Michigan Barber Karl Manke Will Take Case to Supreme Court Following Order to Close His Shop

An appeals court ruled against Owosso, Mich. barber Karl Manke on Thursday, demanding he close his barber shop, but Manke intends to take his case to the state Supreme Court.

The Michigan Court of Appeals determined in their ruling that Manke’s rights were not violated by the administration of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in their repeated attempts to coerce him out of business.

“Here, the State has an important governmental interest in containing the spread of COVID-19,” the decision claims, adding that the executive order issued by the governor is “directed at that interest and not at any speech or expressive conduct.”

They overruled the decision of Shiawassee Circuit Court Judge Matthew Stewart, who refused to approve the state’s request to shut down Manke’s business and deprive him of his livelihood. Manke’s lawyer, David Kallman, has said that he plans to appeal the case to Michigan’s Supreme Court.

Regardless of the potential consequences, Manke refuses to cower and remains a free man in the midst of a mass hysteria that has made millions of Americans cower in fear.

“I could care less,” he said in a phone interview at his Owosso barber shop. “If they want to put me in jail, put me in jail. … I will be governed — fair governing — but not ruled. This is a police state action.”

Big League Politics has covered Manke’s stand against Whitmer’s Draconian lock down, which has made him a folk hero of sorts among freedom lovers in his state:

Heroic Texas salon owner Shelley Luther traveled thousands of miles to Owosso, Mich. on Monday to show solidarity with Karl Manke, the barber who defied orders from Governor Gretchen Whitmer and opened up despite his business being deemed non-essential.

They appeared at a press conference outside of Manke’s barber shop with the organizing front Stand Up Michigan, which is encouraging businesses throughout the state to refuse Whitmer’s orders and resume operations.

“I had 20 hair stylists working in my place. I was already a month behind on my mortgage. They were behind on their mortgage. They couldn’t feed their kids,” Luther said to explain the rationale behind her decision to open up her Dallas salon against state-level edicts…

Manke closed by highlighting the psychological ramifications that the shutdown is having on people across Michigan and throughout the country.

“Our governor was concerned more with the physical health. She is so shallow that it is totally completely out of her range of thinking that there is a mental and spiritual aspect of the human being besides the physical,” Manke said.

“We have a bunch of empty shells who are in their homes that are healthy from the coronavirus that are mentally and spiritually starved. We need to bring this type of awareness to each other. We are a community. We are meant to live in a community. So shake hands with people, address people, talk to people. This continual hiding, riding around in our cars with masks on with the windows rolled up, is not healthy!” he said to end the press conference.

Manke has showed that not every American will surrender to the media-generated fear cult, and his heroism is encouraging others to stand as well.

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