"Stop the Mandates" antivax rally includes Proud Boys, looks like a Trump rally
Video of some of the crazier elements, plus the Proud Boys 2 min 50 sec
On the 23ed of January, thousands of anti-vaxxers as well as anti-vaccine mandate protesters descended on the Lincoln Memorial. While billed as opposing mandates, much of the imagery and speeches targetted the vaccines themselves. Present in the rally were religious extremists, the Proud Boys, and even a few people displaying swastikas. The overall event resembled a Trump rally.
The anti-mandate (really anti-vax) protesters assembled at the Washington Monument before "marching" the short distance to the Lincoln Memorial. There was no order to their march, it was more a crowd migration along both side of the Reflecting Pool.
A small group of pro-vaccine counterprotesters heckled the march, chanting "Let's go Darwin!" as a takeoff on the "Let's go Brandon" chante that began with NASCAR fans chanting "Fuck Joe Biden" while driver Brandon was giving an interview to the media. They shrugged off low-level police harassment as well as the Proud Boys hassling them at one point. The anti-vaxxers were called "Covidiots" in one of the counterprotester's signs. Others demanded that the "my body my choice" slogan once again include abortion rights as it originally did.
Proud Boys including one in a MD chapter jacket at the "Stop the Mandates" rally
A Proud Boys thug in his gang colors
The overall rally of a few thousand
This religious extremist is claiming his religious belief makes vaccination unnecessary
A swastika-theme sign calling Fauci a fascist-at a rally with open fascists present
Trump flag visible behind counterprotesters on the march route
More Trump campaign stuff at the Washington Monument buildup area
A broken syringe flag shows this goes far beyond opposition to vaccine proof/ID mandates-this targets vaccination itself
Another view of the Proud Boys. They were one of the most violent groups on Jan 6/2021 so fear of warrants and the US Marshalls may have limited their turnout
