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Rallies Return After Holidays

After a holiday hiatus, local freedom fighters are once again lining the Lynn Road overpass regularly to rally for freedom.

On a sunny Saturday morning, February 5, patriots assembled for their inaugural gathering of 2022. Locals lofted homemade signs, American flags and placards proclaiming a message of medical freedom.

“We’re freedom-loving, country-loving Americans,” said Paul Hesterich, lifelong Ventura resident and rally regular. “[We’re] a lot of veterans, a lot of blue-collar people. We have doctors — we have every walk of life, and we’re not here to cause problems; we’re here to wake people up. I’d really hope that more people get educated and look into what’s going on. We’re not anti-vaccine; we’re anti-mandate.”

The protest lasted past noon as children, adults and seniors rallied with fresh resolve and encouraged drivers, many of whom gave a thumbs-up, honked or cheered in support. “God Bless the USA,” “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” and other songs played from a stereo. Pro-Trump and anti-Biden regalia decorated flag poles and the overpass fence in abundance. Anti-mask and anti-mandate signs were common, as were some which scorned Gov. Newsom, the CVUSD and large pharmaceutical companies.

The roughly 120 locals participating in the sidewalk display joined hundreds of thousands across the world, standing up for medical freedom and protesting government lockdowns in Europe, Canada, Australia and the U.S. Local ralliers gave glowing praise to the tens of thousands of Canadians protesting vaccine mandates with the Trucker Freedom Convoy.

“Isn’t that awesome?” one mother said of the Trucker’s Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. “I can’t wait until they show up in California.”

“I think it’s fantastic,” 32-year Newbury Park resident Raymond Fontayne said of his Canadian allies. “It so changed my feeling about what’s going on, when the Canadians came out, and they had massive support on the highways, that they’re in Ottawa —”

The rest of his words were drowned out by supportive honking from drivers on the overpass and highway.

The younger generation, too, made its voice heard, with teenagers and toddlers taking part in the cause. Drake, a 16-year-old who began attending rallies before the 2020 election, is glad they are back and wants to see more of his contemporaries come out to fulfill their patriotic duty.

“I came out because I think that younger people should be coming out more,” he says. “You see a lot of old people here, and I think that they already did their job when they were younger, so I think it’s our turn now.”

Sixteen-year-old Jack also represented his age bracket at the rally and said attending the event is “the right thing to do right now.” He hopes it inspires the community.

Among the crowd stood a 13-year civilian worker for the Navy, Ron Severson, who came out to stand publicly for the freedom the U.S. government has denied him as of January. Having declined to take a COVID shot and booster, he is no longer allowed to do his highly technical job of preparing warships and crews for military action.

It’s “like 1984,” Severson told the Guardian. “We’re being told we have to test and then upload files into a database before we can go to an office. And that’s even an office where most people aren’t there because they’re afraid, so they’re at home teleworking.”

Severson and hundreds of others in his command have banded together against the COVID shot mandates, and thousands more are united under Feds for Medical Freedom, whose logo and website address were emblazoned on several of Severson’s signs. He says many military positions are so specialized that it will take years for the Navy to recover, should they choose to purge their “unvaccinated” staff. The effect on the readiness of fleets in the meantime could be catastrophic.

“I came out because I think that younger people should be coming out more. You see a lot of old people here, and I think that they already did their job when they were younger, so I think it’s our turn now.”

Drake, 16 years old

“We’re fighting to say, ‘No mandate,’ and to say, ‘We have worker rights,’” Severson said. “We can still be treated equally; we can still do all of our jobs just as we have for two years.”

Represented on the Lynn overpass were small-business owners and government workers, young teens and seasoned patriots — each pledging to continue to rally with each other and their worldwide community, to stand up for liberty.

Hesterich, the lifelong Ventura resident wearing a Let’s Go Brandon shirt and holding a “We the People” American flag sign, attended with his girlfriend, who held an “Unmask our kids” flag. He became involved in rallies two years ago when unfair voting systems and the stealing of votes came to public light. He says he has attended more than 50 rallies and, at times, leads vehicle convoys in Ventura.

“I think it’s great,” he said of the large turnout that day. “We Americans all have to stick up and stop this tyranny. What’s going on is just wrong, period. Mandates don’t work. Vaccines, wearing masks don’t work. Mandating this stuff is killing our freedoms, and it needs to stop.”

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