April Arellano, owner of C&C Coffee & Kitchen in Castle Rock, violated Colorado’s order by reopening the restaurant on Mother’s Day to hundreds of customers.
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April Arellano, owner of C&C Coffee and Kitchen
April Arellano is the Colorado restaurant owner who made headlines for reopening her business, C&C Coffee & Kitchen, for dine-in service in defiance of a statewide order. Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, ordered restaurants, bars and coffeehouses to close except for takeout and delivery in order to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
But Arellano and husband Jesse said they needed to resume regular operations in order to keep their business afloat. They decided to open the Castle Rock, Colorado, restaurant on Mother’s Day and attracted large crowds. Images shared on social media revealed customers were not wearing masks and no one was abiding by social distancing guidelines.
Heavy has reached out to Arellano through the company’s email for comment. A spokesperson for the governor’s office criticized Arellano’s decision to reopen, telling the Denver Post restaurants that open too early are “endangering the lives of their staff, customers, and community.”
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VideoVideo related to colorado restaurant opens with no social distancing despite covid-192020-05-11T14:31:17-04:00
April Arellano’s husband, Jesse, told KDVR-TV the decision to reopen C&C was not meant to be a political move. But signs on the front door of the restaurant and a social media message suggest the opposite.
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On May 9, the day before the reopening, the Arellos posted a message to the restaurant’s Twitter handle. The post tagged President Donald Trump and read, “We are standing for America, small businesses, the Constitution and against the overreach of our governor in Colorado!!” It included several flag emojis and a link to a Facebook page that has since been deleted.
C&C had a sign on the door that read: “Attention! Our freedom doesn’t end where your fear begins. If you are scared, stay at home! If you are afraid to be within 6 ft. of another person, do not enter this business! God bless America. Land of the ‘free’ and home of the brave.” Video shared by CBS Denver also shows a sign that references the Declaration of Independence and attempts by leaders such as Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini to take America’s freedoms away.
Jesse Arellano told KDVR, “It’s a choice. If they don’t want to come out, don’t come out. That’s what we’re fighting for is freedom. This is America. If we don’t want to wear a mask, we don’t want to wear a mask. We want to wear a mask, we want to wear a mask.”
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Hundred of people packed C&C Coffee and Kitchen on Mother’s Day, Arellano told local news outlets. She shared a video to Facebook to show off the large crowd, explaining that there was a line out the door and that the patio was packed, as well. Arellano told the audience, “So much for some of those people saying nobody would show up.”
Arellano has since made her Facebook posts private. The only post currently visible on her personal page is an image of the American flag in front of C&C. But CBS Denver archived the video and it can be seen here.
