UPDATE: So, Shelley Luther is promoting an event called “Battle for the Bars: Free Our Bars & Restaurants Protest & Rally! Band Jam Out!” on Sunday, from 4-8 p.m. at the Machine Shed Bar & Grill, 6113 Hwy. 31 in Kilgore (close to Country Tavern). Shelley and her boyfriend Tim Georgeff will be there, although the post doesn’t say if their band will perform.
It appears that Shelley Luther, the Dallas salon owner who pitched a fit and pretty much pushed Gov. Greg Abbott into speeding up the process of re-opening Texas, is putting her newly-founded nonprofit Courage to; Stand to use by throwing a fit over Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order issued today once again closing down Texas bars to try and stem the rising numbers of COVID-19 infections.
Earlier this afternoon, Luther posted on her Courage To Stand Facebook page, “Texas Bar owners: Let’s work together to stay open!!! Announcement coming!”
Shortly after, she posted again, encouraging people to visit her page on Parler.com, which Wikipedia describes as a “United States-based microblogging and social networking service launched in August 2018, as an alternative to Twitter. It has been noted for its base of Donald Trump supporters and for far-right, conspiracy and anti-Semitic content.”
Luther said in the post that Parler is “a better platform to speak and read real news.”
The post includes a screen-cap of Luther’s Parler page, which describes her as “Founder of Courage to Stand, a non-profit developed to give Americans a voice to fight for freedom, rights, and independence from tyrannical governments. Owner of Salon A La Mode.”
It also shows a Parler post in which Luther declares, “Texas bars will NOT GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT! I hope you’re ready Governor Abbott.”
A recap
Abbott, by the way, is the same governor who in May ordered local officials to stop enforcing the COVID-19-related restrictions — including requirements for places like hair salons to remain closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus — after Luther was cited for opening her hair salon anyway and then sentenced to seven days in jail on contempt of court charges for tearing up the citation. (She was never actually tried for opening the salon in defiance of state and county restrictions.)
Although Luther was taken briefly to jail, she was released about 48 hours later after Abbott had jumped into the fray, scolding Dallas County Judge for actually enforcing the executive order Abbott issued and then amending that executive order retroactively to eliminate the parts that allowed those violating the order to be cited and jailed. The Texas Supreme Court also got in on the act, ordering that she be released.
Abbott followed up by rushing ahead with the “re-open Texas” process, ignoring the benchmarks and warning flags he had, himself, outlined to allow business to re-open much more quickly than had been deemed safe, all in an apparent effort to placate Luther and those like her who declared that COVID-19 safety restrictions infringed on their life, liberty and God-given right to get sick and die, but not before infecting innocent bystanders.
Through it all, the right-wingers flocked to her cause, donating to a GoFundMe page that raised more than $500,000 for the salon owner, who had already received an $18,000 PPP loan (even though the stylists in her salon are neither employees nor private contractors, but instead pay her rent to use the space) and lived on a half-million-dollar ranch with her boyfriend, younger daughter and a bevy of exotic animals. Even when it was revealed that Luther had been recruited by a newly-formed right-wing group looking for someone as a standard-bearer for their efforts to force the state to re-open. Even finding out that Luther did not re-open until after the group approached her and had already set up the GoFundMe, her supporters stuck with Luther and their cause. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick donated $7,000 to her cause, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz showed up at her salon for a (really bad) haircut and some publicity.
Looking for the limelight again
Luther, who said she was using the GoFundMe money to establish her Courage To Stand nonprofit, stayed in the spotlight for a bit longer after the state began to re-open, including a trip to Laredo where she gave a grand total of $2,500 to two women there who had been arrested in April for providing salon services in their own homes and were facing stiff fines and jail sentences much longer than seven days.
But she had been pretty quiet since then — until today when she issued her rallying cry to the bar owners of Texas.
During the initial hearing in Judge Eric Moye’s court in May, Luther insisted that she had to open to the salon because her employees needed to be paid and she had to be able to feed her own children. (As noted already, Luther did not have any employees at the salon, and only one of her two daughters — who is 17 or 18 years old — lives with her.)
Luther said she was initially fighting to be able to feed her children and pay her employees. One would assume that her in upcoming effort to force Abbott to let the bars re-open, she will be fighting for the right to party. It will be interesting to see how Abbott, who championed her cause in May, will respond now that Luther is challenging him directly. One thing’s for sure, he can’t blame this one on Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins or Judge Eric Moye.
— Tammye Nash
I am sorry but she needs to STFU. People are dying from this thing and now it is out of control because of stupid F***s like her.
And it is stupid fucks like you that are in favor of dictatorship rather than democracy. Aless than 1% of th people who contract the illness die from it. So STFU you shit head. You must be getting a paycheck. You dickwad. Jeffrey Cannon. Why don’t you go Cannon up your mother’s ass. If you’re scared stay home. No one is your keeper.
The current Covid-19 mortality rate per the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html) is 5.148% as of 6/26/2020.
And it’s stupid morons like you who actually believe the bought and paid for idiots in the CDC and the idiots in the WHO who can’t seem to make up their minds on how to deal with this virus that has a death rate of less than the common flu and already has three different “proven” cures that these idiots flat out refuse to recognize since these cures (like a high dose of vitamin C every day) are very cheap and no money will be made by our greedy tycoons from these cures.
Where the hell is your concern or empathy for your fellow citizens? You kiss your mother with that nasty mouth. If you cant say something nice keep your pie hole shut.
Good grief, Victoria Collins – why are you so pissed off that you have to be so nasty and stoop to such name calling? That kind of attitude can’t be good for your health. You must have wicked high blood pressure. I mean seriously…
No dumb ass you shut the fuck up. Jeffery is right, she is part of the gotdamn problem…its just being irresponsible to disobey the law because some people feel they are too fuckin PRIVILEGED and selfish to do what’s in the best for the community by listening to experts. This has worked in other countries and their cases have gone DOWN vs ours. Do you not look at statistics and the new dumb ass?! And don’t get on here talking about 1% of people die, you aren’t a fuckin scientist. Until you go to the ER and see nurses, doctors and how many people have died struggling to this virus, then I suggest you shut the hell up about taking this virus lightly. This isn’t dictatorship, this is PRACTICAL VS PRIVILEGE. Miss us with your bullshit stupid ass comment Victoria….Thank you for your comment Jefferey.
Perhaps you will see your loved one suffer before you actually understand the deadly nature of this virus! Why are these supposedly good Christian people not being your brothers keeper !?
@VictoriaCollins – “And it is stupid fucks like you that are in favor of dictatorship rather than democracy. Aless than 1% of th people who contract the illness die from it. So STFU you shit head” –and that is why the rest of the country shakes their head in disbelief at crackers like you. Your neighbors deaths are on you and your band of idiots
Victoria, calm down. Such a nasty mouth. Not very lady like. What your Pastor name. I’m going to ask that they keep you in prayer.
Soot On
Please don’t allow this but job to use you as a platform to line her pockets! She’ll be sitting back laughing at you all as she reap the benefits off of those trusting in her self-serving foolishness. If she really cared…let her donate the money she was given to bar owners and salon owners instead of encouraging you to protest and run the risk of being out even longer!
Actually, 10-20 times more people die of Covid19 than the regular flu. The excess number of deaths over average years makes it quite apparent that there are serious problems being caused by this virus. 344 are dead now in Dallas County, with only ~20,000 diagnosed positive. At that rate, everyone infected may lead to 10,000-40,000 dead in Dallas County alone.
Besides the numbers, there’s simply the issue of human decency. We cannot turn our backs on an infectious disease. 20 times as many people who die have a serious illness, often requiring lengthy hospitalizations and enormous hospital bills. Some leave with lifelong disabilities, like damaged lungs, weakened hearts, kidneys, or livers. Some have difficulty walking or thinking.
Just flippantly saying “only 1% die”, not even knowing that is a rate 10 times the flu, isn’t kind or thoughtful. It doesn’t help anyone, particularly the families of those who have died. Have some decency, after all.
Your statistics are flawed.
Compare the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the flu versus the serious cases (which assume hospitalization) and deaths from COVID-19 as a percentage of TOTAL US population and you will see that the flu is 3x more deadly than COVID-19 at the low end and 5.6x more deadly than COVID-19 at the high end.
COVID-19 is serious but in no way as serious as the media and government claim, especially that mini-dictator-wanna-be Clay Jenkins.
These statistics come directly from the city of Dallas and address available/occupied hospital beds overall and ICU beds in specific. The number of occupied beds is increasing rapidly because of increasing COVID-19 infections, according to city, county, state and federal officials, as well as hospital/healthcare officials themselves. Nobody said EVERY occupied hospital/icu bed is occupied by someone with COVID. Your comparison to flu deaths does not take into account that COVID deaths/infections have all happened within a 4 month period (flu stats are yearly) and every scientific expert/medical expert will tell you that COVID-19 is far more infectious and deadly than the “regular” flu.
Thanks for commenting. Stay safe.
Well, who can argue with logic like that?
Oh, right, anyone with a basic understanding of statistics. It is so obvious that you don’t have a clue what you are talking about. You numbers are hilariously skewed because you don’t understand basic math. The more you talk, the more ignorance you reveal. You don’t have a magical connection to the truth. All of the doctors and scientists aren’t conspiring against you. You’re just ignorant and overly opinionated about matters you don’t understand.
Kisses,
Data Scientist
The privileged Karen won’t be satisfied to her and all her dumb followers have the Rona in the crack of their asses.
I am for it…the main reason for the spoke in cases is all idiots out protesting, rioting and looting. I know liberal quacks would rather blame it on businesses opening but it’s simply not true.
What did they expect from her after the way they came to her defense last time 🤦🏽♀️ But when the TBAC suspends her license for violating what she gonna do then… TBAC DOESN’T PLAY GAMES
That’s right: Live Free and Die (and kill as many as you can on your way out)
I guess Victoria is one of her 2 idiotic followers. Even Abbott admitted he was wrong to close the bars down so early, which was the most obvious no brainer, even if it’s where irresponsible folks like Vickie and Shelly must hang out after pathetically getting their pathogen-filled hair done.
Let’s hope Vick and Shelly finally make it to the “1% “ in this case .
I guess Victoria is one of her 2 idiotic followers. Even Abbott admitted he was wrong to close the bars down so early, which was the most obvious no brainer, even if it’s where irresponsible folks like Vickie and Shelly must hang out after pathetically getting their pathogen-filled hair done.
Let’s hope Vick and Shelly finally make it to the “1% “ in this case .
And, the $500,000 that Ms Luther received from gofundme won’t be taxable. It would be considered a gift. And, she can write off her legal expense as a business expense. A win-win for her. I would stay overnight in jail for that!
Way to go. I feel the same way!!!!! Let us decide
I cannot wait until her 15 minutes of trailer park fame is over. Karen please just stay home with your fat tax-free Go Fund Me bank account of money, your fake charity and play with your 900 animals instead of making Texans look like morons every time you open your lying mouth. If anyone with half a brain scratches below the surface they will find this self-proclaimed pandemic martyr has herself a ton of optic problems with a story that has been poked full of holes… From feed my kids, to pay my mortgage, pay my employees, to fighting for her and everyone else’s rights, when the truth is, this was nothing but a premeditated scheme and she was nothing but a shill for some whack job radical group and she decided to jump on their crazy train to take advantage by filling her own pockets that were not as empty as she claimed. I still laugh thinking about when she said in court that the SBA loan money just showed up and she didn’t know what it was or what she could do with it. How about get your ass off Facebook and figure it out. Oh wait – that could have stopped your Go Fund Me donations and attention from all the suckers out there that bought into your performance. Enjoy it while it lasts Karen…It is amusing what pickle this has put the brainless politicians in with the bar closing issues after giving Karen a free pass. Now those dumbasses have to figure out how to spin letting Karen off the hook but holding their feet to the fire to follow the rules. And now Karen is trying to run back into the spotlight by pretending to fight for more justice for the bars, while bashing those that gave her a free pass. BTW Judge Eric Moye is my hero for doing what by law he was required to do. Sweet, sweet irony. Maybe following the rules and laws such as contempt isn’t a bad thing after all – is it boys?
I cannot wait until her 15 minutes of trailer park fame is over. Karen please just stay home with your fat tax-free Go Fund Me bank account of money, your fake charity and play with your 900 animals instead of making Texans look like morons every time you open your lying mouth. If anyone with half a brain scratches below the surface they will find this self-proclaimed pandemic martyr has herself a ton of optic problems with a story that has been poked full of holes… From feed my kids, to pay my mortgage, pay my employees, to fighting for her and everyone else’s rights, when the truth is, this was nothing but a premeditated scheme and she was nothing but a shill for some whack job radical group and she decided to jump on their crazy train to take advantage by filling your own pockets that were not as empty as she claimed. I still laugh thinking about when she said in court that the SBA loan money just showed up and she didn’t know what it was or what she could do with it. How about get your ass off Facebook and figure it out. Oh wait – that could have stopped your Go Fund Me donations and attention from all the suckers out there that bought into your performance. Enjoy it while it lasts Karen….I do find it funny what pickle this has put the politicians in with the bar closing issues after giving Karen a free pass. Now those dumbasses have to figure out how to spin letting Karen off the hook but holding their feet to the fire to follow the rules. And now Karen is trying to run back into the spotlight by pretending to fight for more justice for the bars, while bashing those that gave her a free pass. Sweet, sweet irony. Maybe following the rules and laws such as contempt isn’t a bad thing after all – is it boys?
Amen!
There is no non profit recorded under this name or hers. There is no way she could have an approved IRS non profit this quickly. Someone look into and report this blatant lie/fraud.
She’s filed under a 501(c)4; which means you can self declare and can operate while you wait for government approval. What you are supposed to do when you solicit donations (that Ms Luther isn’t doing) is declare that the donations are not deductible on your taxes. Hmmm. Also doesn’t actually say who the & will go to. And the section of news is onlyl articles about her.
There is no non profit recorded under this name or hers. There is no way she could have an approved IRS non profit this quickly. Someone look into and report this blatant lie/fraud. Thanks
Do you think Ms. Luther is going to drop part of her financial haul from the GoFundMe page to and help pay for your hospital bills for the Covid-19 related hospitalization?
Do you think Ms. Luther is going to drop part of her financial haul from the GoFundMe page to help pay for your hospital bills for the Covid-19 related hospitalization?
As a bar owner, I wish Ms. Luther would stop speaking for us. We didn’t presume to advise on salons. Stay out of our business, you’re making things worse. We don’t need you as a spokeswoman. You’re the furthest thing we need. Please disassociate yourself from our cause. You’re making all of us sound like soulless, lying monsters. We’re not; we care about people and want to open safely. I realize that you don’t understand the concept of caring about others, but please, stop misrepresenting our industry.
I wish DallasVoice and other local news outlets would stop covering one criminal’s opinion as though it’s news. There is so much going on in the world. Is this the best you can do?