In this video, I get an update from one of our Fight The Fines cases, Jess Downey from BoHo Beauty Microblading and Spa. Jess started as an iWillOpen.com case and quickly transitioned to a Fight The Fines case that has since spiraled out of control with what Jess calls a witch hunt from local residents intent on destroying her business.

After Jess hosted a rally in April 2021, her business was ambushed with online hate that resulted in almost all of her staff leaving. The bullying and hatred made Jess feel so unsafe that she didn’t feel comfortable being at her business alone without any staff, and she made the difficult decision to close up shop while she figured out her next steps.

During this transition, and while Jess was closed, Public Health officials harassed her business and attempted to serve her with compounding fines. She notes that while the health unit employee(s), always accompanied by police, have bullied small businesses into being mask enforcers and contact tracers, they do not apply that same intimidation equally to big box stores.

Jess has since pivoted her business into the Moonstone Healing Lounge, with the goal of providing a safe space for people seeking an escape from the incessant COVID narrative. It is a healing sanctuary for people struggling with the pandemic pandemonium and the anxiety and depression that seems to accompany it.

Jenna Little, the paralegal representing Jess Downey, says there is no legal basis for the fines and summonses that Jess has been slapped with.

Jess wishes that more small businesses and people would band together to stand against the kind of bullying and harassment that she has received from both the public and public health.