Texas AG to Austin Mayor: 'I will sue you if you don't stop the lockdown'

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened legal proceedings against Austin Mayor Steve Adler if he doesn't lift the city's new lockdown order.

The order in question requires Austin's restaurants and bars to not allow indoor dining or to sell alcohol between 10:30 pm and 6:00 am from Dec. 31 through Jan. 3 of the new year.

According to local NBC outlet KXAN, Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted immediately after having found out about the new order:

"This shutdown order by Austin isn't allowed. Period. My executive order stops cities like Austin from arbitrarily shutting down businesses. The city has a responsibility to enforce existing orders, not make new ones," said Abbot pointedly in his tweet.

Adler had previously stated on Tuesday:

"I don’t call this a curfew, because in my mind, that gives rise to a lot of things that are much broader than the order we have here. We are not restricting people's movements, their ability to be able to travel around, their ability to go to the drug store or the grocery store if you're out at night. So I think what is more descriptive is, kind of just the modification of operations for restaurants; I think that’s probably the most apt description."

The Texas Restaurant Association released their own statement as well, supporting Abbot and Paxton's actions:

"Closing indoor dining will not prevent holiday celebrations; it will simply move them from highly regulated businesses into completely unregulated spaces at a critical time in our COVID-19 response," the association writes. "The public is exhausted and confused, and it's past time that our leaders stop looking for scapegoats and rally around those prevention strategies that we know work like wearing a mask, social distancing, and avoiding unregulated gatherings."

Paxton himself on Wednesday published an official letter warning the Austin city government to modify or cancel the order so that it can be in line with Texas law, or face the consequences.

"I, on behalf of the State of Texas, will take legal action against you," states the letter.

Adler had previously told residents to stay home and follow his imposed restrictions while he was attending a wedding in Mexico.