Dodger Stadium vaccination site shut down amid protest - Los Angeles Times
Category: News & Politics
Via: sandy-2021492 • 3 years ago • 51 commentsBy: Marisa Gerber, Irfan Khan, Carlos Lozano (Los Angeles Times)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Marisa Gerber, Irfan Khan, Carlos LozanoJan. 30, 2021 Updated 5:03 PM PT
Dodger Stadium's mass COVID-19 vaccination site was shut down Saturday afternoon as about 50 protesters gathered at the entrance, stalling hundreds of motorists who had been waiting in line for hours.
The Los Angeles Fire Department closed the entrance to the stadium — one of the largest vaccination sites in the country — for about an hour starting just before 2 p.m. as a precaution, officials said.
The demonstrators included members of anti-vaccine and far-right groups. While some carried signs decrying the COVID-19 vaccine and shouting for people not to get the shots, there were no incidents of violence.
"This is completely wrong," said German Jaquez, who drove from his home in La Verne and had been waiting an hour for his vaccination when the stadium's gates were closed. He said some of the protesters were telling people in line that the coronavirus is not real and that the vaccination is dangerous.
"This is the wrong message," Jaquez said. "I've been waiting for weeks to get an appointment. I am a dentist; I am taking a big risk being around patients. I want to be safe for my patients and for my family. The vaccine is the only way to beat the virus."
A fire department official said the vaccination site reopened a few minutes before 3 p.m. The site is usually open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
A post on social media described the demonstration as the "Scamdemic Protest/March." It advised participants to "please refrain from wearing Trump/MAGA attire as we want our statement to resonate with the sheeple. No flags but informational signs only.
"This is a sharing information protest and march against everything COVID, Vaccine, PCR Tests, Lockdowns, Masks, Fauci, Gates, Newsom, China, digital tracking, etc."
A livestreamed video of the gathering shows a group of protesters on a sidewalk as cars navigate cone-lined lanes toward the stadium, which served as a COVID-19 testing site for months.
Protesters carried signs that read "Save Your Soul TURN BACK NOW," "CNN IS LYING TO YOU," "RECALL GAVIN NEWSOM" and "TAKE OFF YOUR MASK." Some handed out pamphlets to motorists who had their windows down. Some cars blared their horns as they drove by.
Protesters spoke through bullhorns: "Turn back while you can," one man said. "You're a lab rat."
Public officials swiftly weighed in, expressing frustration.
Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Jeff Gorell, who oversees public safety for Mayor Eric Garcetti, tweeted a Times article about the closure, writing, "Its back open, but .." and adding a "face palm" emoji.
The incident marks the latest protest by small groups opposed to basic coronavirus safety measures such as face coverings.
Following demonstrations by anti-mask groups at shopping malls, grocery stores and homeless encampments, the Los Angeles City Council earlier this month bolstered restrictions and subjected some violators to financial penalties. Following a unanimous vote, the council ordered city attorneys to draft a law that would impose fines and penalties on those who refuse to wear a mask at indoor businesses when requested to do so by management, as well as on individuals who refuse to wear one when "invading someone's personal space."
Earlier in the pandemic, maskless demonstrators gathered at retail outlets, including Erewhon Market in the Fairfax district, a Target on Beverly Boulevard and the Westfield Century City mall, sparking a backlash from shoppers and employees who felt harassed.
In one video, a demonstrator said he had tested negative for the virus and called a customer at the grocery store a "mask Nazi."
After the Century City demonstration, Garcetti issued a warning.
"We won't have officers who are standing by witnessing that. We will take action," the mayor said. "And don't test us on this, because you will find yourself in jail, cited or dealing with prosecution."
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You don't want the vaccine? Fine. Don't get the vaccine. But don't make it impossible for others to get the vaccine.
meh, diehard trumpsters should be at the end of any vaccination line.
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You act like you have some special advantage. Typical attitude of a trumpster though, 'I got mine, so fuck you'
Who says devangelical hasn't already gotten his shots?
I haven't. I'm eligible, but some seditionist traitor that deserves a hemp necktie cancelled the orders on the vaccines that should have been available by now.
Goddamnit, can we round them all up, infect a few of them with smallpox, and then watch them beg for the vaccine? Maybe that will teach them?
Polio might be better. They could end up immobilized in an Iron lung and that way not be out preventing sane people from doing what is necessary.
I read something a few years back about how iron lungs are rare, and nobody knows how to repair them anymore, if they're ever needed again.
If iron lungs were still a common sight in hospitals, we might not have so many anti-vaxxers.
Yeah but smallpox has a very high fatality rate and even if you survive you look like shit.
Cmon, let us reintroduce the scourge of humanity because vaccines don't work, and government conspiracies and shit.
I'm not Trump. I'm not looking to murder 400,000 Americans, I just wanted to prevent them from being able to stop decent people from getting their vaccines.
Anyone disrupting a vaccination site should be arrested. Zero tolerance.
Agreed.
This should be a serious violation
Yup.
It certainly should be a serious violation. It's outrageous.
Arrest them, try them, and put them in jail.
Arrest them! Arrest them for blocking the road. Honestly, this stuff has been going on all year, whether it's nutjobs on the Left or Right. I don't care if you want to demonstrate - even for something stupid like we have here. - but you don't get to block people. I am one of the biggest advocates for free speech around here, but there is nothing protected about blocking public access.
Edit: I just looked at the video linked in the story. It doesn't look like these people were blocking very much. If there really were 50 people there, they seem to have been scattered all over. It's hard to see why it would have been necessary to close the site. I'm not saying nobody was blocking anything, but the evidence offered doesn't do a good job of showing it.
What was your opinion of the Texans who blocked Biden's bus during the campaign? Were they exercising free speech, or preventing others from doing so?
Seed that story and maybe I'll have something to react to.
Legit point.
The story was seeded on NT and was carried by a lot of media at the time of the occurance about 3 months ago so I will not bother to seed it, but if the three months is beyond your memory span here is a link to the story:
And here is a link to the Snopes article verifying the incident:
Bullshit.
So unnecessary.
Yeah, ok so? Why are you all worked up about that incident and why do you think it's relevant to either this seed or my comment?
Forget it. I'm no longer at all interested in your opinion. You can....... never mind.
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IMPASSE
Sandy seeded the story at the end of October. Trump supporters actually ran Kamala Harris' bus off of the road and rammed a staffer's car.
Biden Team Cancels Texas Event After Highway 'Ambush' By Maga Cavalry - Trout Giggles | The NewsTalkers
Ah yes, the story where it subsequently came out the police actually blamed a Biden staffer for causing the accident.
I see you are all worked up over someone being blocked from seeing Hidin Biden, but I don't remember you ever seeding stories about the loon left blocking people from attending MAGA rallies....over and over again.
It was seeded months ago.
You know... When it happened!!
If someone really doesn't remember, ''biden bus'' is an easy and obvious search label. Takes ten seconds.
Unless the person remembers perfectly, but wants to avoid the quagmire. D'ya think?
No, it's not.
This was a vaccination site not a political event.
It's hard to see why it would have been necessary to close the site.
It was for an abundance of caution, the people in cars for the vaccines were some of the most vulnerable. The site was closed for about an hour.
My guess is that no one imagined that even the craziest of crazies would be this stupid. Now the crazies have shown that, yes, they can be this stupid. So I presume the cops will be ready next time.
I saw the story on the local TV news and they gave a better picture of it than this Times article does. The seed makes it sound like some big mass of people shut the whole site down for all day. The truth is way less dramatic.
Like I said they acted in an abundance of caution.
We totally agree. Protest all you want about whatever you want, but keep the streets clear you assholes, I got places I need/want to be. Stopping me from getting there doesn't cause me to support you, it actually makes me want to sat go fuck yourself
I am with you on this one, do not fuck up freeway traffic, it is bad enough as is.
That's not what was happening.
It's best these wacko's don't get between me, Big Red, and my COVID vaccine.
Amen, Bro. Those who don't want them don't have to get them. However, NO ONE but me has the right to decided I should not have one. And that ain't gonna happen.
Don't mess with Kav when Red is in the room!
And I wouldn't advise it when she ain't either. You know what they say about women's intuition.
There's not one, but two pandemics currently raging across this country. The coronavirus pandemic, and a stupidity pandemic. Vaccines can address the former, but what the hell are we supposed to do about the latter?
I've honestly never been more ashamed of my country than I've been over the past year or so. Especially since Jan 6. To make it worse, I'm not seeing signs of a positive end game yet. The stupidity just seems to be doubling down on itself.
And we can see it first hand and on a daily on NT.
Yeah, I just made the mistake of clicking through a few seeds. I should've known better.
And super spreader events for both occurred at Trump's Whitehouse.
I hate hypocrisy.
If we allowed the left to do something for 60 years, I'm afraid, we have to let every other group do the same.
There is another layer of hypocrisy to this - those who were questioning the safety of the vaccine only months ago, before the election, are now extremely determined to be the first to get it.
Wow, you had me fooled Vic.
WTF are you talking about?
That's were the difference becomes clear Vic. Questioning the safety of the vaccine when the leading medical experts in our nation were being censored is perfectly understandable. It is also perfectly understandable that Americans would line up to be vaccinated once experts like Fauci vouched for the efficacy of the vaccine.
What ISN'T understandable is the position of the morons who protested outside of Dodger stadium.
One plus that I see in this obstruction is that the average 'Joe' now knows what it looks and feels like to have RW idiots try to block people from availing themselves of medical treatment. All too many women have experienced it first hand for decades.
The left hasn't been blocking access to medical care.
That's been the right - Planned Parenthood, for example.
Do you have personal knowledge that all of the people in line for the vaccine questioned its safety prior to the election? I'm quite sure you don't. Both of your accusations have only your own biases to support them. Not especially compelling.
I'm pissed off that every covid fatality in america to date wasn't karmic justice, from the top down.