Freedom Angels Foundation

Freedom Angels Foundation is an anti-vaccination group in California. Initially constituted in an attempt to counter the state's new vaccination laws in 2019, the group is playing a major role in protests against the public measures enacted in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, joining far-right groups in the protests against lockdowns and the defeat of Donald Trump in 2020.

Foundation

Freedom Angels was founded in 2019 by three women who met at protests against the tightening of California's vaccination regulations: Denise Aguilar, Heidi Muñoz Gleisner and Tara Thornton. They organized daily protests against California Senate Bill 277 for a week and disrupted public hearings.

The group's efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, as they failed to gather the 600,000 signatures necessary to force a popular initiative referendum on the issue after the legislation was adopted.

COVID-19 protests and associated groups

In 2020, the group organized and participated in several protests against stay-at-home instructions and other measures put in place to protect the population against COVID-19, such as the use of masks in public buildings. The group specifically called on its members to ignore instructions from health authorities about the pandemic and has positioned itself against a possible vaccine. The rallies were initially held in front of the California State Capitol, but other locations had to be chosen after the California Highway Patrol announced on April 22 that it would stop issuing permits for protests at the Capitol and other government buildings.

Like other anti-vaccination groups, Freedom Angels latched onto the movement against COVID-19 restrictions in order to gain visibility and increase its fundraising capabilities, in the opinion of Democratic state senator Richard Pan, who authored California's vaccine laws.

The group has organized protests at the home of several of the public health officials who are implementing measures to protect the population against COVID-19. Their interventions, both online and in person, have been cited as a cause of an unprecedented amount of aggressive behaviour and death threats against local and regional health officers. Several people who were targeted by these public attacks resigned, citing concerns about their family's safety, such as the chief health officer for Orange County Nichole Quick. Reacting to the death threats, Facebook removed from their platform several videos posted by the group.

Commenting specifically about the actions of Freedom Angels, the ''Los Angeles Times'' Editorial Board wrote: "They say they want medical freedom, but to us it sounds more like they want the freedom to do whatever they want, pandemic be damned, even if it means other people might get sick or die because of their actions. (...) The pandemic restriction protesters are loud and persistent, but a core group of them are merely rebels in search of a cause, any cause, to push their nutty theories. And they found one with COVID-19."

Freedom Angels became involved with the attempt to force a recall of Governor Gavin Newsom, but because of their hard-right turn, the organizers of the initiative cut ties with them. The group became close to far-right groups and was frequently involved in the protests supporting Donald Trump after he lost the 2020 election. Aguilar and Thornton in particular took a portion of the group toward more extreme positions, with Aguilar openly supporting the Proud Boys and trying to organize an all-women militia (named Mamalitia) promoting survivalism and alternative medicine. In the Fall of 2021, Aguilar added the San Joaquin County Liberty Coalition to the list of group she oversees.

Aguilar participated the violent protest at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

See also

*Polio eradication
*''Science Moms''
*Vaccine hesitancy

References

{{Reflist, refs=

{{Cite news, last=Baxter, first=Kevin, date=27 June 2020, title=Facebook removes videos targeting public health officials, work=Los Angeles Times, url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-27/facebook-videos-public-health-officials, url-status=live, access-date=3 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701180129/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-27/facebook-videos-public-health-officials, archive-date=1 July 2020

{{Cite news, last=Bosman, first=Julie, date=22 June 2020, title=Health Officials Had to Face a Pandemic. Then Came the Death Threats., work=New York Times, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/us/coronavirus-health-officials.html, url-status=live, access-date=3 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701221541/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/us/coronavirus-health-officials.html, archive-date=1 July 2020

{{Cite news, last=Wiley, first=Hannah, date=26 June 2020, title='No masks. No vaccines.' Battle is brewing over coronavirus immunizations in California, work=Sacramento Bee, url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article243381501.html, url-status=live, access-date=3 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702001910/https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article243381501.html, archive-date=2 July 2020

{{Cite news, date=7 May 2020, title=Editorial: Anti-vaxxers have found a new way to make people unsafe, work=Los Angeles Times, url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-05-07/editorial-anti-vaxxers-have-found-a-new-way-to-make-people-unsafe, access-date=12 July 2020

{{Cite news, last=Orr, first=Katie, date=9 May 2020, title=Anti-Vaccination Activists Join Stay-At-Home Order Protesters, work=KQED, url=https://www.npr.org/2020/05/09/852861698/anti-vaccination-activists-join-stay-at-home-order-protesters, url-status=live, access-date=12 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510010018/https://www.npr.org/2020/05/09/852861698/anti-vaccination-activists-join-stay-at-home-order-protesters, archive-date=10 May 2020

{{Cite news, last=Mole, first=Beth, date=4 May 2020, title=Antivaxxers spearhead protests against lockdown orders, demand "freedom", work=Ars Technica, url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/antivaxxers-spearhead-protests-against-lockdown-orders-demand-freedom/, url-status=live, access-date=12 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504194156/https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/antivaxxers-spearhead-protests-against-lockdown-orders-demand-freedom/, archive-date=4 May 2020

{{Cite news, date=22 April 2020, title=California Highway Patrol Bans Rallies Due to Coronavirus, agency=Associated Press, url=https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/california-highway-patrol-bans-rallies-due-to-coronavirus/2277539/, url-status=live, access-date=12 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423173453/https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/california/california-highway-patrol-bans-rallies-due-to-coronavirus/2277539/, archive-date=23 April 2020

{{Cite news, last=Solomon, first=Samantha, date=10 December 2019, title=Anti-vaccine activists forced to drop attempt to block new California law, work=ABC News, url=https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/anti-vaccine-activists-forced-to-drop-attempt-to-block-new-california-law/103-0d7e3b55-ab06-4c4e-99f7-6248c05fc59c, url-status=live, access-date=12 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604084125/https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/anti-vaccine-activists-forced-to-drop-attempt-to-block-new-california-law/103-0d7e3b55-ab06-4c4e-99f7-6248c05fc59c, archive-date=4 June 2020

{{Cite news, last=Koseff, first=Alexei, date=9 September 2019, title=California limits vaccine medical exemptions as protests disrupt Legislature, work=San Francisco Chronicle, url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-limits-vaccine-medical-exemptions-as-14426441.php, url-status=live, access-date=12 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426220657/https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-limits-vaccine-medical-exemptions-as-14426441.php, archive-date=26 April 2020

{{Cite news, last=Bogel-Burroughs, first=Nicholas, date=2 May 2020, title=Antivaccination Activists Are Growing Force at Virus Protests, work=New York Times, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/anti-vaxxers-coronavirus-protests.html, url-status=live, access-date=22 August 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805131025/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/us/anti-vaxxers-coronavirus-protests.html, archive-date=5 August 2020

{{Cite news, last1=Read, first1=Richard, last2=Hennessy-Fiske, first2=Molly, last3=Chrabia, first3=Anita, date=8 January 2021, title=Far-right extremists want to target more capitols, but are divided after D.C. riot, work=Los Angeles Times, url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-08/dc-riot-was-just-the-start-of-what-a-fractured-insurrectionist-movement-is-plotting, url-status=live, access-date=14 January 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112013431/https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-08/dc-riot-was-just-the-start-of-what-a-fractured-insurrectionist-movement-is-plotting, archive-date=12 January 2021

{{Cite news, last=, first=, date=18 December 2020, title=Anti-vaxxers and alt-right groups team up to stoke fears on COVID-19 vaccines, work=KTLA5, url=https://ktla.com/news/california/anti-vaxxers-and-alt-right-groups-team-up-to-stoke-fears-on-covid-19-vaccines/, url-status=live, access-date=14 January 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114104841/https://ktla.com/news/california/anti-vaxxers-and-alt-right-groups-team-up-to-stoke-fears-on-covid-19-vaccines/, archive-date=14 January 2021

{{Cite news, last=Chabria, first=Anita, date=23 January 2021, title=Far-right movements including QAnon, virus skeptics linked to Newsom recall, work=Los Angeles Times, url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-23/recall-newsom-effort-qanon-antivaxxer-extremist-ties, url-status=live, access-date=24 January 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124122334/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-23/recall-newsom-effort-qanon-antivaxxer-extremist-ties, archive-date=24 January 2021

{{Cite web, last=Lehmann, first=Christine, date=16 March 2021, title=Activists Fueling Concerns About COVID Vaccine Safety, url=https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210316/activists-fueling-concerns-about-covid-vaccine-safety, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325030603/https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210316/activists-fueling-concerns-about-covid-vaccine-safety, archive-date=25 March 2021, access-date=29 March 2021, website=WebMD

{{Cite news, last1=Pohl, first1=Jason, last2=Sabalow, first2=Ryan, last3=Gerike, first3=Lydia, date=21 November 2021, title=Angry, violent, toxic: How extremists are drowning out local California governments, work=Sacramento Bee, url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article255292696.html, access-date=2 December 2021

{{Cite news, last1=Wiley, first1=Hannah, last2=Gerike, first2=Lydia, last3=Figueroa, first3=Maria Luisa, date=26 November 2021, title=Equal opportunity extremism: How women seized the moment in California's far-right radical politics, work=Sacramento Bee, url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article255292486.html, access-date=2 December 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122035506/https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article255292486.html, archive-date=22 November 2021

{{Cite news, last1=Zadrozny, first1=Brandy, author-link1=Brandy Zadrozny, last2=Collins, first2=Ben, date=3 January 2022, title=From the Capitol to the city council: How extremism in the U.S. shifted after Jan. 6, work=NBC News, url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/extremism-us-jan-6-capitol-rcna10731, access-date=16 January 2022

Anti-vaccination organizations
Organizations established in 2019
Anti-vaccination in the United States