[Washington Examiner] The rebel barber of Snohomish, Washington, won’t lay down his favorite tool, scissors, without a fight.Bob Martin, 80, has been hit with an avalanche of cease-and-desist letters, nearly $100,000 in fines, and a suspension of the barbering license he’s held since 1967. Despite threats from local and state authorities, he isn’t giving up.
"I haven’t done anything wrong, nobody has gotten sick, and I’m not going to let anybody push me around, tell me I can’t work," he told the Everett Herald. "I don’t need a license to work and they can’t stop me."
Martin says his daughter has a brain tumor, and both she and his grandson depend on him, adding that he feels like "everybody’s grandpa in town."
The state of Washington suspended Martin’s personal barbering license, which was first issued in 1967, in May. Martin is the owner of Stag Barber and Styling in Snohomish and had refused to shut down his business in violation of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Local regulators are taking action against Martin’s business, including issuing steep fines for every day the barbershop is open, but that hasn’t deterred the octogenarian.
"We find ourselves in a situation we haven’t really faced before — someone who refuses to work with us to comply with health and safety regulations and will not partner with us," Christine Anthony, a communications manager for the Washington State Department of Licensing, said.
| Perhaps because you haven't acted like a fascist before, but I'm supposing without evidence... |
| Perhaps if you stopped acting like fascists... |
Martin, who does not plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine, warned that anyone who stops him from running "is going to get their (expletive) shot," according to the Everett Herald.
"We have 25 people for our own personal militia, to protect the barber shop," he said. "... They stand guard outside there if we need them."