Organization:Freedom Angels Foundation
| Type | Advocacy organization |
|---|---|
| Location | |
Co-founder | Denise Aguilar |
Co-founder | Heidi Muñoz Gleisner |
Co-founder | Tara Thornton |
| Website | www |
Freedom Angels Foundation is an anti-vaccination group in California. Initially constituted in an attempt to counter the state's new vaccination laws in 2019, the group played a major role in protests against the public measures put in place to protect Californians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foundation
Freedom Angels was founded in 2019 by three women who met at protests against the tightening of California's vaccination regulations: Denise Aguilar, Heidi Muñoz Gleisner and Tara Thornton. They organized daily protests against Senate Bill 276 for a week and disrupted public hearings.[1][2][3][4]
The group's efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, as they failed to gather the 600,000 signatures necessary to force a popular initiative referendum on the issue after the legislation was adopted.[2][3][4]
COVID-19 protests
In 2020, the group organized and participated in several protests against stay-at-home instructions and other measures put in place to protect the population against COVID-19, such as the use of masks in public buildings. The group specifically called on its members to ignore instructions from health authorities about the pandemic and has positioned itself against a possible vaccine.[2][3][5] The rallies were initially held in front of the California State Capitol, but other locations had to be chosen after the California Highway Patrol announced on April 22 that it would stop issuing permits for protests at the Capitol and other government buildings.[6]
Like other anti-vaccination groups, Freedom Angels latched onto the movement against COVID-19 restrictions in order to gain visibility and increase their fundraising capabilities, according to public health experts.[7]
The group has organized protests at the home of several of the public health officials who are implementing measures to protect the population against COVID-19. Their interventions, both online and in person, have been cited as a cause of an unprecedented amount of aggressive behaviour and death threats against local and regional health officers. Several people who were targeted by these public attacks resigned, citing concerns about their family's safety, such as the chief health officer for Orange County Nichole Quick.[8][9] Reacting to the death threats, Facebook removed from their platform several videos posted by the group.[8]
Commenting specifically about the actions of Freedom Angels, the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board wrote: "They say they want medical freedom, but to us it sounds more like they want the freedom to do whatever they want, pandemic be damned, even if it means other people might get sick or die because of their actions. (...) The pandemic restriction protesters are loud and persistent, but a core group of them are merely rebels in search of a cause, any cause, to push their nutty theories. And they found one with COVID-19."[3]
See also
- Polio eradication
- Science Moms
- Vaccine hesitancy
References
- ↑ Koseff, Alexei (9 September 2019). "California limits vaccine medical exemptions as protests disrupt Legislature". San Francisco Chronicle. https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-limits-vaccine-medical-exemptions-as-14426441.php.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wiley, Hannah (26 June 2020). "‘No masks. No vaccines.’ Battle is brewing over coronavirus immunizations in California". Sacramento Bee. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article243381501.html.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Editorial: Anti-vaxxers have found a new way to make people unsafe". Los Angeles Times. 7 May 2020. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-05-07/editorial-anti-vaxxers-have-found-a-new-way-to-make-people-unsafe.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Solomon, Samantha (10 December 2019). "Anti-vaccine activists forced to drop attempt to block new California law". ABC News. https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/anti-vaccine-activists-forced-to-drop-attempt-to-block-new-california-law/103-0d7e3b55-ab06-4c4e-99f7-6248c05fc59c.
- ↑ Mole, Beth (4 May 2020). "Antivaxxers spearhead protests against lockdown orders, demand “freedom”". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/antivaxxers-spearhead-protests-against-lockdown-orders-demand-freedom/.
- ↑ "California Highway Patrol Bans Rallies Due to Coronavirus". Associated Press. 22 April 2020. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/california-highway-patrol-bans-rallies-due-to-coronavirus/2277539/.
- ↑ Orr, Katie (9 May 2020). "Anti-Vaccination Activists Join Stay-At-Home Order Protesters". KQED. https://www.npr.org/2020/05/09/852861698/anti-vaccination-activists-join-stay-at-home-order-protesters.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Baxter, Kevin (27 June 2020). "Facebook removes videos targeting public health officials". Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-27/facebook-videos-public-health-officials.
- ↑ Bosman, Julie (22 June 2020). "Health Officials Had to Face a Pandemic. Then Came the Death Threats.". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/us/coronavirus-health-officials.html.
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