(WWJ) A Juneteenth film festival planned to begin tomorrow in Royal Oak has been postponed, after the Michigan Attorney General's Office warned the theater not to open.
AG Dana Nessel's office sent a warning letter to Emagine Theaters, as indoor theaters in metro Detroit remain closed under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's coronavirus-related orders.
The letter urged Emagine to reconsider opening in light of concerns about the spread of the virus.
"While the Attorney General's office appreciates the effort behind this festival to recognize and support African American people throughout our country, we cannot allow one noble cause to risk the lives of countless Michiganders," said Ryan Jarvi Press Secretary for Nessel, in a statement.
"Executive Order 2020-110 requires theaters outside of certain parts of the state to remain closed, and a willful violation of that order is a misdemeanor offense. Until it is deemed safe to do otherwise by medical experts, we must continue to follow the guidelines in place to ensure our state's recovery from this pandemic is not thrown off track."
Thursday afternoon, Emagine announced that it will postpone the event, saying this in a news release:
"Four days after news of the event was brought to the attention of state officials, Emagine’s Chairman, Paul Glantz, was today served at his home with a letter from the Attorney General’s office advising that it would bring criminal charges against him if he proceeded with the film festival as planned. Rather than being charged as a criminal, Glantz has decided to postpone the Michigan event."
Glantz made it clear he's not happy about having to postpone.
“The hypocrisy of our governor’s orders is unfathomable in magnitude. Strip clubs are open, massage parlors are open, and yet there is alleged ‘science and data’ to support the continued closure of movie theaters," Glantz said. "It is okay to walk arm and arm with folks in Highland Park for a photo op in violation of social distancing guidelines, but we allegedly pose a threat to the life and safety of our guests. If there is anything more arbitrary and capricious in governmental behavior, I certainly haven’t experienced it in my lifetime.”
Glantz says the governor's orders violate his rights, and indicated he plans to sue.
“Governor Whitmer’s Executive Order 2020-110 Paragraph 15 explicitly provides ‘nothing in this order shall be taken to abridge protections guaranteed by the state or federal constitution under these emergency circumstances.’ Under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Emagine’s guests are guaranteed the right to peaceably assemble in the absence of a rational justification to preempt such rights. Indeed, we have undertaken extensive efforts to ensure public safety as outlined in a comprehensive submitted to the governor’s office for review," Glantz added.
"Sadly, we have received absolutely no feedback on our reopening plan. It has apparently been ignored or dismissed without consideration. We find this wrongful abuse of governmental power appalling, and we will be seeking legal redress to prevent it from occurring in the future.”
Emagine's plan includes spaced-out theater seating to allow for social distancing, and enhanced cleaning procedures.
Glantz said the festival will go on as planned at a second site, in Minneapolis, MN, and that the Royal Oak show will go on at a later date, with proceeds to benefit the United Negro College Fund.
On Wednesday, Oakland County Executive David Coulter told WWJ he was disappointed about Emagine's festival plans.
"I don't know what the disciplinary actions could be," Coulter added. "But we really do rely on our businesses in Oakland County to, you know, comply with these guidelines, because they're still necessary. COVID is still in our community, people are still getting infected every day, people in Oakland County are dying almost every day still."
The week-long film festival showcasing black actors, directors and writers was planned in celebration of Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, which each year on June 19 commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. in 1865, when Union soldiers told enslaved men and women in Galveston, Texas that they were free.