'Bar Lives Matter' concert promoted by Texas bar owner to protest coronavirus restrictions

The coronavirus is thrilled to learn that a bar owner in Texas is organizing a ‘Bar Lives Matter’ concert to protest the state’s restrictions to slow the COVID-19 outbreak.

It’s pretty nuts in Texas, where coronavirus infections and deaths are accelerating.

There was apparently an organized protest by other bar owners today at the Texas Capitol.

From The Hill:

A Texas bar owner who is one of several currently suing Gov. Greg Abbott (R) over reimposed restrictions on bars organized a “Bar Lives Matter” concert and protest Sunday.

Tee Allen Parker, owner of The Machine Shed Bar & Grill in Kilgore, about two hours southeast of Dallas, hosted the gathering outside the bar Sunday. A second protest is planned on the steps of the capitol in Austin Tuesday, according to KLTV, a local ABC affiliate.

“You can’t tell me that my tiny little bar is the problem. He’s the problem,” Parker, who is one of multiple Texas bar owners who have banned the wearing of masks in their establishments, said of Abbott in an interview with The Washington Post. “He’s targeting us, and it’s discrimination.”

Jared Woodfill, a Houston attorney representing Parker and 21 other plaintiffs, said Abbott’s order illegally bypasses the legislative process and unfairly singles out bars while allowing businesses like barber shops and hair salons to continue operating.

Read related news at The Washington Post:
‘We’re not the problem’: Texas bar owners sue over governor’s shutdown order

And KLTV, an East Texas news channel:
East Texas bar holds protest against governor’s shutdown