Faces bare to the wind, more than 100 maskless people gathered Saturday afternoon, hoisting signs and swinging American flags for a “World-Wide Rally for Freedom.”
The rally began in the parking lot of the Boulder County Justice Center, 1777 Sixth St. Those who participated said the event was a chance to demonstrate their freedoms and be among others who shared their beliefs, namely their opposition to coronavirus restrictions and, in some cases, denial of information regarding masks and other elements of the pandemic.
The rally started with a march that wound its way to Boulder’s Central Park. As they marched, they held signs that read, “I (heart) full facial nudity,” “Make freedom legal,” “Show us your smile,” “Earth standing together” and, “I’m not a lab rat.”
Reactions the crowd encountered along the way were mixed. One person rolled down a car window to stick out their arm and display a middle finger, a few honked car horns in apparent support, others just seemed confused.
“We can’t tell what you’re marching for,” yelled one woman who watched the crowd pass by.
They shouted back, “freedom!”
“It’s about not allowing the government to dictate what you are and aren’t allowed to do,” said Zack Adamovic, of Denver. “I think most people here believe that the government has gone too far with their levels of control about what people are and aren’t allowed to do.”
When asked if masks fall into the category, Adamovic said, “Yeah.”
Colorado currently has a mandatory mask-wearing requirement that took effect in July. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says masks help to prevent the spread of COVID-19, because it reduces the infectious particles a person can spread when they exhale, speak, cough or sneeze. Masks also partially protect the person wearing the mask, since they can reduce the amount of virus particles a person may be inhaling.
Deyba Fajardo, of Denver, said Saturday’s event wasn’t an anti-mask rally, but rather a “pro-freedom rally.”
“We don’t want to be locked down and into forced vaccination,” Fajardo said. “We have the right to choose what to do with our bodies and not have any mandates to say what we have to do with ourselves.”
When asked who was making her get the vaccine, Fajardo said, “It’s the whole report, I was just watching (a news channel) and they were saying something like, ‘Good for you, congratulations to those who got vaccinated,'” she said. “It hurt me, because that’s what people are believing they’re supposed to do.”
The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccines currently in use. The EUA for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was issued Dec. 11, on Dec. 18 for Moderna’s vaccine and on Feb. 27 for the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. While the issuance for emergency use authorization is different than licensure, the FDA says on its website that it “evaluates the available evidence and assesses any known or potential risks and any known or potential benefits. And if the benefit-risk assessment is favorable, the product is made available during the public health emergency.”
In Boulder County, there have been 250 people who have died from COVID-19, and to date, there are 20,033 cases, according to Boulder County Public Health. Statewide, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported there have been 6,149 deaths due to COVID-19 and 449,828 coronavirus cases. Across the nation, 538,261 people have died from the disease, according to the CDC.
A man who identified himself as Dean, of Fort Collins, but wouldn’t provide his last name, helped lead the march, holding a banner.
“We believe that everyone is a sovereign being,” he said. “We all have our freedom of choice to do what we want.”
Choosing to wear a mask or not falls into the category, he said.
When asked if he believed not wearing a mask could be harmful to others, Dean said he didn’t want his words to be reduced.
“That’s a really big discussion,” Dean said. “I don’t feel comfortable (sharing) something that’s going to be reductionist. Instead of propagating fear, the mainstream media should be telling people what they can do to boost their immune system naturally.”
For more than an hour at the park, the people who marched gathered to listen to speeches, musical performances and meditate. Other news sources across the nation also reported seeing similar rallies Saturday.
It was unclear who organized the Boulder event. When asked, numerous people said, “We all organized it.” Information about the meeting was shared via a chat app group called Telegram.
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‘World-Wide Rally for Freedom’ expresses opposition to COVID-19 restrictions - Boulder Daily Camera
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