Protesters with signs
In the middle of the day on Wednesday I learned of a protest against a recent COVID vaccine mandate that was taking place in Providence. The mandate, issued by the Governor of Rhode Island, stipulated that all healthcare workers in the state were to be vaccinated or else would not be allowed to perform their duties effective 1 October.
I heard abut this event by accident - in a Facebook comment. Somebody, if I remember right, was disputing the notion that vaccines work near-perfectly, no one who knows the score would argue to the contrary, "follow the science - get the shot", etc. So the poster who, thankfully, informed me of this event noted that no, not everyone agrees - and that disagreement with the idea that vaccines, even delivered through coercion, is the way to go is especially strong among the people who "know the score" intimately - specifically, the medical community. As an example of medical professionals objecting to mandatory vaccination campaigns the poster offered the rally in Providence going on at the time. It is interesting - though hardly surprising - that protests of this sort get little traction in the mainstream media. I guess a dissident opinion on one of the most contentious issues of the time is not sufficiently newsworthy, in their opinion.
Upon hearing about this event yours truly did some searching to confirm that it was indeed taking place but was unable to find any related materials. Luckily, it being a nice, albeit rather hot day, and the center of Providence being just a short drive away, I decided to go there anyhow. And I was not disappointed - the protest was there, and it was a sight to behold!
It was a sight to behold - but not for reasons a superficial reader might expect. No, the crowd was not huge - perhaps 100-200 people when I had arrived. People were coming and going so probably a lot more people had attended during the time before my arrival, and likely after my departure, too - even though by then it seemed to be winding down. But what made it interesting and impressive was not the numbers, but the diversity of perspectives one found there. Not all those present were medical professionals, though the majority seemed to be. But what seemed to unite people who had gathered there was not their professional background, not their social status, not even their assessment of either COVID or COVID vaccines but their opposition to the idea of forced vaccination and their view of it as anti-American and a violation of basic human rights.
As you can see, "My Body - My Choice" was one of the common slogans. And, whatever your view of abortion, in this instance it is probably far more applicable.
Hot day, bright sun...
This vehicle with tinted windows - tinted to the point that there was no way tell if anybody was inside - seemed to be the only sign of any external security there. I am sure, in the spirit of the time, certain forces will attempt to paint protesters present as dangerous extremists. But whoever was in charge of security for the Rhode Island statehouse clearly did not think that way as this was the only sign of possible overt security presence on the ground.
A little ways down the street, there was this solitary police cruiser with one police officer inside. And this was all as far as security presence that I could make out.
Blinding sun over the city
Heroes being betrayed by wicked scoundrels in power - isn't that the tale as old as humanity itself?
Natural immunity... what a thought? Any chance it may be better than an experimental vaccine?
These all sound like reasonable questions.
Rhode Island State House
Think what you may of their policies - but this is some cool architecture!
Gadsden Flag flown in defiance of tyrannical moves of the powers that be.
Links to both the Facebook and Instagram resources are provided below. I don't know if they are censored in any way.
According to the Instagram account - as well as some of the protesters - there will be another rally at the same location tomorrow, Saturday, 28 August, at 4 PM. I will try to be there too.
"Vaccine passports are segregation!"
Very valid point in my opinion. This is medical apartheid. And the silence of the so-called progressives about this aspect of it is deafening.
While there I had a number of conversations while there. None were formal interviews so I am not going to quote anyone directly. So here are a couple of notable points.
I talked to a man working for a major store chain. The chain requires actual store workers to be vaccinated but so far not the warehouse workers like him. He had informed his chain of command of his refusal to be vaccinated. He suspects many of his colleagues share his convictions and that should they introduce and enforce vaccine mandates, in his opinion, the operation would suffer significantly. He had also stated that his mother, relatively healthy prior to receiving the vaccine, but had to have stents inserted in several of her blood vessels due to the clotting following her vaccination.
I spoke to nurses who reported severe injuries suffered by some of their colleagues as well as some deaths amongst the families of some of their colleagues. Some were not sure what was a bigger issue at their places of employment - COVID itself or the fallout from the vaccines. I have no way to confirm or disprove their statements, and I tend to be skeptical about dramatic statements, but this is well inline with the thousands of potential COVID vaccine induced deaths registered in VAERS as well as the fact that receiving compensation for a COVID vaccine-induced injury is even more difficult than it is for other vaccines - which is already not an easy feat.
In conclusion, let me state the following: you don't have to agree with me or the people whom I met in Providence on Wednesday. But think of the rights they were defending. If you are a rational person who values freedom and human rights you will hopefully realize that these are your rights, too - and you should fear losing them.
Sources
Hospitals, health systems mandating vaccines for workers (archived 27 August 2021)
Kelly Gooch and Hannah Mitchell, Becker's Hospital Review, 27 August 2021
A grim warning from Israel: Vaccination blunts, but does not defeat Delta (archived 21 August 2021)
Meredith Wadman, Science Magazine, 16 August 2021
A ‘black hole’ for COVID vaccine injury claims (archived 4 Jul 2021)
Jenna Greene, Reuters, 29 June 2021
COVID-19 Vaccine Related Fatalities Updated (archived 5 August 2021)
Robert Carlson, Precision Vaccinations, 21 July 2021
Police And EMS Will be Terminated For Refusing Vaccine Mandate, Democrat Plan Is Destroying The U.S. (video)
Tim Pool, Odysee, 27 August 2021