West Hollywood to Fine People Not Wearing Masks With $300

Lorenz Duchamps
By Lorenz Duchamps
July 2, 2020US News
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West Hollywood to Fine People Not Wearing Masks With $300
Men wear masks in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 29, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

As more U.S. states make face coverings mandatory in public spaces, the city of West Hollywood in Los Angeles will now fine everyone on city streets not wearing a mask or covering.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department West Hollywood Station announced on Wednesday that deputies will issue citations to those who are not following the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus health order and ignore the wearing of face coverings while in public or high-risk settings.

“Beginning this month, we will start issuing Administrative Citations for people who are not conforming to the Order to wear a face cover/mask in public,” the department said in a news release.

“The citation, which is administrative and not criminal, is $250 plus a fee of $50 for a total of $300 for the first offense,” it added.

People who repeatedly fail to comply with the order will face a higher fine each time, according to a report from CBS Los Angeles.

The report states that those who are caught a second time will be fined $1,000, the third time $2,000, and for those caught a fourth time will be fined a whopping $5,000.

The sheriff’s office said they have been educating residents about the importance of wearing a protective mask or covering and that the move comes after “a number of complaints about people not wearing face coverings in West Hollywood.”

“Our very last option is to conduct enforcement by issuing a citation, but the risk to community health is too great,” police said. At the time authorities announced the order, they said nobody has been fined so far and added they never hope to have to fine someone.

The stringent measure comes as COVID-19 infections continue to increase across California.

A man wearing a mask walks along the Venice Beach
A man wears a mask as he walks along the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 13, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a statewide executive order on June 18 that requires people to wear face coverings in indoor settings and outside when social distancing is not feasible.

State officials are seeing “too many people with faces uncovered,” which is risking progress that Californians have made in staving off the CCP virus, Newsom said.

“California’s strategy to restart the economy and get people back to work will only be successful if people act safely and follow health recommendations. That means wearing a face covering, washing your hands and practicing physical distancing,” he added.

President Donald Trump said in an interview this week that he is “all for masks,” but added that he doesn’t think it should be nationally mandated.

“If I were in a group of people and I was close, I would. I have. People have seen me wearing one, if I’m in a group of people where we’re not 10 feet away,” the president said. “Usually I’m not in that position and everyone’s tested because I’m the president and they get tested before they see me, [but] if I were in a tight situation with people, I would absolutely,” he added.

Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.

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