Topline
Protestors began marching on Washington D.C. Sunday, planning to march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial in objection to the Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
Demonstrators participate in a Defeat the Mandates march ate the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in … [+]
Key Facts
Organizers hope as many 20,000 people will march Sunday for the “Defeat the Mandates” rally, according to a permit from the National Park Service seen by the Washington Post.
Notable speakers will include anti-mandate proponents like Del Bigtree, founder of the anti-vaccine group Informed Consent Action Network, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the slain senator and former attorney general, who has been widely criticized (even by his family) for pushing debunked scientific conspiracies.
Police remain fully activated in D.C. for the rally following Friday’s March for Life antiabortion protest, a police spokesperson told the Washington Post.
The rally gained notoriety after the controversial Dr. Robert Malone, an anti-mandate virologist (also widely criticized for spreading vaccine misinformation) who will be speaking, appeared on the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast and mentioned the protest—an appearance that prompted a coalition of doctors and scientists to petition Spotify to stop the spread of misinformation about the vaccine on the podcast.
Lara Logan, the former 60 Minutes and CBS News correspondent who was dropped by her talent agency last week for comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to Nazi physician Josef Mengele on Fox News (where she has spread vaccine misinformation), is also scheduled to speak.
Key Background
Last week, D.C. implemented a city-wide Covid-19 vaccine requirement for anyone 12 and older who wishes to enter any indoor facility. Nearly a quarter of eligible Americans remain unvaccinated against Covid-19.
Surprising Fact
The Centers for Countering Digital Hate in May found that 65% of anti-vaccine content on Facebook and Twitter are attributable to just twelve individuals, deemed the “Disinformation Dozen,” with Kennedy being one of the twelve. Facebook denied this statistic, though it said it removed over three dozen pages linked to the 12 individuals. Instagram, owned by Facebook/Meta, banned Kennedy earlier in 2021 for “repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” a Facebook spokesperson told Forbes.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/01/23/anti-vaccine-mandate-protesters-march-on-dc/