By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board
This fourth installment of RMV’s COvid Chronicles picks up where the last left off – but this time, the spark became a blaze. We split this chapter into two parts to capture the rapid escalation. Part one chronicled the mounting tensions. Part two reveals the eruption.
The governor’s enforcers tried to make an example of C&C. Instead, they created a rallying cry.
In just seven days, Colorado witnessed threats, shutdowns, viral videos and a surge of defiance that no press conference could contain. Counties revolted, small towns reopened and sheriffs made it clear: the edicts had lost their teeth.
These are the COvid Chronicles for May 8-15, 2020…
COvid Chronicles catch-up
• Introducing The COvid Chronicles: How fear and force reshaped Colorado
• COvid Chronicles April 1-15, 2020: Fifteen days that changed Colorado forever
• COvid Chronicles April 16-30, 2020: From tattletales to tyranny
• The COvid Chronicles May 1–7, 2020: Seven days that set the stage for open rebellion
May 8
The Gazette featured Gov. Polis front and center – suited up in his Colorado flag mask – extending the state’s disaster declaration while Coloradans tried to figure out if eating indoors now qualified as a felony.
Just a day ago, the Denver Post admitted the COVID response was forcing restaurants to close permanently.
It was also reported that not a single business had been reported as noncompliant with Denver’s shiny new mask mandate.
All quiet on the compliance front, they implied. Nothing to see here.
Except there was. Across Colorado, business owners and law enforcement had already begun quietly – and not so quietly – refusing to play along with the charade.
That included Larimer County, where Sheriff Justin Smith openly refused to enforce the new countywide public health order requiring all residents over age 2 to wear masks while patronizing businesses through at least May 30. The order classified violations as a misdemeanor criminal offense.
“We’re starting to get to a tipping point, and I’m just, I’m not going to walk us to the tipping point,” Smith said. “I’m going to walk us back.”
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario also raised concerns – pointing to the confusion and inconsistency from public health officials themselves on whether masks were effective in slowing the virus.
“How come I can wait in line for a cheeseburger at McDonald’s but I can’t go to church in the parking lot?” Vallario asked.
“If we have a blizzard in Glenwood Springs or Garfield County this winter,” he continued, “and we are under a winter storm warning, can the government say I have to wear a parka or I can’t go outside? Or I have to wear Sorel boots or I can’t walk in the snow?”
Up in Boulder, the demographic arguably at the least risk from the virus – college students – had clearly had enough. CU Boulder students defied restrictions and gathered to celebrate their graduation together, some even (gasp) partying, despite the school’s decision to take commencement “virtual.” The display shocked lockdown-loving campus administrators and many across the People’s Republic at the foot of the Flatirons on high.
Boulder County Public Health spokeswoman Chana Goussetis had just two words: “Holy cow” – and not in a good way.
“Not only is it a risk to people at those gatherings,” she said, “it’s a risk to everyone around them. It’s a risk to our elderly population, who is being hit very hard by COVID-19.”
Wonder if Goussetis said “Holy cow” when those same students marched down Pearl Street two weeks later.
May 9
As many in the media and political class continued to mull whether reopening mom-and-pop businesses was “essential,” the moms and pops of those very businesses were blunt.
“It was not a hard decision,” Steve Weil, president of Rockmount Ranch Wear in LoDo told the Post. “It’s essential to the well-being of our economy.”
Weil and other Denver retailers were able to reopen this weekend, but under the conditions of a limited number of shoppers at a time based on square footage and, it goes without saying, everyone at a six-foot distance from one another.
The urgency to open came as Gov. Polis announced he was “considering” reopening in-person education for Colorado’s kids come fall and in-person dining at Rocky Mountain restaurants by the end of May.
“We don’t have a crystal ball,” the governor said, “We’ll see where that data emerges.”
May 10
The rebellion of restaurateurs spread north and west as C&C Coffee and Kitchen reopened for this Mother’s Day Sunday “in defiance,” as the Denver Post’s Shelly Bradbury put it, of Polis’ public health order.
“These restaurants are not only breaking the law, they are endangering the lives of their staff, customers and community,” Polis’ deputy press secretary Shelby Wieman penned in a statement.
C&C’s “illegal and dangerous” actions, as Polis’ people put it, were quickly named and shamed virally across social media, shocking some Coloradans to see an indoor establishment with few people wearing masks.
“It was unbelievable,” said Nick Whitehill, who intended to patronize C&C’s via curbside pickup before leaving in disgust without any food due to the masklessness. Whitehill himself said he shared the video he took of C&C’s to social media to “shame” the restaurant.
Whitehill posted photos of the crowd on Twitter to warn others against frequenting the restaurant and “shame” the eatery, he said. Whitehill proceeded to file a complaint with the Tri-County Health Department.
“I wasn’t even going to eat the food even if I had gotten it,” he said. “I walked in, took the picture and turned right around.”
C&C Coffee and Kitchen owner April Arellano declined to speak to the Post, but wrote on Twitter she reopened “for America, small businesses, the Constitution and against the overreach of our governor in Colorado!!”
Arellano also wrote on Facebook she “would go out of business if I don’t do something,” and said that “if I lose the business at least I’m fighting.”
“We are so behind,” she said in a comment on her post. “We have complied for two months. We cannot make it on $200/day sales when 2 staff cost me $250 not counting, food, cost, utilities and rent.”
Arellano wasn’t afraid to post her own brief live video on her Facebook page showing the crowd in the restaurant.
“So much for some of those people saying nobody would show up,” she said in the video. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the support, guys. I got to get back to work.”
Arellano’s potential criminal offense? A spokeswoman for CDPHE said though no one was available Sunday to formally comment, violating the state public health order is a misdemeanor, “punishable by a fine of $1,000 or up to a year in jail.” And that Arellano risked a revocation of her restaurant license.
While restaurant and small-business owners were itching to get back to work, the politicians responsible for crafting the very policies governing their livelihoods? Not so much.
The Colorado legislature was now set to reconvene on May 26, after extending its temporary suspension by another week. The reason, according to Democrat leaders, was to “allow lawmakers additional time to make safety preparations, consider legislation and research how the General Assembly can deal with the looming budget shortfall caused by the novel coronavirus,” they said in a statement.
May 11
Castle Rock remained the epicenter in the fight for constitutional freedom as the curious case of C&C’s spilled into Monday, with Polis’ CDPHE doubling down on its threats and revoking Arellano’s restaurant license.
Polis dubbed what C&C did over the weekend an “immediate health hazard.”
“I hope, I pray that nobody falls sick from businesses that chose to violate the law,” Polis said. “But if the state didn’t act and more businesses followed suit, it’s a near guarantee that people would lose their lives and it would further delay the opening of legitimate businesses.”
Despite the governor’s actions, his public statements, and a shutdown order from Tri-County Health, Arellano’s restaurant remained open. Many customers dined in to “show support.” A sign posted on the door Monday sent a clear message:
“ATTENTION! Our freedom doesn’t end where your fear begins. If you are scared, stay at home. If you are afraid to be within six feet of another business, DO NOT ENTER THIS BUSINESS! God Bless America, Land of the ‘Free’ and home of the brave.”
Co-owner Jesse Arellano revealed the backlash had been intense.
“We’ve gotten death threats; ‘We’re going to burn the place down,’ ‘I hope all your family all gets COVID and dies,’ and things like this,” Arellano said. “…What kind of life are we going to have if we’re all scared to live and we’re always in a bubble? No one wants to live like that. There are risks all over the place, every day. There are animals who can hurt you in the mountains, but you don’t stop going there.”
May 12
The Gazette in Colorado Springs captured the raw emotion of the Arellanos’ ordeal on its Tuesday front page. In one photo, Jesse Arellano is seen smiling as he hands food to a friend outside C&C’s front door.
In another, he wipes away tears during an impromptu press conference, surrounded by news cameras, as he responds to the governor’s shutdown order.
On Tuesday, Polis followed through. The doors of C&C were locked, the lights were out. Still, customers showed up. In a quiet but striking display of support, they began taping cash to the restaurant’s front wall. Within two hours, about $300 had been posted, with supporters continuing to stop by.
“I’d like to see the governor take this seriously as a message that small business owners, we have done our part,” said supporter Paula Waterman. “We have participated, we have done our part, and now we need him to be faithful to us. We need him to care about the small business owners who are losing their jobs and their employees. We have really tried to comply with everything he’s asked us to do, but now it’s gone too far.”
The case of C&C’s was inspiring other restaurants across the state to reopen. According to Denver Post reporter Shelly Bradbury, that included Charro Mexican Restaurant and Grubby’z in Weld County. Then-Republican congressional candidate Lauren Boebert also vowed in a social media video that she had reopened her Rifle-based restaurant, Shooters Grill.
“No one is taking a stance,” Boebert said of political leaders. “Everyone is rolling over and saying, ‘Why don’t you just fall in line.’ I’m not falling in line. Are we free people or are we not?”
Meanwhile, the financial toll of the pandemic response was becoming more apparent—even before lawmakers had returned to the Gold Dome to rewrite a state budget that had once projected a healthy surplus but was now barreling toward a multi-billion-dollar shortfall.
If Colorado was staring down a $3 billion hole at the macro level, the micro impact on working-class Coloradans was even more severe. Data released by the governor’s office Tuesday showed that over 60% of unemployment claims came from workers earning $20 an hour or less.
May 13
With C&C’s in Castle Rock igniting the fire for Colorado’s return to freedom, residents across the state took the torch and ran – defying Gov. Polis and other lockdown-happy officials. That included Teller County, where commissioners submitted a variance request to allow social gatherings of more than ten people. In their application, the county pointed to a troubling rise in assaults and suicides as justification for ending their state-imposed state of “cabin fever.”
“People are just kind of going stir crazy,” Commander Greg Couch of Teller County told The Gazette’s Debbie Kelley. “They feel like they’re locked in their homes with other family members – and that’s a recipe for more conflict.”
Meanwhile, if Gov. Polis had known the pro-Trump titan Elon Musk would become just four years later, he might not have extended such a warm welcome to the MAGA maverick. But on this day in 2020, as Musk publicly sparred with California officials over lockdown restrictions barring Tesla from reopening its plant, Colorado’s governor made a play.
“We want you @elonmusk in Colorado, we are the best of all worlds,” Polis tweeted late Tuesday night. “We’re very pro-business, low taxes, also pro immigration, pro-LGBT, globally minded.”
Musk ultimately chose Austin, Texas, for Tesla’s headquarters.
“Frankly, I would call it forcible imprisoning of people in their homes against all of their constitutional rights, in my opinion,” Musk said during a May 2020 Tesla meeting. “It’s breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country.”
The Denver Post editorial board was incensed by Polis’ olive branch. In an editorial titled “Polis’ message to Musk should have been, ‘shame on you,’” the board blasted the governor for excoriating the Arellanos at C&C’s for reopening – while simultaneously courting Musk for doing essentially the same thing in California.
“We’re confused about what the difference is between opening a manufacturing facility in defiance of a county health order and opening a dining area,” the editors wrote. “Polis’ tweet was hypocritical and feeds to the narrative that across the United States, elected officials are selecting winners and losers with their shutdown order.”
The Post added, “There are times for civil disobedience.” But in their view, this wasn’t one of them – so Musk, the Arellanos, and anyone else defying public health orders should be treated the same as any American violating the law.
One wonders if one of those acceptable “times for civil disobedience” might arrive just weeks later – right in the Post’s own backyard, following the death of one George Floyd.
May 14
The front page of Thursday’s Gazette offered a striking visual contrast between President Trump and Gov. Polis. In the Associated Press photo, Trump stands in the foreground, arms folded, maskless. Behind him, Gov. Polis looks on from the side – face fully covered by a Colorado flag cloth mask, pulled snugly from the bridge of his nose to below his chin.
Marianne Goodland of Colorado Politics noted in the Gazette report that Polis and CDPHE Executive Director Dr. Jill Hunsaker Ryan were the only individuals in the room “who appeared to be wearing masks.”
Out on the Western Slope, Garfield County officials secured a court order to shut down then-candidate Lauren Boebert’s Shooters Grill – Colorado’s second C&C-style flashpoint.
“If I can sit in a salon chair for an hour-and-a-half, then my customers should be able to come to my restaurant and sit at a table and have a 20-minute meal,” Boebert said in a social media video.
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario voiced even sharper criticism of Polis’ approach.
“These edicts issued by governors and health departments, in my opinion, violate those basic principles of our rule of law and violate our Constitution,” he said. “… I will not arrest anyone who violates these health orders, because the rule of law and due process are absent.”
And as for Colorado’s kids – nearly two months after schoolchildren’s beloved personal items were left locked away in empty hallways and classrooms – Adams County officials finally announced that families would be allowed to retrieve them… via curbside pickup.
May 15
Thanks to the bold actions of restauranteurs, small-business owners, and a handful of elected officials, the floodgates officially opened. County-level leaders across Colorado began pushing back on Gov. Polis and the state, demanding more local control over pandemic restrictions.
Nearly half of Colorado’s 64 counties were now requesting relief from certain “safer-at-home” rules within their jurisdictions – but only a handful of those requests had been approved, across just five counties.
Polis’ health officials granted permission for select churches, gyms, restaurants and movie theaters to reopen – but only under reduced capacity and strict safety measures, including customer health screenings and mandatory masks for employees.
The rhyme and reason behind which counties were granted leniency remained murky. In some cases, it came down to arbitrary data points. In Logan County – a sparsely populated region with just 12 residents per square mile – population density didn’t factor into the decision. Instead, the state focused on a concentrated outbreak at a single facility: the Sterling Correctional Facility.
Days earlier, Logan County’s request for a variance had been denied. State officials pointed to the prison’s outbreak, where 440 inmates and 16 staff had tested positive for COVID-19.
The message from the state to Logan County was clear: the health and movement of inmates mattered more than the livelihoods of local, law-abiding citizens. In fact, of the county’s 483 total cases, only 25 were not connected to the prison.
“We are dying out here,” said Logan County Commissioner Jane Bauder. “We can’t go any longer without these businesses being open.”
Check back at the end of May for the next edition of RMV’s COvid Chronicles…