in violence and property damage.” However,
other than spray paint on the Confederate
monument, such vandalism did not occur
on that night or during any of the many
protests that happened in the months after.
As a final justification for assaulting
protesters who had not engaged in any vio
lent acts whatsoever, Daniel described the
dismay police felt when protesters locked
arms in formation, indicating their resolve
to remain at College Square. “These actions
significantly influenced the determination
that chemical irritants [tear gas] were the
most appropriate option to accomplish the
goal of dispersing the unlawfully-assembled
crowd,” Daniel said.
The goal of police was to clear the area,
not make arrests. When people link arms,
they can be difficult to remove without
using force of some kind. In addition to
passive resistance, police were concerned
about extremist elements posing active,
violent resistance if they were approached.
In this situation, if not for tear gas, Daniel
indicated that police may have had to resort
to striking protesters with batons.
Making matters worse, Daniel admitted
that ACCPD does not have an appropriate
ly-trained and equipped “mobile field force”
capable of responding to events of “civil
unrest” like a protest. With the National
Guard ready to go home by midnight, police
felt that they had to act to clear the area
efficiently while they had the extra help.
Weapons that police call “impact muni
tions,” also known as rubber bullets or
bean-bag rounds, were used against pro
testers in addition to the tear gas. This was
also within department policy, according
THIS HtBIIH W#*L»
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1. REFUSE TO SAY WHETHER
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by TOM TOMORROW
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I AND IF THERE'S ONE THING
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MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING THAT MY
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| | WMX
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4
FLAGPOLE.COM | AUGUST 5, 2020
•T°M foMoRR»W©2020