Kansas City mayor defends ‘Nazi-like’ policy registering people attending church
A conservative law firm is calling a new order in Kansas City, Missouri, "Nazi-like" for requiring churches to "surveil, track, and spy" on anyone who attends an in-person service.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas issued the 10/10/10 rule in effect May 5, ordering that nonessential businesses, like churches, can have 10 people inside and 50 people outside as long as they practice social distancing. They also must record the information of anyone who spends more than 10 minutes inside.
In addition, nonessential businesses can operate at 10 percent maximum capacity.
The order states that by recording names and contact information, the health department will be able “to more quickly trace, test, and isolate individuals who may have been exposed to COVID-19.” Anyone who doesn't provide their information won't be allowed in.
“Our goal isn’t to see what everyone is doing and be Big Brother,” Lucas said, according to FOX 4, but that's not how many in the community see it.
At least one church feared its rights were being violated and contacted Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a legal nonprofit that has been defending churches amid coronavirus lockdown orders.
“They’re targeting people and you have to give them your name and contact information as a prerequisite,” Staver told the "Todd Starnes Show" Monday. “What did they start doing in Nazi Germany? They started targeting people. They started to collect their names and their data so that they knew who they were and where they’ve been.”
Attorney General Bill Barr's Justice Department is looking into the matter, according to Staver, who threatened legal action if the policy doesn't change. The DOJ recently sided with a Virginia church suing Gov. Ralph Northam after police threatened a pastor with jail time or a $2,500 fine for violating an executive order and holding a 16-person church service on Palm Sunday.
"These attacks on churches cannot stand," Staver added in a statement Friday. "We will fight these cases all the way to the Supreme Court if we must."
Beyond church walls, business owners have complained they can't operate under the strict guidelines, FOX 4 reports.
Lucas encouraged anyone who sees a business or church violating the new guidelines to report them on the city's 311 line.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/coronavirus-kansas-city-mayor-church-policy-order-update