WEST ODESSA, Texas - A bar owner and armed protesters were arrested in western Texas after the bar reopened despite the governor’s orders to remain closed as the state continues to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis told the Odessa American that authorities on Monday apprehended Gabrielle Ellison, the 47-year-old owner of Big Daddy Zane’s Bar, in West Odessa fo violating Gov. Greg Abbott’s order prohibiting bars from opening until mid-May. Six men who had loaded “AR-15 type weapons”  were also arrested for possessing weapons on a licensed property and one observer was detained for interfering with a peace officer’s duties.

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