State Watch

California mayor promises no-tolerance policy after YouTube star Jake Paul hosts party amid coronavirus

The mayor of an affluent Los Angeles suburb promised to impose a no-tolerance mask policy after a YouTube star hosted a party amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Calabasas Mayor Alicia Weintraub told a local Fox affiliate that she was “outraged” to see footage of social media star Jake Paul hosting a large gathering in her city. 

“It wasn’t just myself who was outraged, it was everyone who saw the video,” Weintraub told the station.

The videos, which shows dozens of young people partying inside and outside Paul’s home, led to an influx in constituent phone calls, Weintraub said. No social distancing precautions or face masks were seen in the footage. 

“They’re having this large party, no social distancing, no masks, it’s just a big huge disregard for everything that everybody is trying to do to get things back to functioning,” Weintraub said. “It’s really just a party acting like COVID does not exist, it’s acting that businesses aren’t closed.”

Weintraub told the news station that she directed their local county sheriff station to enforce a zero-tolerance policy on house parties that go against public health orders. 

“No gatherings will be tolerated like this,” she said. “Something like this will not happen again.”

In May, Paul was charged with criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly after police said he filmed looting inside of a Scottsdale, Ariz., mall

California is one of the states currently experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) ordered the closure of indoor businesses across the state, including restaurants, bars, wineries, movie theaters, zoos and museums