Anti-Vaccine Mandate Protesters March On D.C.

Topline

Protestors began organizing in Washington D.C. Sunday, aiming to march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial in objection to the U.S.’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

Key Facts

Organizers hope as manay  20,000 people will march Sunday for the “Defeat the Mandates” rally, according to a permit from the National Park Service seen by the Washington Post. 

Notable speakers will include anti-mandate proponents like Del Bigtree, founder of the anti-vaccine group Informed Consent Action Network, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the slain senator and former attorney general, who has been widely criticized (even by his family) for pushing debunked scientific conspiracies.

Police remain fully activated in D.C. for the rally following Friday’s March for Life antiabortion protest, a police spokesperson told the Washington Post.

The rally gained notoriety after the controversial Dr. Robert Malone, an anti-mandate virologist (also widely criticized for spreading vaccine misinformation) who will be speaking, appeared on the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast and mentioned the protest—an appearance that prompted a coalition of doctors and scientists to petition Spotify to stop the spread of misinformation about the vaccine on the podcast.

Key Background

Last week, D.C. implemented a city-wide Covid-19 vaccine requirement for anyone 12 and older who wishes to enter any indoor facility. Nearly a quarter of eligible Americans remain unvaccinated against Covid-19.

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