Washington DC hosts huge anti-vaccine mandate protest with thousands of demonstrators
Thousands of anti-vaccine mandate protesters descend on DC and ignore city’s outdoor mask rules to play songs by anti-mandate singer Meat Loaf and listen to speech from Robert F. Kennedy
A crowd of up to 20,000 gathered in DC Saturday They gathered to protest ongoing vaccine mandates, including in the capitalMany went maskless, in defiance of outdoor rulesMeat Loaf’s songs were also heard blaring out at the eventThe singer – opposed to vaccine mandates and masks – is rumored to have died of COVID
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Thousands gathered in Washington D.C. – a city that mandates vaccines – to protest vaccine mandates, with protesters blaring ballads by Meatloaf, a musician who is feared to have succumbed to COVID-19 complications at 74 after vocal hesitation about the jab.
Robert F. Kennedy and Informed Consent Action Network founder Del Bigtree were among big names who addressed the rally Sunday morning. Around 20,000 people were expected to attend the demonstration.
‘Americans want democracy back, and this rally is a demand by Americans to get their democracy back,’ Kennedy said of the rally to WUSA9.
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Anti vaccine mandate protesters are filmed in Washington Dc Sunday
Protesters put their hands to their hearts for the national anthem in Washington DC on Sunday
A crowd of up to 20,000 gathered around the National Mall
Meat Loaf was heard playing, days after the anti-mandate singer died of suspected COVID aged 74
Many of those who did so were not masked, despite DC Mayor Muriel Bowser mandating masks outdoors for people who have not had their COVID shot when gathered in large groups outside.
Meat Loaf – who died of suspected COVID side effects last week aged 74 – could be heard blaring out over the demonstration.
The much loved star was vocally anti-vaccine mandate and mask. Rumors that he was killed by the virus itself would also make him one of its highest-profile victims. It is unknown if he’d had the vaccine prior to his death.
In videos posted to social media, the singer’s hit I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) could be heard blaring as protesters gathered around the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool.
After the artist’s death on Thursday, some mocked his stances on vaccine and mask mandates on social media.
‘In the end, he finally let us know what that one thing was that he wouldn’t do for love: Get vaccinated,’ tweeted Gene Wu, a Democrat in the Texas state House of Representatives, referring to the lyrics to his song that protesters played on Sunday.
RFK Jr was among anti-vaccine mandate protests who spoke at the DC rally Sunday, and is pictured on the steps of the Lincoln Monument
Some of those who attended Sunday’s event were heckled for wearing face masks – despite local mandates saying unvaccinated people must don the coverings even while outdoors
Some of those who attended were pro-vaccine but anti-vaccine mandate – but this protester, dressed as the grim reaper, clearly has issues with the COVID shots themselves
Another anti-vaxxer held up a sign proclaiming ‘I am not a lab rat.’ Many of those who attended Sunday’s rally said they were unvaccinated
Another protesters held up a sign suggesting those in favor of mandates were ‘Karens’ – an insulting term given to people deemed entitled and rude
Protesters can be seen acting out a dramatic interpretation of a forced vaccination at Sunday’s protest
Firefighters, police officers and healthcare workers who have been effected adversely by vaccine mandates showed out in numbers to the protest
Those who were wearing masks were seen being taunted, with one man heckling people wearing face-coverings by saying ‘Take those masks off…it’s all a lie!’
Sunday’s protest drew a wide range of protesters, many elderly, with others babies in strollers. According to the Washington Post, many held up signs backing former President Donald Trump, himself an outspoken supporter of the vaccines his administration developed.
Others toted signs saying ‘Let’s go Brandon’ and ‘F**k Joe Biden’. Those who were wearing masks were seen being taunted, with one man heckling people wearing face-coverings by saying ‘Take those masks off…it’s all a lie!’
The protest appeared to include both demonstrators who are pro-vaccine but anti-mandate, and others who are both anti-vaccine and anti-mandate.
One person with the latter belief was seen holding a sign saying ‘Vaccines are mass kill bio weapons.’ Kelly Clarkson’s song Stronger – with the lyrics ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’ could also be heard blaring out, according to the Post.
Body therapist Justin Perrault, from Fairhaven in Massachusetts, said he’d been moved to attend after clients had stopped coming to his clinic because he’d refused to have a vaccine.
He said he’d recently started using food stamps, and was worried about what his four and eight year-old children would make of him.
Perrault, who traveled with his wife and her friend, said he also wanted to take a stand against scientists’ claims that COVID vaccines are safe.
Some 20,000 protesters gathered in Washington DC for the mandate, According to the Washington Post , many held up signs backing former President Donald Trump, himself an outspoken supporter of the vaccines his administration developed
The protest appeared to include both demonstrators who are pro-vaccine but anti-mandate, and others who are both anti-vaccine and anti-mandate
Sunday’s protest drew a wide range of protesters, many elderly, with others babies in strollers
A protester holds a sign, insinuating that it is more important to tackle the ‘virus’ of Democrats in power than COVID-19
Also present was Jaedyn Wetzel, 12, who toted a sign saying ‘I have natural immunity.’ Wetzel, from Warfordsburg in Pennsylvania, caught COVID over Thanksgiving, and has since recovered.
Thus far, there are 25 states that have vaccine mandates for employees of various categories, with 21 requiring vaccines or continuous testing for healthcare workers and six taking a ‘vaccinate or terminate’ approach and putting healthcare workers who are unvaccinated on leave.
Conversely, 13 states have passed laws barring employers from mandating vaccines.
On Wednesday, NYPD officers were heckled for arresting five organized anti-vax mandate protesters and detaining a nine year-old girl Wednesday after they barged into the Natural History Museum without showing proof of COVID vaccination.
Trouble began when a half-dozen purported members of the New York Freedom Rally – a group that has been staging anti-vax protests throughout the city – attempted to enter the Manhattan museum without showing their vaccine passports in violation of rules. Those require every visitor five years and older to show proof of vaccination.
The nine year-old, named Jayla, was filmed sobbing as she was marched down the steps by two cops, with onlookers filmed heckling and abusing the NYPD officers over her apprehension. She and her unnamed mom were taken to a nearby precinct, and released two hours later. It is unclear if the youngster’s mom will be charged.
The six anti-mandate activists affiliated with the New York Freedom Rally had made reservations to visit the museum on Wednesday, but were denied entry after failing to produce their COVID vaccine passports.
