Governor issues cease-and-desist, threatens police action over concert

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson threatened police action against a Fort Smith venue over a show planned for over the weekend. Hutchinson ordered TempleLive not to go

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ahead with a planned concert this week in what would have been America’s first show since stay-athome guidelines began for most of the country two months ago. The state Department of Health issued a cease-and-desist against TempleLive last Wednesday. The 1,100-person theater was set to host blues-rock singer Travis McCready under strict social-distancing protocols this Friday — three days before Arkansas is allowing indoor gatherings of 50 people or fewer to resume.

“By your proposed actions, you are in violation of the Arkansas public-health code,” The state’s secretary of health, Nathaniel Smith, wrote to TempleLive organizers in the ceaseand- desist letter. “Those rules authorize me, as secretary of health and director of the Arkansas Department of Health, to order you to cease and desist the conduct described above. Your failure to comply with this order and postpone your event to be in compliance with the health directives will result in a violation of the Arkansas public-health code.”

“We issued the cease-anddesist order and we expect the law to be complied with,” Hutchinson said Wednesday at a press conference. “Our enforcement capacity can utilize local law enforcement, because this is an enforceable order that we have in place. And there could be other remedies

Hutchinson didn t elaborate on what efforts the state might take to enforce this and other cease-and-desist orders, but instead emphasized

the public.

“I would think that the patrons, when they know that the concert should not happen under Department of Health guidelines, [would] use good judgment and not attend,” he said.

While most indoor venues like TempleLive aren’t allowed to reopen until May 18th under Arkansas’ guidelines, churches and places of worship were free to hold services without any capacity restrictions as of May 4th. Hutchinson said safety precautions don’t matter if events fall outside of the state’s timeline.

“That was based upon public- health guidance,” Hutchinson said. “If we gave direction, as we did for restaurants to serve inside-dining on May 11th, you don’t expect people to open up before that.”