Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes announced Thursday that his officers would not respond to requests for enforcement that related only to coronavirus curfew violations.
Sheriff Barnes was reacting to Governor Gavin Newsom’s declaration Thursday that a near-statewide curfew would go into effect on Saturday, November 21. Californians will be required to stay at home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for an entire month unless they are employed during those hours as “essential” workers
Barnes said:
Earlier today, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department became aware of a limited Stay at Home Order that Governor Newsom’s office ordered to go into effect on Saturday, November 21 at 10 PM.
Throughout the pandemic, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has taken an education-first approach with regard to the public health orders.
We are currently assessing the action by the Governor.
At this time, due to the need to have deputies available or emergency calls for service, deputies will not be responding to requests for face-coverings or social gatherings-only enforcement.
Orange County resisted some of the governor’s stay-at-home orders in the spring, when Newsom wanted to close the state’s beaches.
The traditionally conservative county has voted for Democrats in the past two presidential elections, but saw two congressional seats flip back to Republicans in 2020. Michelle Steele (CA-48) and Young Kim (CA-39) will also be the first Korean-American women in the U.S. Congress.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.