A Minnesota grandmother and former business owner who was jailed for refusing to follow lockdown orders during the COVID-19 pandemic warned that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) would “take away Americans’ rights.”
in Interview Lisa Hanson, owner of Interchange Wine & Coffee Bistro in Albert Lea, told Fox News how she ended up serving 60 days in jail and paying a $1,000 fine for refusing to comply with lockdown orders after Governor Walz allowed “big box stores” and others to reopen while keeping “mom and pop” businesses closed.
Hanson dispelled the impression that mainstream media and the Harris campaign are trying to portray Waltz as a “lovable, upbeat coach” after Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced she had chosen Waltz as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
“This is a story that America needs to hear. Tim Waltz is not the affable, bubbly coach that the mainstream media has dubbed him,” Hanson told the outlet. “This guy is not that. This guy is trying to take away your rights. He’s going to take away your rights, because what happened to me could happen to anybody. What happened to me will happen to you.”
The mother of eight and grandmother of 18 grandchildren told the outlet that she and “nearly 200” other business owners in the state belong to a group called Open Minnesota, which believes Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison are “above the law and acting improperly.”
Hanson told the outlet that within “24 to 48 hours” of starting her business in December 2020, the state government had applied “intense pressure” and about six “civil and criminal lawsuits” were filed against her.
Hanson served 60 days of his original 90-day sentence after being “convicted of a misdemeanor in December 2021,” he told the outlet, adding that he ultimately closed his business after facing “tens of thousands of dollars” in “legal costs and fines.”
“My family has paid a huge price,” Hanson added. “While I was in prison, I missed Christmases with my family, I missed my wedding anniversary, I missed the birth of one of my grandchildren. I can never get that time back. That time was taken from me. My business was destroyed. I don’t have a business anymore. After everything that happened, Tim Waltz and Keith Ellison destroyed my business. They ruined my life.”
Hanson’s interview came after a former Minnesota bar owner, who faced more than $300,000 in fines for refusing to comply with Gov. Walz’s closure orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, described the governor as an “evil man” who “robbed and destroyed small businesses.”
During the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Walz operated a hotline where citizens could report people who may not have been following lockdown orders.
