A Polk County Court on Friday closed down an East Grand Forks, Minn., bar that refused to shut its doors this week, with its owner defiantly insisting she would serve diners indoors despite Gov. Tim Walz's executive order barring such activities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attorney General Keith Ellison had sought a temporary restraining order, and Judge Corey Harbott granted it Friday, keeping the Boardwalk Bar & Grill from opening for sit-down service, a news release from the Attorney General's Office said.
"I'm grateful for the court's quick action, because lives are at stake," Ellison said in a statement. "We look forward to pursuing our enforcement action to the fullest extent."
The restraining order noted that the state "will likely prevail" on its claim the restaurant was violating Walz's order, and said the restaurant's "patrons and general public will suffer irreparable harm" unless the restaurant is prevented from opening for in-person dining.
Boardwalk's closure came after Ellison's office sued the bar earlier Friday, and after several other attempts to get the bar to follow the rules.
On Thursday, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) served the restaurant with a cease-and-desist order. And local law enforcement tried to enforce the executive order on Wednesday, the day the restaurant reopened. Even so, the restaurant's owner said the establishment was open for business as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.
"Most of us can't survive financially unless we open back up," said owner Jane Moss, adding that restaurants next door in North Dakota were open and "doing well."
Walz's order gave the attorney general the civil authority to "enforce the prohibition and seek relief if necessary," the news release said, citing the high rates of COVID-19 infection in Polk County, where the tavern is located, and in neighboring North Dakota, which has the highest per capita rate of COVID-19 cases in the United States.