Earlier this month, a Dallas, Texas, hair salon owner garnered major media attention after she was jailed for defying the state’s lockdown order, and refusing to apologize for her actions in court.
Shelley Luther ended up serving two days in jail, and had the state’s lieutenant governor offer to pay her $7,000 fine. Now, she’s facing a new wave of critics after admitting to receiving $18,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans prior to her day in court.
Under the Radar host Callie Crossley, who joined Boston Public Radio Friday, is one of them.
“Her whole driving thing was, ‘I’m losing money, I’m losing money, I’m about to go out [of business],’” Crossley said. "But she’d already gotten stimulus funds – by the way, funds that a lot of people are still waiting to get.”
"I mean, this is really bad,” she continued. “It’s okay if you want to protest the quarantine, that’s your right if you wanna do that. But don’t do it in a phony way, like, ‘I’m losing money!’ And I’m sure she is losing money – but be honest about it, and say, ‘I got my $18,000, but I still need more – whatever you’re going to say.”
“Don’t be shady!” Crossley said. "This is just shady.”
