Wednesday 27 September 2023

 

The Covid Protesters — Where Are They Now?

by James Corbett
corbettreport.com
September 17, 2023

If you participated in the recent COVID-911 Watch Along then you'll have the trauma and tyranny of the darkest depths of the scamdemic fresh in your mind.

Remember when they were arresting peoplefor the "crime" of shopping while maskless?

Remember when they were arresting pregnant women in their pajamas for the "crime" of posting information about public protest events on Facebook?

Remember when police were violently arresting teenagers for the "crime" of skating at an outdoor rink during lockdown?

Remember when they were debanking truckers and their supporters in Canada for the "crime" of assembling in Ottawa?

Remember when they were arresting pastors in front of their crying children for the "crime" of holding Sunday services during lockdown?

Remember when they were firing teachers for refusing to take the genetic slurry clot shot jabs?

Of course you do. But why do you remember all this so vividly? Because the establishment media was happy to air these scenes of trauma and abuse, that's why. The message of such images is clear: if you resist, you will be arrested, constitutional rights be damned. After all, this is an emergency.

This is The Big Lie of the biosecurity state. And, like every other aspect of the biosecurity state, it is all kabuki theatre. The reason the same establishment media that plastered these dramatic arrests all over the evening news never told you about the follow-up to these stories is because, time and again, these unconstitutional mandates and the violent arrests of the mandate resisters were found to have been illegal and the cases were thrown out of court. In fact, in many instances, the charges were dropped before the case even made it to court.

The people who are looking to traumatize and scare you, to keep you compliant and complacent, will never tell you what ended up happening to these people. So, allow me to do exactly that.

Here's the story of what happened after the cameras stopped rolling on these COVID resisters.

ZOE BUHLER

Remember Zoe Buhler? You might not know her by name, but if you were paying attention to the non-stop flood of egregious COVID tyranny coming out of the scamdemic hellhole that was Victoria, Australia, then you'll remember the heart-rending video of her arrestby the jackbooted thugs of Dictator Dan's lockdown police state.

So, there she was. Arrested in front of her children, her total bewilderment at the nature of her offence and her pleas for leniency falling on the deaf ears of the soulless minions of the biosecurity state.

According to the Victorian Police, she was arrested not for planning or organizing any violent activity or even for planning a peaceful protest, but for posting information about an upcoming lockdown protest on Facebook. "Any gathering of this nature is in blatant breach of the Chief Health Officer’s directions and puts Victorian lives at risk."

What's more, the police did not even attempt to hide their true motive for the arrest: to send a message to any would-be protesters or Facebook posters that they would be dealt with in a similar fashion. "Those still thinking of attending the protest in Ballarat on Saturday can expect a swift and firm response from police."

What happened next is even worse than what was caught on camera. This heavily pregnant woman was taken in for hours of questioning over her social media post, and she was taken to hospital the next day over fears that she was experiencing a miscarriage. Although she did not miscarry the baby, she spent two years tied up in the court system, appealing the ridiculous charge of incitement that was brought against her and all the while having to explain to her young children that she wasn't really a criminal.

And what was the end result of all this? After two years of legal rigamarole, all charges against her were summarily dropped because, in the estimation of the Ballarat Magistrates' Court, "it was not in the public interest to continue the case." (Translation: not even the brainwashed COVID-fearing public believed this arrest was justified, and the video of the arrest was bad PR for the police.)

In some ways, the fact that the charges were dropped is almost as infuriating as the arrest itself. It is a tacit admission that she was never seriously considered to be a criminal, but instead was being used as an example and a warning to other would-be COVID resisters. And, as The Spectator rightly observes: "The perverse outcome of the prosecutors' decision is that we may not have the chance to test the government's extraordinary claims. It is highly questionable whether the police had any valid basis for even arresting Ms Buhler in the first place."

So what was Zoe's message to the Australian public and the people of the world after learning that the charges against her would be dropped? Does she take it all back? Is she recommending people simply roll over and let the would-be authorities impose whatever dictates they want in the name of any declared emergency? Of course not.

"I definitely have no regrets," she said. "I’m glad I stood up for people's human rights and freedoms. I’m glad that it is all over."

SHAWN JASON

As the frost of COVID-1984 tyranny began to settle on the frigid climes of Canada, Shawn Jason—a long-time activist whose pre-COVID campaign had been titled "I Love You — Pass it on!"—knew he had to do something. That "something" turned out to be Druthers, a self-published alternative monthly newspaper run by a handful of activists on a shoestring budget that has so far managed to distribute 8 million copies across Canada.

And when the truckers began descending on Ottawa for the Freedom Convoy in early 2022, he knew he had to do something more. That "something more" came in the form of an innovative idea: offer the truckers a $10 contract to deliver a copy of Druthers to Trudeau's office. The public could then "adopt a trucker" and support the convoy by donating funds to pay for these contracts. The theory behind this campaign was that if the truckers were in Ottawa working a commercial contract, then it would be more difficult for government agents to interfere with them.

The problem with the plan was that it was toosuccessful. Rather than raising a few hundred dollars to support a few dozen truckers, as Jason had expected, the campaign, fueled by an energized Canadian public that rallied around the convoy, ended up raising $150,000 in donations. Nervous about the amount of money pouring in from across the country and realizing the government was about to begin a crackdown, Jason went to the bank to withdraw $100,000 of the funds in the form of forty $2,500 bank drafts, which he could then distribute directly to the truckers.

You've probably guessed by now exactly how that bank transaction unfolded. Rather than hand him the bank drafts, the bank instead informed Jason that his account had just been seized and they couldn't allow him to access any of the funds.

As he discussed with Dan Dicks in the immediate aftermath of that incident (and as I showed in my Give Send Gone podcast on the Canadian account freezing fiasco), this was particularly devastating because, not having a corporate account, everything—Shawn's personal expenses, the Druthers expenses, the cost of the new house that he had just rented to work on Druthers with his team, and the donations for the truckers—were all suddenly inaccessible.

So, what happened to Shawn, anyway? And what about the other people who had their accounts frozen?

Well, just ask The New York Times. Or better yet, DON'T ask The New York Times.

You see, on February 22, 2022, they published a Canadian government press release masquerading as a news article under the headline "Canada Ends Its Freeze on Hundreds of Accounts Tied to Protests." In it, establishment stenographer Ian Austen "reports" that "Isabelle Jacques, an assistant deputy minister in Canada’s department of finance, told a House of Commons committee that the banks had begun unlocking accounts on Monday and that no more finances would be locked up."

Of course, that's not what Jacques actuallysaid. As Austen dutifully notes in the very next paragraph, her specific words were, "[t]he vast majority of assets are in the process of being unfrozen."

The "vast majority" of assets does not mean all assets, now does it? Just ask Shawn Jason. As he explained in a November 2022 update video, his bank (BMO) still has the $150,000 that was donated to the truckers. He cannot access that money to either give it back to the donors or to pass it on to the truckers to whom those funds were promised.

So here's the real question: has all of this government-induced, bankster-enabled financial harassment stopped Shawn from continuing his work? Of course it hasn't.

In fact, Druthers is going stronger than ever, with 250,000 copies of each issue being delivered each month and the next issue due out shortly. Strangely, though, the CBC doesn't seem too keen on highlighting this Canadian success story.

CSABA VIZI

Like many Canadian truckers, Csaba Vizi's life was devastated by the Canadian governments' COVID mandates. Having lost his job, he was unable to provide for his family. With absolutely nothing left to lose, he headed to Ottawa in late January 2022 with the Freedom Convoy and vowed to stay there as long as was required to attain freedom for himself and for all Canadians.

"I'm going home glorious, like Caesar, or in a body bag," Vizi told one interviewer, vowing that he would be the very last trucker to leave Ottawa.

Then all hell broke loose.

Vizi's website describes the harrowing ordeal that followed when the police began to move in to clear out the truckers.

On February 19, 2022 at 9:30 am, Csaba quietly exited his truck, dropped to his knees and placed his hands behind his head. He was jumped and beaten by a group of officers in unmarked uniforms. This pivotal moment in Canadian history went viral around the world. Along with other truck drivers, Csaba was arrested and taken to a warehouse far from Parliament. One by one, they entered the warehouse to be searched, questioned and booked. Hours later, with his charges in hand, he was released into the bitter cold, it was -35 degree Celsius. He had no idea where he was nor were there any signs of life. Without a cellphone, he could only guess which direction he should walk in. After 1.5 hrs he crossed paths with the first stranger, and he eagerly offered his assistance.

The video of the incident did indeed go viral, causing consternation around the world.

Why did the police begin violently attacking this unarmed, peaceful protester, who was already demonstrably complying with his own arrest?

Remarkably enough, that incident was not the end of the story. When Vizi vowed not to leave Ottawa until freedom had been restored for all Canadians, he wasn't joking. As Druthersdiscovered when they went to the Canadian capital last month, Csaba is still there, fighting for liberty.

Incredibly, Vizi is still facing charges for his participation in the convoy, including charges of resisting arrest, criminal mischief and failing to obey a court order by committing the grievous sin of honking his horn during the protest. He was offered a plea deal by prosecutors last year—plead guilty to the charges and get off with 30 days in jail—but (as you might have guessed by now) he didn't take it. Instead, he's fighting the charges in an Ottawa courtroom, where a five-day trial is slated to begin this month.

Those who are interested can contribute to Csava's legal defense fund here.

TIM STEPHENS

And while we're on the subject of the Orwellian COVID hellhole formerly known as Canada, how about Tim Stephens?

For those who don't know, Stephens is a pastor at Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary, Alberta. His ordeal began on May 6, 2021, when—as the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) explained at the time—"Associate Chief Justice John Rooke of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench issued what might be the broadest restraining order in common law history."

The injunction upped the ante on Alberta's draconian COVID tyranny, meaning that people gathering at funerals or meeting friends at the park or attending a church service would not only face a $2,000 fine for their "offense," but would be arrested and then imprisoned until brought before a judge. As a legal instrument, it was particularly remarkable because (again per JCCF):

Normally, courts issue injunctions only against specific individuals (or organizations, businesses, governments) to deal with specific and extreme situations. For example, a court may issue a restraining order against a violent domestic partner. [. . . However,] Justice Rooke’s injunction applies to any Albertan who "promotes" an "Illegal Public Gathering" via social media or otherwise, and any Albertan who "incites" others to attend.

So did the boys in blue take advantage of this totalitarian carte blanche to imprison ordinary, peaceful Albertans? You bet they did.

No one who sees the footage of Pastor Stephens being arrested in front of his crying wife and children will soon forget it.

So, what was the actual legal justification for this heart-breaking scene of trauma and abuse by Calgary's finest? Oh, that's right. There was no justification whatsoever for this arrest. They didn't even have the fig leaf of a pretense of an excuse that is usually used to explain away the worst police abuses.

You see, that injunction issued by Justice [sic] Rooke—the one that put a blanket restraining order on any Albertan found to be promoting an "illegal" gathering—was amended by the court just days after it was issued. Instead of an unprecedented, province-wide restraining order against every single Albertan, it would now apply only to the people associated with one specific gathering. Theoretically, this meant it could not be used to arrest people unaffiliated with that event.

Nonetheless, despite the fact that it no longer applied to him (or to almost anyone in Alberta), Stephens was arrested three days after the restraining order was amended. Needless to say, Stephens was on the other side of Alberta from the gathering specifically named in the injunction and had no conceivable link to that event.

Details, shmetails.

What resulted was a months-long legal ordeal for Stephens and his family. Released after spending three days in the Calgary Remand Centre for the horrific crime of conducting a church service, Stephens was then re-arrestedthe following month for having the temerity to conduct an outdoor church service. This resulted in another 18-day stint in jail, which, outrageously, lasted longer than the public health order that had been used to arrest him.

Let me state that again: by the time he was finally released, the "law" that had been used to arrest Stephens was no longer in effect.

Incredibly, the drama didn't end there. It wasn't until November of 2022, more than one year after his initial arrest, that Stephens was finally acquitted. As his legal counsel noted after the acquittal:

Pastor Stephens was illegally arrested and imprisoned for having allegedly violated the Public Health Orders, which have since been shown to be ineffective and harmful. This decision sets the record straight about the justifiability of his actions and about the importance of respecting Charter rights and freedoms.

NYC TEACHERS

As you may or may not recall, the New York City health commissioner issued an order in August of 2021 mandating that all city employees provide proof of COVID vaccination by September 27 of that year. You might also recall that a number of those employees (including a fair few public school teachers) said not just "no" but "hell, no!" to that order.

The city's public school teachers took their case to the courts but found no justice there. They took the issue to their union but found no justice there. And eventually, after exhausting all other options, upwards of 2,000 Department of Education personnel were axed over the mandates.

To add insult to injury, earlier this year it emerged that the fingerprints of teachers who refused the jab were sent to the FBI and "problem codes" were placed on their employee files, making it more difficult for them to find employment elsewhere.

So, there you go. Some crazy wackadoodles tried to stand up for their bodily autonomy but were beaten down and humiliated by the state. And that is where the COVID dictators and their loyal lapdogs in the mainstream media would like you to believe the story ended. But, unfortunately for the tyrants, the story doesn't end there.

You see, earlier this year, Children's Health Defense helped some of those terminated city employees file a lawsuit in the New York courts protesting the city's actions. And guess what? They won the case.

That's right, in a headline you won't be seeing trumpeted in the controlled corporate media, the New York Supreme Court has reinstated ten of those fired teachers with backpay, arguing that the city's denial of their vaccine exemption requests was "arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable."

And this is just the start. Noting that the "court's ruling on class certification still left the door open to future relief for thousands of teachers," Sujata Gibson, attorney for the plaintiffs, called the ruling "a precedent-setting victory, and a watershed moment in the teachers' fight."

Weird that you haven't seen that story blasted on the front page of The New York Times, though, isn't it?

CONCLUSION

I could go on, but I trust you get the point.

Just in case you don't get the point, here it is: The Big Lie that the establishment loves to push is that they are all-powerful and that their dictates are law. Those who resist will be hunted down, arrested in the most humiliating fashion and, when the mood strikes, beaten and kicked for good measure. And there is nothing you can do about it, citizen!

But this is a lie. Time and time again, we find that the phoney, trumped-up charges that these brave COVID resisters were slapped with didn't hold up in court. Even the often-wrong justices of the usually corrupt court system have to concede that presumed "emergencies" do not, in fact, grant politicians and their appointees the right to impose whatever arbitrary mandates and pass whatever irrational edicts they want.

Now, it is certainly the case that, as the old saying has it, "justice delayed is justice denied." It is also true that politicians and their lapdog enforcers know that "you can beat the rap but you can't beat the ride" and that merely putting activists and protesters like Buhler and Vizi and Stephens and others through the legal process is itself a form of punishment that can have profound impacts on the mental health and the family life of any would-be resisters, regardless of the outcome.

But it is also true that, time and again, these resisters say they have no regrets about their decision to stand up to tyranny and would do it again if they were forced to.

Perhaps the real meaning of these cases, then, is what we make of them.

Will these examples of bravery and self-sacrifice in the face of dire consequences dissuade us from standing up ourselves? Will these traumatic scenes have the effect, intended by the establishment media, of keeping us cowed and afraid?

Or will they be the examples of resilience that we turn to as sources of strength during those times when our rights are being violated by the state? Will we use our knowledge of these stories and their little-known denouements as inspiration when the time comes for us to take a stand against tyranny?

The choice is ours to make. Let's hope we choose wisely.

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