Controversial S#!T

California Governor Gavin Newsom's battle with Orange County is heating up -- an ex-mayor down there is suing the Guv over the beach closures.

Kevin Muldoon, a former Newport Beach mayor and current city councilman there, claims Newsom's draconian order to close OC beaches -- from Newport Beach and Huntington Beach to Dana Point and San Clemente -- is a clear violation of their constitutional rights to freedom of travel, freedom of assembly and due process ... this according to docs obtained by TMZ.

In docs, Muldoon claims pictures from last month showing packed beaches in the OC that almost immediately triggered beach closures are incredibly misleading. He claims the photos were "taken from a ground level viewpoint, using zoom lenses that artificially compress perspective, seemingly showed beachgoers tightly packed together on Newport Beach."

He claims there are aerial pics that show far more space between beachgoers than the pics in the newspaper implied. What's more ... Muldoon claims it's completely unfair to single out the OC, which he claims has fewer COVID-19 cases than other places that did NOT have their beaches shut down. He claims other cities with closed beaches actually have more COVID cases.

Muldoon, who is suing as an individual and NOT in his official capacity as a councilman, claims sunlight and open-air reduce the likelihood of COVID transmission. It should be noted ... OC beach cities and individuals reportedly sued Newsom on Friday over his beach closures but a judge denied their request to nullify Newsom's order.

As we reported ... tons of pissed off residents flooded downtown Huntington Beach to protest the beach closures. There was also a plane flying a banner over the weekend that read "Fire Gruesome Newsom! Open California!"

Muldoon's asking a judge to declare the gov's order unconstitutional and prohibit its enforcement so peeps can enjoy the beach.

D.C.'s hosting of the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds -- and the enormous crowds that came out to see them -- is the latest example of people coming to terms with the fact that they'd rather put their health at risk than follow safety guidelines.

Here's the scene from the National Mall at our country's capital Saturday -- thousands of people swarming to one location and standing incredibly close to each other (many without masks) just to get out of the house and experience a taste of normalcy.

This weekend's ceremony was to honor essential workers and health care providers on the front lines fighting COVID-19, but the mere act of having this awesome flyover might've been counterintuitive ... as you can see not many people are practicing social distancing.

We've been seeing this day in and day out across the country -- folks disregarding the stay-at-home orders and heading out in public, many of whom do it defiantly and unsafely.

While it's easy to criticize a lot of these folks for putting their (and others') health at risk just to catch some rays -- the reality is becoming more and more apparent ... a lot of these people have it rough, and are just trying to cope. This is a complicated situation.

The fact this is happening in D.C. is especially telling, because health officials there say the coronavirus infection rate may not have even peaked.

A park ranger tried doing the right thing by breaking up a crowd that wasn't social distancing -- and as a reward, some jerk pushed him into the water ... a jerk who then got arrested.

The incident happened Thursday at Lake Austin, where a bunch of kids were reportedly smoking and drinking when they were approached by this Texas park ranger -- who was telling them they had to break it up and get six feet apart ... in other words, doing his job.

At first, it sounds like some of the kids respond affirmatively to his command -- albeit somewhat sarcastically -- and then out of nowhere ... you see one guy ram the ranger -- hurling him into the water just below the dock they're all standing on.

The ranger goes in, as does the guy ... fortunately, no one was hurt. The guy gets out and scurries away, and the ranger then follows him, clearly pissed ... as he should've been. You can also hear his buddies nearby yelling out "Bro!" in apparent shock.

The good news is that the alleged pusher was eventually arrested ... cops responded to the scene and took 25-year-old Brandon Hicks into custody and booked him for felony attempted assault of a public servant.

Cops say ... "Brandon’s intentional and reckless action could have caused the Ranger to strike his head on the dock as he was falling, and render himself unconscious in at least 3 feet of water where he could have drowned to death."

Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry are not hiding their allegiance ... they're telling the world they're on the Fauci train all the way.

The expecting couple posted what seems to be their position on the coronavirus controversy, but there are nuances. Dr. Fauci -- the undisputed hero in the fight against the pandemic -- has been clear, but not heavy handed. He's clearly worried about the states re-opening too early -- which many of them undoubtedly are -- but he's tempering his criticism, probably in part because his voice is so important and he's walking a tightrope with a vindictive leader.

Bill Maher has taken a different approach.

On Friday night's "Real Time with Bill Maher," Bill talked about the fact there are thousands of germs and viruses we encounter every day and the endgame is developing immunities. His point of view seems to be -- let this just take its course, because if we wait any longer we'll go crazy and the country will be in ruins.

President Trump has found another group of "very good people" ... the gun-toting right-wing extremists who stormed the Michigan statehouse to protest coronavirus restrictions.

Trump is strongly supporting the heavily-armed protesters ... he says they are very good, very angry people who deserve a seat at the table with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Mind you, Michigan does not meet the very same federal guidelines for reopening that the President and his coronavirus task force announced last month.

Trump tweeted out his support of the rifle-clad protesters and tried to shift the onus on Whitmer, saying ... "The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry."

POTUS added ... "They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal."

The protesters are up in arms over the fact Gov. Whitmer extended the state's emergency stay-at-home order until the end of May.

Of course, Trump started the battle cry for the "liberation" of several states -- including Michigan -- just hours after he laid out the federal guidelines. He, at least, said reopening should be done slowly and smartly ... based on data.

That's apparently out the window.

There probably is a limit to what Pastor Tony Spell can get away with, but for now ... he's still collecting stimulus dough from parishioners while dodging jail.

The infamous leader of the Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana tells TMZ ... since April 19 when his "stimulus challenge" began, 205 people have given at least a portion of their stimulus checks to his church.

We're told this includes parishioners as well as outsiders who don't belong to Life Tabernacle. Spell would not reveal how much cash he's hauled in from these folks.

We did the math, out of curiosity, though, and if each donor gave the typical tithe of 10% of the max stimulus amount of $1,200 -- that's $24,600 for Tony. Granted, it could be less or a lot more. He seemed to be encouraging donors to give their full checks ... as he claims he did.

As we reported ... Spell's been urging folks to give their stimulus dough away to all evangelists who can't pass the offering plate during the pandemic shutdowns.

Of course, that doesn't really apply to Spell because he's not been abiding by the Governor's stay-at-home order. Not only is he still holding services where he can take offerings, but he's also disobeying a judge's order to home confinement due to his recent arrest.

Tony tells us that's not going to change this Sunday either ... he's planning on leading another church service. He says he had 800 people attend last week (though it looks like he added a zero based on video) and expects a bigger turnout this time.

Spell says he knows he's in direct contempt of the court when he leaves his house to go to his church, but adds ... "The Bible commands us to go."

However, Spell tells us he will not be participating in his church's protest of stay-at-home orders Saturday outside the Governor's mansion. He says, "I do not want federal agents to pick me up when I am off the premises of my property." For the record, it would be local cops, not feds ... but ya get his drift.

A basketball team in Taiwan just celebrated a championship like it was 2019 ... hugging and high-fiving on each other as if there was no such thing as coronavirus!!!

The surprising scene all went down after Team Beer beat the Yulon Luxgen Dinos in the 6th game of the Super Basketball League Finals in New Taipei City.

FYI -- the SBL is a semi-pro league in Taiwan ... and despite the global pandemic -- it's still playing games.

The scenes on the court Thursday were pretty surreal ... some photographers were wearing masks, but players weren't and while there were no fans, there was really no semblance of social distancing in the arena either.

And, as you can see in pics of Thursday's post-game trophy presentation ... there wasn't much concern for spreading COVID-19 at all there as well -- 'cause dudes were sweaty as hell within inches of each other with no face coverings in sight!!

Of course, Taiwan has been widely praised for its handling of the virus ... with only 429 confirmed cases and just six deaths.

In fact, other sports in Taiwan are playing games too -- with the Chinese Professional Baseball League staying busy as well.

Wild house parties like the recent ones in Chicago won't be allowed to continue uncontrolled under quarantine -- cops are taking notice and taking steps to shut 'em down.

Those Chi-town ragers -- one with 1,000 guests, and another with a stripper getting swarmed -- were so packed, social distancing was impossible. Then again, face masks were rare at both events, so the guests clearly didn't care about COVID-19.

Cops, on the other hand, are very concerned about slowing the spread of the virus.

Our law enforcement sources tell us cops in big cities across the U.S. are NOT putting up with the dangerous practice, and they're starting to crack down more ... especially knowing there will be huge parties as it gets warmer.

We're told the Chicago, Los Angeles and New York Police Departments -- not to mention the L.A. Sheriff's Department -- are putting their ears to the ground and their eyes on social media to track down any emerging sardine-like get-togethers or turn-ups. That's right ... 5-0 is actively monitoring live feeds and trends, so if it starts to get poppin' and gets posted online -- like that stripper party was -- they'll probably see it.

We're told if the parties get too big and they're clearly violating basic quarantine guidelines, guests better not be surprised when cops come knocking to break it up. They might even start dinging people with citations too, depending on the circumstances.

Just for reference ... NYPD's dished out 190 summons and made some 22 arrests thus far pertaining to this exact behavior; LASD has cited 41 and arrested 3, and Chi-Town's at 13 citations and 18 arrests over flagrant breaking of social distancing. More to come, we're sure.

It's becoming more clear by the day that wet markets are NOT just a China problem -- it's an American problem too ... just take a look at these latest clips from Texas and California.

TMZ has gotten a hold of even more graphic videos of two different live animal shops in TX and CA -- where people pick out the animal, have it slaughtered on the spot and then sold to them right then and there -- and you see the mixed-in livestock runs the gamut.

There are pigs in pens, goats and sheep hoarded together ... and, of course, as we've seen in New York and elsewhere -- chicken and rabbits cooped up in cages -- all in the same area within earshot of each other, and all getting butchered.

Ya got pigs hanging from hooks out in the open, chicken beaks, feathers and guts all over the floor and in an exposed trash can -- this while customers (including kids) come in and browse the freezer for whatever cuts of meat they want. It's downright dirty and gross.

As we've been told by the experts, these one-stop-shop slaughterhouses/storefronts can be breeding grounds for disease -- including new viruses, like COVID-19, which supposedly got started at a wet market in China.

We already know of lawmakers in Cali and New York working to get these things shut down, but it's pretty apparent there needs to be federal legislation rolled out to address this. Can't call the kettle black when we're swimming in the freakin' pot.