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De Blasio threatens to permanently close churches down for defying orders

March 30, 2020 | | Print Article

Bill de Blasio threatened to permanently close down places of worship that don’t toe the line on New York City’s shutdown order.

Specifically calling out synagogues and churches, the mayor on Friday somehow overlooked mentioning mosques in his authoritarian press conference declaration.

“I want to say to all those who are preparing for the potential of religious services this weekend: If you go to your synagogue, if you go to your church and attempt to hold services after having been told so often not to, our enforcement agents will have no choice but to shut down those services,” said de Blasio.

He went on to claim that he does not take “any joy” from his move to interfere with his constituents’ First Amendment rights to practice their religion, but added, “We do not need gatherings that will endanger people.”

So the NYPD, Fire Department, Buildings Department–everyone has been instructed that if they see worship services going on, they will go to the officials of that congregation. They will inform them they need to stop the services and disperse.

“If that does not happen, they will take additional action up to the point of fines and potentially closing the building permanently,” he said. “Again, that will begin this weekend.”

“You’ve been warned,” the vastly unpopular Democrat concluded. “You need to stop services. Help people practice their faith in different ways, but not in groups, not in gatherings that can endanger people.”

The stunning threat to permanently close churches and synagogues came during a coronavirus press conference that lasted almost an hour and a half on Friday. A transcript of the presser can be viewed here.

There is no doubt that New York City is now at the front lines in the war against COVID-19. As of Sunday, 776 deaths in the city had come as the result of the coronavirus. More than 33,000 cases were confirmed within the city limits.

Mayor de Blasio bears responsibility

It’s important to point out that not long ago, de Blasio was seriously downplaying the COVID-19 threat and encouraging people in his city to go out on the town.

White House adviser KellyAnne Conway reminded New York reporters last week that “you have a mayor saying, ‘Look at me, I’m on the subway, go out on the town.’”

Conway referenced a tweet earlier in the month by the mayor, when she said: “He told people through a tweet on March 2, ‘Go live your lives and go out on the town,’ and then recommended what show everybody go see. So it’s very unfortunate we now have the spread in the whole New York metro area, which as you all know includes many parts of New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania.”

To be clear, there have been no mea culpas coming from de Blasio. In fact, it would seem he has no problem trying to pin blame on people of faith for the tragedy befalling his city.

Is de Blasio an anomaly among Democrats who are wielding power during this coronavirus crisis? We wish.

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Victor Rantala
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