KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One day after a Jackson County judge issued an order for Rae's Cafe in Blue Springs to close, over a hundred people gathered outside the restaurant to show support for the owner.
"We all need government, we all need police, because if somebody is robbing you, who are you calling? But you also have to have a healthy balance," said supporter Laron Bryant.
A large group of supporters are waiting outside Rae’s Cafe in Blue Springs, MO to show their solidarity with owner, Amanda Wohletz. @AGEricSchmitt is set to arrive this morning.@KSHB41 pic.twitter.com/hFR9W3woJF
— JuYeon Kim (@JuYeonKimTV) September 11, 2021
On Sept. 3, Jackson County revoked the cafe's food establishment permit due to repeated violation of the county's COVID-19 order.
The following day Rae's Cafe opened as a "private club." Those who wished to join the private club had to pay $1 to enter the establishment, and the only dress code was no masks allowed.
In response, the county shut the restaurant down and filed a petition in a circuit court asking a judge to formally shut the cafe down.
"We are not going to put up with Jackson County, Frank White and their health department putting our businesses out of business," said Missouri State Representative Jeff Coleman at the rally.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt made an appearance at the cafe to show support for the owner, Amanda Wohletz.
Attorney General Schmitt stopped by Rae's Cafe this morning to stand with the owners against Jackson County's overreach in trying to shut their business down. pic.twitter.com/VeXmT4WHhk
— Attorney General Eric Schmitt (@AGEricSchmitt) September 11, 2021
"No mask mandates, no vaccine passports, no vaccine mandates for COVID, and no more lock downs. Let's get this straight," Schmitt said. "They are actually shutting down somebody’s business, their livelihood — a single mom trying to live the American Dream."
The attorney general stated people should be responsible and make good decisions, but the government should not be mandating masks or vaccinations. He called the shutdown of Rae's Cafe by a county judge "an incredible overreach" by the local government.
"It's a very powerful thing to be telling people, ’Shut your business down, don’t go outside, put a mask on,' and that's very antithetical to who we are as a country. And as attorney general for six million Missourians, I'm going to fight back every step of the way," Schmitt said.
He warned multiple lawsuits are coming against any kind of vaccine or mask mandates that are imposed on Americans.
