It’s Monday, January 24th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:
1) Worldwide Protests Against Vaccine Mandates
The Topline: Over the weekend, thousands gathered in cities across Europe and America to protest against vaccine passports and other lockdown measures.
Quote Of The Day: “This is not a whether you’re jabbed or not, it’s a fundamental human right to allow someone to accept or decline a medical procedure without threat of reprisal. And if they do accept that medical procedure, it should be with fully informed consent.”
– Protester in England
Martin Pope/Contributor/Getty Images
Locations
France had some of the largest demonstrations, with tens of thousands turning out against the country’s additional vaccine laws which go into effect today. The new measure will ban the unvaccinated from flying within the country, and exclude them from restaurants, bars and public transportation.
In England, where 80,000 healthcare workers will soon be fired if they don’t get the vaccine, there were mass protests throughout the country. Many doctors and nurses in the country responded by walking off the job and placing their scrubs in the street outside their hospitals.
Tens of thousands of people also gathered in Brussels, Helsinki, Athens, and elsewhere.
Tens of thousands of protesters also marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for an event called “Defeat The Mandates.” The most notable speaker was Dr. Robert Malone, a scientist who helped develop mRNA technology, which is a vital part of most COVID vaccines. He was recently banned from Twitter for “COVID misinformation” after he expressed hesitancy about blanket vaccine mandates that don’t take into account varying risk profiles and individual circumstances.
The Protesters’ Message
While earlier COVID protests were focused on ending lockdowns and opening schools, these protests were much more about opposing vaccine passports and mandates.
Much of the message from protesters focused on natural immunity, now that there’s more data to support the fact that those who have recovered from the virus are largely safe from catching it again. For example, a new CDC study showed that during the peak of the Delta variant, those who’d recovered from COVID and had natural immunity were six times less likely to catch the virus than those who’d simply received the vaccine.
Spencer Platt/Staff/Getty Images
2) Nationwide Crime Spike Continues
The Topline: As crime spikes in major cities, some violent attacks have left communities reeling and prompted backlash against the “soft-on-crime” policies imposed in many metropolitan areas.
Quote Of The Day: “I just feel like she could be any one of us.”
– Woman at prayer vigil for victim Michelle Go
The Stories
In Los Angeles, a 24-year-old woman named Brianna Kupfer was randomly stabbed to death while working at a high-end furniture store in the city’s Fairfax District. She was alone in the store during the attack and found by a customer around 20 minutes later. Unfortunately, she was deceased by the time she was found. Her killer was a homeless man with mental issues who had previously been arrested multiple times. This horrific incident prompted the Los Angeles sheriff to harshly criticize the district attorney’s lax attitude toward crime.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that L.A. has an “open-air mental asylum” and is “allowing killers to walk freely amongst us.” The sheriff also said homicides in Los Angeles County spiked by nearly 50% last year, and other violent crimes also went up.
Within a few days of Kupfer’s death, a 70-year-old nurse was brutally attacked at a bus stop and died from her injuries. Her killer was also a homeless man suffering from mental issues and was found asleep nearby shortly after the attack.
In another attack, a man assaulted a woman with a bike lock, leaving her bloodied. When police responded, a stray bullet from a Los Angeles Police officer during the ensuing incident ended up killing an innocent 14-year-old girl.
An off-duty LA police officer was also shot dead earlier this month – allegedly by gang members – while he was house hunting with his girlfriend. After the cop killing, the sheriff said he has “no confidence” in how the local district attorney, George Gascón, will handle the city’s crime problem.
According to Sheriff Villanueva, there’s a cycle of homeless individuals committing petty crimes, getting released by police, and then committing more violent crimes later.
In New York, a 40-year-old Asian American tourist named Michelle Go was killed when she was pushed in front of a subway train earlier this month. Her home community in San Francisco, which has also experienced a crime spike, is still reeling from the shock, and a vigil was held for her in the Bay Area.
Anna Moneymaker/Staff/Getty Images
3) March for Life Comes To DC
The Topline: This year’s March for Life in Washington D.C. had a distinctly optimistic atmosphere as tens of thousands of people marched to the Supreme Court on Saturday, hopeful that 2022 is the year Roe v. Wade will be overturned.
Quote Of The Day: “So, if Roe is overturned, and please God, let’s pray and fast that that happens, it will be a new moment in building a culture of life. But the work will not be accomplished, so we’re working for…a culture where abortion is unthinkable, and the reality is that Roe will simply return the question of abortion legislation to the states, so finally states like Mississippi and Texas can enact laws that protect life prior to viability…”
– March for Life President Jeanne Mancini
The March
The Supreme Court is hearing a major abortion case — Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — that could overturn Roe v. Wade. The case was brought before the Court on December 1st, giving the March an optimistic theme this year.
Many young people traveled to D.C. from all over the country, describing themselves as “the pro-life generation.”
The temperature was also in the low 20s, but energy was high and the crowd was upbeat. There was a lot of singing, cheering, and praying as the group marched towards the Supreme Court. It was a diverse crowd, with a variety of religions represented, as well as all ages and races.
Protests
There were not many people protesting, but the group “Catholics for Choice” projected multiple massive pro-abortion statements onto the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast D.C. the night before the March.
The group projected the words, “Pro-choice Catholics you are not alone,” although the official position of the Catholic Church is pro-life. The church has described abortion as a “crime against human life.” D.C.’s Archbishop Wilton Gregory strongly condemned this move in a Friday statement.
The most high-profile counter-protesters were President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The administration released a statement Saturday commemorating the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, warning that the decision is under attack like “never before.”