Garden State Times

Gov. Tom Wolf openly admitted that he hasn’t consistently followed his own COVID-19 restrictions after he was seen at a Black Lives Matter protest in June.

Wolf, a Democrat, defended his decision to blatantly ignore his own social distancing guidelines, saying that the protest was too important.

Wolf said he was aware he was inconsistent, according to Breitbart.

“But I was trying to show support for a cause, the eradication of racism that I think is very, very important and I was trying to show my support for that effort,” Wolf said, Breitbart reported.

Wolf attended a protest in the state’s capital and marched with protestors. At the time, the county was in a yellow phase, which means large gatherings are restricted if there are more than 25 people. There were more than 25 people at the protest.

“I’m at today’s March Against Injustice and Gun Violence 2020 in Harrisburg in solidarity with our community,” Wolf had tweeted. “Black lives matter. Racism must end. I am here to listen.” 

Wolf has consistently stopped the reopening of businesses across the state since the pandemic began. He was even known for threatening business owners and county leaders when they challenged his restrictive orders.

“To those politicians who decide to cave in to this coronavirus, they need to understand the consequences of their cowardly act,” Wolf had previously said.

Wolf said that if leaders were “urging businesses to risk their lives and risk the lives of their customers or their employees by opening prematurely,” they were “engaging in behavior that is both selfish and unsafe.”

Wolf has also previously threatened to take business licenses away, Breitbart reported.

Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s health secretary, agreed with Wolf. She said that the governor would always support the right to protest and demonstrate the right of free speech.

“And so overall, we want large gatherings — such as maybe a party or some type of concert — to be under 250 people. But we are not restricting people’s right to protest,” Levine said, Breitbart reported.