A Cincinnati man who flouted Ohio’s stay-at-home order and encouraged others to do the same has been arrested, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Police took 25-year-old Rashaan Davis into custody Saturday afternoon and charged him with a second-degree misdemeanor violation of a state public health order.
A video posted online shows people violating social distancing rules, dancing with more than 20 others and standing atop vehicles. Davis also appears in the videos.
“This is how we do it in my city, man,” Davis says in the recording. “We don’t give a fu** about this coronavirus.”
“Man, fu** corona!” another partier later shouts in the video.
Davis repeatedly says in the video that he hoped the recording would be picked up by a content aggregation website, WCPO-TV reports.
Police records allege Davis violated an order from the state’s director of health that required all persons to remain home except for essential tasks. He also is accused of encouraging other people to violate the order.
“This particular offense is egregious in nature due to the fact [the arrestee] publicly acknowledged the COVID-19 pandemic and incited others to violate the ‘stay at home’ order,” an arresting officer wrote.
The report continues: “In the video, (Davis) narrates a video of himself and others openly defying the order, causing even greater risk of contamination during this national health crisis.”
The recording had garnered nearly 190,000 views on YouTube as of Sunday morning. Authorities have requested a substantial bond against Davis, the newspaper reports.
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[Feature Photo: Rashaan Davis/Cincinnati Police]
