Citizens of DC are showing their support for the H Street bar and burger restaurant, the Big Board, which was officially shut down by the health department for defying Covid-19 mandates. The popular burger location was shut down Tuesday night, “days after its liquor license was suspended for repeated violations of DC’s indoor mask and vaccine mandates. Stripped of its ability to sell alcohol, the business had continued operating with only food” reports the Washington Examiner.
After news broke that they were shut down, individuals suddenly had a hankering for burgers and flooded the restaurant in support. Republican lawmakers including Senator Rand Paul and Representatives Thomas Massie, Tim Burchett and Victoria Spartz all showed up to the restaurant Tuesday night.
Senator Paul called for Mayor Muriel Bowser’s resignation for having illogical priorities in a city plagued with crime and fentanyl overdoses. “I came here, and I’m going to spend some money to support him, but it’s his livelihood. So he has to make a decision. It’s a big decision — civil resistance, civil disobedience — when you lose your livelihood. So I’m incredibly proud of him. I’m very supportive of what he’s doing,” said Paul.
The restaurant’s co-owner Eric Flannery gave his first public interview Monday night to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. Flannery said he is “apolitical” but defied the mask mandate because it “doesn’t really make any sense.”
Flannery spoke to the group of supportive individuals Tuesday night and said he hopes to appeal. “When people asked me, ‘what are you going to get on the other side of this?’ I don’t know. I just know that I’m doing the right thing” he said as he teared up.
Senator Paul also tweeted out fundraising pages for the restaurant to his 3.5 million followers. The Washingtonian reported that “so far, a GoFundMe campaign started by Daily Caller correspondent Henry Rodgers has raised more than $20,000 from more than 450 donors.”
Mayor Bowser addressed the issue in a press conference last week, saying only, “I’d like the business to comply, and we don’t want to shut anybody down…we want to give people support, advice, supplies, help, whatever they need. But we do need them to follow the regulations.”