Thousands gathered in front of the Los Angeles City Hall Oct. 8, protesting the city’s upcoming December deadline for terminating all city employees and contractors unvaccinated against COVID-19.
city council voted in August to require its employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 18. Shortly after the approval, Mayor Eric Garcetti warned that those who refuse vaccination “should be prepared to lose their job.”
Many protestors were wearing clothes representing their agencies and departments of employment, including the police, fire, water and power departments, LA Metro, school districts, etc.
“This mandate will divide the residents, business owners, and visitors of this city and cause irreparable harm to the economy and vitality of Los Angeles,” according to a statement by Firefighters for Freedom, the organizer of the protest.
A former mayor of Thousand Oaks, Pastor Rob McCoy, was one of the event speakers. He referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as “experimental injection,” saying the coronavirus has a 99.7 percent survival rate whereas the vaccine has killed more people in comparison.
“We’ve lost more children by myocarditis and pericarditis as a result of this experimental injection, and they’re [first responders] standing in defense of the children, they’re standing in defense in their communities,” said McCoy.
Chris Rake, an anesthesiologist at the University of California–Los Angeles Medical Center, is currently on administrative leave due to being unvaccinated. He criticized Dr. Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for creating confusion for the public and accused the vaccine mandate of violating civil rights.
“It’s wrong to violate somebody’s body against their will,” said Rake at the rally. “Medical ethics autonomy is one of the four pillars of medical ethics. As a physician, I was taught in medical school, I cannot force upon you, my patient.”
John Knox of Firefighters for Freedom works as a firefighter and paramedic in the LA fire department. He said his friend was fired by the Beverly Hills Fire Department six weeks ago because he refused to be vaccinated.
With the vaccination deadline approaching, approximately 20 to 50 percent of employees in the fire department will lose their job, which will exacerbate the ongoing staffing shortage, said Knox.
He emphasized, “We will not be silent. y are not going to use intimidation, coercion, threats of our jobs to get us to be quiet.”
Freddy Escobar, the president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles, echoed Knox’s points, warning that the yearlong staffing shortage might worsen as hundreds of firefighters could quit their job over the mandate. He hoped that the city council would offer an alternative, such as daily testing, for city employees to waive the vaccination requirement.
“All we’re asking for is to come back to the table and find a compromise. A compromise that we all want to work. And to have termination on the table is just simply not right,” said Escobar.
In October, 871 LA firefighters have filed a notice of intent to sue the city over its public employee vaccine mandate. According to the notice, the mandate causes emotional distress, violates constitutional privacy rights, and undermines the Protection of Human Subjections in Medical Experimentation Act.
Initiated by the Firefighters for Freedom Foundation, the protest was presented by multiple non-profit organizations, including Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids, America’s Frontline Doctors, LA Hispanic Republican Club Talk Show, Children’s Health Defense California Chapter, and Churches in Action.
Pezou : Thousands Protest Against LA City Worker Vaccine Mandate