In mid-May, Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke had a lot to say about California’s stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of coronavirus, none of it good.

He posted a defiant message to Facebook saying he refused to enforce the state’s orders because they meant “economic slaughter” and he believed government had no right to tell him or anyone else it was too risky to get a haircut or dental checkup.

“I truly believe that Governor Newsom’s motivation is to have the majority of the citizens (and illegal residents) dependant [sic] on governments assistance so he could maintain this control once this ‘pandemic’ is declared over,” Warnke wrote.

Two months later, with cases spiking and Merced County now on the state’s coronavirus watch list, the sheriff has changed his tune: “Wear your masks, do your social distancing, wash your hands … Please take it seriously.”

Read the full story on LATimes.com.