Bar is vandalized with graffiti after opening against order on New Year’s Eve

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Alibi Drinkery, the Lakeville bar that’s repeatedly defied Gov. Tim Walz’s executive order, most recently on New Year’s Eve, was vandalized overnight, covered in graffiti.

Images taken Sunday show the bar’s windows and walls marked with spray-painted messages against the bar, President Donald Trump and fascism. Michael Padden, the attorney representing the bar’s ownership, said that there is an active police investigation.

“There is video,” he said. “It appears six perpetrators were involved. We hope they are caught. No entity at this time has taken responsibility.”

On Friday, after Alibi Drinkery opened to indoor patrons on New Year’s Eve, a temporary injunction from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was granted, converting a temporary restraining order that was granted last month. If Alibi Drinkery opens again before Jan. 10, when the governor’s executive order is set to expire, the bar could lose its liquor license for five years.

Yet, on Sunday, the bar posted on Facebook, telling fans to enjoy the final Vikings game of the season with them.

Alibi initially made headlines last month after it opened to patrons after Walz announced an extension of his executive order that has closed bars and restaurants to indoor diners since November. Images of that re-opening showed people standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the bar, with many not wearing masks.

The executive order was put into place after Minnesota experienced the biggest surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths since the pandemic began in March.

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