On Tuesday, a Democratic San Diego councilwoman preached a draconian message regarding people who do not wear masks in public and don’t social distance, telling a press conference that the county sheriff should be arresting those people.
She also attacked President Trump, snapping, “We have not had the kind of national leadership we need, but we have an election coming. So hopefully that will change.”
Jennifer Campbell, who is a retired physician, held a press conference at a park in Ocean Beach, calling out, “I’m Councilmember Jennifer Campbell. I’m a physician, and I’ve been wanting since day one of this COVID thing for this city and this county to get strong. This is a life-threatening situation. It would be wonderful if OB (Ocean Beach) could be its old self, get together, see old friends, new friends and have fun. That’s what we want to happen again. But right now, people who come here with no mask, with no distancing, are being irresponsible and they could get sick, deathly sick, and die.”
“Every day, more and more San Diegans are dying,” she continued. “So we have to get tough; and I’m telling you if this situation that happened last Wednesday night happens this Wednesday night, there’s gonna be a [lot of clamp] down. And so they have got to stop it; they have got to behave in a responsible, adult, mature manner. This is a world-wide emergency. Every single person has to take part in ending it.”
She attacked President Trump: “We have not had the kind of national leadership we need, but we have an election coming. So hopefully that will change, but in the meantime, it’s up to us. The guy has put it on us. All right, so the county has a rule: no more than ten can get together – whether it’s in your house, whether it’s out here in the park, wherever it is. And by God, that is now the law. And therefore, the County Sheriff should be here arresting people who aren’t wearing masks, who aren’t distancing, and who are coming together too strong.”
Campbell, who told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2018 that she had taught integrative medicine at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, stated, “Believe me, I have heard my constituents, and I understand what you’re going through. This is the worst virus in the history of medicine. It’s very dangerous. Some of you don’t believe it, but it’s true. We need to make enforcement. Okay. So I’m telling everybody who loves to congregate here: behave, or you’re gonna be in big trouble.”
“Campbell herself wasn’t even following social distancing guidelines during her time at the park. She was within 6 feet of many people for most of the time,” KUSI reported.
One Ocean Beach man responded to Campbell by yelling, “While you have all your bars open, it’s not okay to have some hippies out here having a good time. … No rioting here, a bunch of people having a good time – that’s against the law. If you want to have a riot, that’s okay. If you want to get drunk at a bar, that’s okay. If you want to do yoga in the park, or if you want to feed your child because you need to sell something here, that’s a problem. Can I get an amen?”