Bar owners in Texas staged a protest in reaction to the state’s purchase to shut them down for a 2nd time due to the coronavirus, reports reported.

Tee Allen Parker, operator of the Machine Get rid of Bar and Grille, named Tuesday’s occasion “Bar Life Matter” in an apparent reference to the Black Life Make any difference motion towards law enforcement brutality.

Parker, whose establishment is in Kilgore, Texas, approximately two hours south of Dallas, is currently suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbot over the bar closures — which he claims are devastating his livelihood and forcing lots of of his friends into bankruptcy, according to CBS Austin.

“This one particular person is finding and picking winners and losers,” Jared Woodfill, an attorney for Parker, instructed the outlet. “Gov. Abbott has picked to sentence bar house owners to personal bankruptcy.”

As a aspect of its most recent coronavirus get, Texas did not close down or limit capacity at other enterprises — like hair salons, tattoo parlors, and nail studios. The get did demand dining establishments to function at 50 % capacity.

“You just cannot explain to me that my small tiny bar is the problem. He’s the dilemma,” Parker beforehand explained to the Washington Write-up. “He’s concentrating on us, and it’s discrimination.”

Parker also organized a ‘Bar Lives Matter’ protest past 7 days at the Machine Drop, and is preparing to host a further at the condition Capitol on Sunday.

Texas has witnessed a history range of scenarios because the state’s reopening earlier this calendar year. The state at present has 160,000 confirmed circumstances and 2,424 deaths from COVID-19.