At least 1,500 people braved the cold and wind on Wednesday to let N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul know what they think of mandating a vaccine for kids and for employment, and of a vaccine database. Spoiler alert: they’re against it.
Protest in albany ny! I couldn’t make it bc of work but so happy to see people turned out including parents from our school pic.twitter.com/8xEpxe2ITJ
— L.Rose 🇺🇸 (@Leerose1985) January 5, 2022
In the crowd, I saw a large contingent of “mama bears” (women who are angry about a children’s vaccine mandate), lots of kids (mostly girls), patriots of all sorts (including Proud Boys and members of Long Island Loud Majority), what appeared to be some Antifa types, and a few painfully obvious undercover feds taking pictures of everyone.
Large Crowd Gathered outside Albany Capitol to protest Vaccination Mandates.
State of the Union adress, held in Albany by New York Governor Hochul is scheduled to start in a few minutes.
Video by FNTV https://t.co/NXSRrUsm5f pic.twitter.com/j7nt04npSI
— Hunting Wolf In PA (@SlayerWolf11) January 5, 2022
Speakers got the energetic crowd cheering outside the N.Y. Capitol as Governor Hochul gave her State of the State address inside on the second floor. Protesters were not allowed to enter the building.
Medical Freedom Rally, State Capitol, Albany, New York State 🗽#freedom #liberty #medicalfreedom #mandates #civilrights #resist #staystrong #protest #demonstration #NewYork pic.twitter.com/0MFPTGPczu
— Mi©haelanthony (@themeatofit) January 6, 2022
Passing motorists honked their support for the dozen or so speakers. At times, members of the crowd turned to the Capitol to boo Hochul and throw up an occasional finger gesture, which is not unheard-of for New Yorkers.
One of the most spirited speakers of the day was Kevin Smith of the group Long Island Loud Majority, whose speech got the crowd screaming. Long Island Loud Majority has tens of thousands of members, and they have made the national news before for doing what Long Islanders do better than anyone else in the country — getting loud.
Related: What’s All the Noise From Long Island? It’s the Pro-Trump Long Island Loud Majority
Trammel Thompson of New York City’s Transit Union sent the crowd into hysterics when he announced he had been vaccinated and then ripped up his vaccine passport.
One speaker noted there were very few police officers nearby because patriots don’t tend to burn down cities. I was unable to find any businesses that had been boarded up, either.
After the rally, my friends and I went to the Albany Pump House, where an elderly host handed us a blue procedure mask (38.5% effective as per the EPA) and asked us to wear it to walk nine feet to the bar. We refused and left. #NoBeerTyranny
Related: What’s All the Noise From Long Island? It’s the Pro-Trump Long Island Loud Majority
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