Following the death of 11 people at a coronavirus at a senior care facility in Anderson, Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard sent a letter to nursing homes and senior living facilities in his area, strongly advising them to test their employees every week.
Most of the facilities complied with the request and called Aria Diagnostics to set up tests; however, ManorCare Assisted Living at Summer Trace did not.
In response, Mayor Brainard had a police officer hand-deliver a letter to that facility advising that a failure to comply could constitute extreme negligence and even reckless homicide charges.
“I don’t have the ability to order this but I’m in a position of trust and I think it’s part of our job as city officials to try to do everything we can to cut down on the spread of this virus,” Brainard was later quoted as saying by WISH-TV.
Translation:
No word on whether or not Mayor Jim Brainard considered the old “severed horse head in your bed” method of coercion at the time.
WIBC host Tony Katz:
“Is anyone going to admonish Mayor Brainard for using these kinds of strongarm tactics? He just threatened everyone at that healthcare facility.
“You know what you told them Mayor Brainard? ‘Don’t show up to work.’
“You told them that even if someone doesn’t have Coronavirus and then develops it later, someone could decide that testing wasn’t good enough and now we go to jail for negligent homicide? They might as well close down right now and push people out into the streets.
“That’s what Mayor Jim Brainard is saying, but I understand that he never even once actually thought of it.
You can’t have these kinds of tactics from an elected official! This is the kind of coercion used by the Mafia!”
Click the link below to hear Tony’s full commentary.
Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
