New York City Police Use Pandemic To Create COVID-19 Checkpoints

Rick_Heskey
Published on Aug 15, 2020
A recent article in The New York Post revealed how the NYPD used the pandemic to justify creating COVID-19 checkpoints.
New York officials have stopped 353 cars at entrances to the Big Apple to warn travelers of the mandatory two-week quarantine rule. The stops were made from Wednesday through Friday at bridges and tunnels, according to Mayor Bill de Blasioâ€™s office.
Police are using the pandemic as an excuse to circumvent the Fourth Amendment by asking a vehicleâ€™s occupants to answer questions like have they spent more than 24 hours during the previous 14 days in any state on New Yorkâ€™s restricted list?
The city has the audacity to claim that these stops are â€œquick and educational.â€ There is nothing quick and educational about being stopped and questioned by government officials.
Is there anything educational about fining people $10,000 dollars?
Travelers who violate the quarantine rule could face up to $10,000 in fines. There are currently 35 states plus Puerto Rico on the list.
Earlier this year, The Orlando Sentinel called COVID-19 checkpoints security theater, and worried about the cost to taxpayers. COVID-19 checkpoints have also been set up in Rhode Island, North Carolina, Colorado, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
A WKZO article shows U.S. military personnel conducting a COVID-19 checkpoint at Penn Station.
A few dozen travelers got off a train from Miami at New York Cityâ€™s Penn Station on Thursday and were greeted by a team of public health workers and mayoral office staff who handed them informational fliers about the stateâ€™s new COVID-19 quarantine rules.
Government officials use COVID-19 as an excuse to question and interrogate visitors.
The team, comprised of Mayor Bill de Blasioâ€™s public engagement unit and the cityâ€™s COVID-19 Test & Trace Corps, were running a checkpoint starting at Penn Station on Thursday to ensure that visitors from any of the 35 states on New Yorkâ€™s travel advisory were aware of the 14-day quarantine mandate.
Imagine getting off a train or bus in New York City and being forced to go through a government checkpoint. This is America, you say? I can refuse to answer their questions, right?
People who refuse to answer their questions could be fined anywhere from $2,000-$10,000.
A spokeswoman for City Hall said refusing to fill out the quarantine form could subject travelers from designated states to a $2000 fine, and violations of the quarantine orders could result in a $10,000 fine.
COVID-19 checkpoints make a mockery of police reform and tramples our Bill of Rights. It is only a matter of time before COVID-19 checkpoints spread across the country.