Performer Trey Songz played a concert to an unmasked, non-socially-distanced audience in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend, which allegedly defied local COVID-19 restrictions according to city officials. CNN reports that 500 people attended this concert at the Aftermath nightclub, which was shutdown and accused of defying multiple health codes.
Plainclothes officers from the Ohio Investigative Unit (OIU), a division of Ohio’s Department of Public Safety, reportedly found a large number of non-socially distanced and maskless people on the dance floor and stage area, with people reportedly “standing, walking freely and sharing alcoholic beverages directly from the same bottle as they were passed between groups.”
“When I saw the pictures, I thought for sure it was from 2019, there’s no way they’re hosting a concert like that right now,” Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said in a statement to CNN.
The club was shutdown by a judge who issued a restraining order at Klein’s request. Aftermath was also cited for conduct and disorderly activities as a response to the event. Neither the club nor Trey Songz have responded to comments regarding the event as of press time.
Yesterday, December 8, the Ohio Department of Health reported 25,721 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of positive cases to 510,018. Although the state’s health department claimed that 13,000 of these cases were from its backlog, the state is still facing an upward trend in cases. “We’re not interested in being the ‘gotcha’ police,” Klein said in another statement to CNN. “we’d rather educate where we’re able to.”
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