Attorney for Brentwood restaurant talks to Channel 11 about latest court action, planned rally

PITTSBURGH — An attorney for the Crack’d Egg tells Channel 11 he was not surprised by an Allegheny County judge’s decision to deny a requested stay in the restaurant’s ongoing legal fight.

The stay was requested pending the outcome of an appeal that the Brentwood eatery has now filed, after Common Pleas Judge John McVay ordered that the restaurant comply with mitigation measures or close.

Owners Kimberly and Donald Waigand opted to shut down.

During an interview with Channel 11 on Friday, the Waigands’ attorney, Sy Lampl, spoke on their behalf, emphasizing that this case is about the “constitutionality” of forced restrictions.

“This is not about politics,” he said. “This is about constitutional issues...power corrupts, and this is a complete government overreach.”

In a 10-minute Facebook live video posted to the Crack’d Egg’s page, Kimberly says “the point is to fight back the tyranny, that is the point of all of this, we are not giving up.”

She then mentions a rally scheduled at the restaurant this Sunday.

Another post on Facebook advertises the event, and one flyer lists two participating groups, including one that identifies as a “militia” unit.

Judge orders ‘Crack’d Egg’ owner to follow COVID-19 rules or close up

Channel 11 received emails from viewers expressing concern about the event. One said the community is “outraged” and another said there is concern about “the presence of a militia near my home.”

We asked Lampl to respond.

“There is no worry here. The only reason anything would happen would be from an outside force,” he said. “None of our supporters, none of our clients want to do anything violent. They want to just exercise their rights. Anything otherwise would come from some outside malevolence. There is no malevolence with our clients.”

In the Facebook video, Kimberly states that the event is a means of exercising their rights to free speech and to assemble.

“They’re not operating the restaurant,” Lampl said. “They’re not going to be violating any court orders.”

Lampl said the appeal has officially been filed but a court date has not been scheduled yet. Channel 11 will continue to follow this case as it plays out.

Cox Media Group