U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is showing his support for Shelly Luther, the Texas salon owner who was jailed for opening her salon to be able to feed her children.
On Friday, Cruz went into Salon A La Mode for a haircut from Luther.
After his haircut, Cruz said, "We’re thrilled to be with you and know the whole State of Texas is standing with you, so thank you for your courage."
The news comes as the battle intensifies over liberty, freedoms, and the government's authority to mandate economic shutdowns.
According to Fox News, Luther was jailed because she refused to apologize to a Texan judge:
Texas lawmakers rushed to Luther’s defense after she was ordered to serve seven days’ jail time, reportedly one for each of the days her salon was open prior to the state loosening lockdown restrictions.
Luther was given three choices by the judge: she could offer an apology for selfishness, pay a fine and shutdown until Friday, or serve jail time. Luther refused to apologize.
"I have to disagree with you, sir, when you say that I'm selfish because feeding my kids is not selfish," she told the judge. "I have hairstylists that are going hungry because they would rather feed their kids. So sir, if you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision. But I am not going to shut the salon."
Luther's bravery has earned her support from many people, including Senator Ted Cruz and former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin.
Like many people, Senator Ted Cruz has not had his haircut for months.
When he heard that Luther was released from jail, he got on a plane to fly to Dallas to show his support for the salon owner.
Luther was fined $7,000 for opening her salon so that she could provide for her children.
Local NBC DFW has more details on Cruz's haircut:
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) visited Dallas' Salon a la Mode Friday morning for a hair cut on the first day salons were allowed to reopen in the state amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Cruz said he hadn't had a haircut in about three months, due to the pandemic, but that he could think of no better place to get it done than at the Dallas salon whose owner, Shelley Luther, was embroiled in controversy this week after refusing to comply with Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order that salons stay closed until May 8.
So, Cruz said, he jumped on a flight to Dallas early Friday and arrived at the salon at about 10 a.m.
As a stylist trimmed his hair, Cruz chatted with Luther about her experience, background and her love of Texas. Afterward, Cruz spoke to reporters outside where he said it was crazy she was jailed for trying to feed her family.
"I'm proud to stand with Shelley Luther. What happened to her was wrong," Cruz said after his haircut Friday. "It was ridiculous to see somebody sentenced to seven days in jail for cutting hair. That's not right. That's not justice. That's not Texas."
Luther was fined $7,000 and jailed on a contempt of court charge earlier this week by District Court Judge Eric Moyé when she refused to apologize for continuing to violate a temporary restraining order filed by the city of Dallas when she continually defied Abbott's executive order and kept her salon open.
The judge's action caused an outcry from supporters, including the state's top Republican leadership of Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, along with the state's junior senator.
On Wednesday, Cruz said on Twitter "7 days in jail for cutting hair?? This is NUTS. And government officials don’t get to order citizens to apologize to them for daring to earn a living."
Even though Luther was jailed on a contempt charge for violating a TRO, and not for violating the governor's executive order, Abbott modified his executive order Thursday morning removing the penalty of jail time for violators in an attempt to get her out of jail.
Within her hair salon, Luther has been following protocols encouraged by the CDC.
For example, she requires all her patrons, including Senator Ted Cruz, to wear a face mask.
The equipment is sanitized to ensure that clients are protected as much as possible the moment they walk through the door.
See Cruz's tweet below that includes video of Luther leaving the jail:
During Cruz's visit, Luther broke down in tears.
She has received tremendous support not only in Texas, but from observers from across the entire country.
A GoFundMe campaign raised $500,000 to help Luther pay for her legal bills.
The New York Post has more details on Luther's appreciation of nationwide support:
At one point during his visit to the Salon à la Mode, Luther began crying and thanked Cruz for his support.
“When people reach out with true authenticity, it’s huge,” she said.
“It’s a nice gesture. His family actually called my boyfriend and prayed for him for 20 minutes while I was in jail,” Luther told the news outlet.
“To me that’s not political… that’s just really nice people reaching out and making sure that our family is OK,” she said.
Luther was jailed Tuesday by Dallas County State District Judge Eric Moyé, but was sprung after Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order retroactively eliminating jail time for violating the state’s coronavirus restrictions.
The judge sentenced Luther to seven days in the slammer with a fine of $1,000 per day — $500 per day for a contempt charge and $500 per day for each day her business was open.
On Wednesday, Cruz said on Twitter: “7 days in jail for cutting hair?? This is NUTS. And government officials don’t get to order citizens to apologize to them for daring to earn a living.”
Meanwhile, Luther said in an interview on “Hannity” on Thursday night that she felt much better after her brush with the law, adding that she stands by her decision not to apologize as Moyé had instructed her to.
“That was the last thing I was going to do, honestly,” she told Sean Hannity. ” … I just couldn’t, I couldn’t bring myself to apologize.”
The judge had given her the option of avoiding prison if she apologized for what he described as her “selfish” behavior, paid a fine and kept her salon closed until Friday, when hair salons across Texas could open with restrictions.
“We were shut down March 22, so it had been several weeks that the government was kind of telling us the [small business] money was coming,” Luther said.
“The Dallas County Judge, Clay Jenkins, kept pushing back the date of when we would open weeks out in advance, before we would hear any new comings of what was going on with masks or whatever.
“When he finally pushed it back a final time I just woke up one day and I said, ‘I have to open, my stylists are calling me, they’re not making their mortgage,'” she continued. ” … I’m two months behind on my mortgage.”
“My stylists were telling me that they wanted [to go] underground and go to people’s houses,” Luther added. “I just said, ‘You know, that’s not a good idea because we can’t control the environment there. We don’t know if it’s been disinfected or anything like that,’ and I just decided I would open.”
She stressed that during the time her business was open in defiance of the order, it instituted strict sanitation and social-distancing measures.
Luther said her short stint in jail was “not pleasant,” although she did have a cell to herself.
More and more states are slowly beginning to reopen their economies so that people can make a living and continue putting food on the table.
Thank God for Senators like Ted Cruz who are willing to stand alongside American business owners who are simply trying to make an honest living for themselves and their families!
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