New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared Wednesday his state’s Department of Health would be launching an investigation into a Chainsmokers concert in the Southamptons over the weekend featuring guests flouting social distancing guidelines.
“Videos from a concert held in Southampton on Saturday show egregious social distancing violations. I am appalled,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter. “We have no tolerance for the illegal & reckless endangerment of public health.”
Videos from a concert held in Southampton on Saturday show egregious social distancing violations. I am appalled.
The Department of Health will conduct an investigation.
We have no tolerance for the illegal & reckless endangerment of public health.https://t.co/gf9kggdo8w
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) July 28, 2020
Cuomo however, didn’t share the same outrage as crowds repeatedly gathered to form massive protests in recent weeks that featured explicit lawlessness and rioting that devastated small businesses already struggling through the pandemic.
https://twitter.com/PamelaGeller/status/1285214268539809792?s=20
Union Square group now marching south on Broadway. “How do we get out of this mess? / Revolution, nothing less!” followed by a chant on nonviolence. #OccupyCityHallNYC pic.twitter.com/HS6bXGnlnN
— PROTEST_NYC (@protest_nyc) July 22, 2020
The crowd of marchers is massive and fills the street.#NYCPROTEST #BrooklynProtest #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/g5vtrmJsld
— Grant Lancaster (@grantlan145) June 6, 2020
A massive crowd is gathering for justice for George Floyd and an end to police violence. We are at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn NYC. The crowd has their hands up and is chanting, “No justice, no peace.” I’ll be posting photos and videos throughout the protest. [thread] pic.twitter.com/JtL7f8038m
— Andy Ratto (@andyratto) May 29, 2020
While Cuomo called the protests “counterproductive,” there was no full-blown state investigation to track down those who participated in pursuit of government punishment.
Legacy media and public health officials meanwhile, played down the severity of the two-months protesting concluding they played no role in spreading the virus after declaring the novel Wuhan coronavirus woke sensitive by naming systemic racism a greater public health threat than the very virus that shut down the entire country. In fact, New York City contract tracers were instructed not to even ask about individual participation in the protests.
“New York Black Lives Matter Protests Haven’t Sparked Coronavirus Surge,” read one headline in USA Today.
“Coronavirus News: New York City protests haven’t caused spike in COVID-19 cases,” read another in a local New York ABC affiliate.
“Trump tried to blame Black Lives Matter protests for the coronavirus surge. Data doesn’t support his claim,” observed the Washington Post last week.
The Wall Street Journal found in mid-July however, that coronavirus cases were surging among the exact demographic out protesting in the New York streets.
“New York City Coronavirus Infection Rate Is Rising Among Younger People,” the Journal headlined on July 14. One day later, Mayor Bill de Blasio rejected the idea that the protests and the rise in new cases among those protesting had any kind of connection.
“I think we’re seeing this around the country. I do think the crisis has hit younger people in a really challenging way,” de Blasio said. “And I think they’ve been yearning to get out and are used to, you know, a very outward focus in life.”
One week earlier, de Blasio placed a ban on large gatherings through September but permitted protests in the name of Black Lives Matter.
“This is a historic moment of change. We have to respect that but also say to people the kinds of gatherings we’re used to, the parades, the fairs – we just can’t have that while we’re focusing on health right now,” de Blasio said on CNN, unless it’s a protest against systemic racism.
