A protester in Huntington Beach drew attention this week after seemingly contradicting himself by showing up in full protective gear.
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Protests against local stay-at-home orders have begun to spring up across the United States in the past week, as folks who care little for their own safety or the safety of their friends and family demand the economy be reopened.
On the one hand, the concern over the loss of income and the mental toll being isolated can take on a person are real. On the other hand, it’s important right now for us to flatten the curve and, in general, try our best as a country to make sure as few people die as possible.
But many of the protesters seem to believe there is no real risk in opening the country back up and going about life as normal. In fact, some even believe that this worldwide pandemic that has killed over 150,000 people so far is just a straight-up hoax.
Unsurprisingly, the protests are predicted to contribute to a new spread of the disease, as these “fake news” folks are gathering in large groups and most are refusing to wear masks or practice anything resembling social distancing.
Except this guy:
This Huntington Beach protester was covered almost head-to-toe in a faux hazmat suit, with his entire face protected behind goggles, a hat, and, yes, a mask. To top the whole thing off, he was carrying a printed sign reading “COVID-19 IS A LIE.”
As Brian Tyler Cohen tweeted, you just can’t make this stuff up.
The unidentified walking contradiction was spotted on several occasions at the protest, which saw about 200 people show up to join in the brave pro-plague parade.
To add another layer of WTF-ery to the whole thing, most of the print on this man’s sign is so tiny that people would have to get right up in his face to read it… that thing we’re definitely not supposed to do be doing right now.
Of course, it’s totally possible the whole protective gear bit of his appearance was supposed to be a joke, and he was openly mocking people who are out in public trying to stay safe. But even if that’s what this guy intended, well, he was ultimately still practicing proper COVID-19 protocol in public (minus the social distancing, of course). So his intentions may have been thwarted by the practicality of it all.
But it feels equally possible that he’s hedging his bets, certain that the novel coronavirus is totally a hoax, but keeping covered up on the, you know, off chance that he’s completely wrong.
The whiplash!
After his photo started circulating on Twitter, it was obvious that nobody really knew what to make of this inane juxtaposition.
Unfortunately, we may find out soon enough how long this belief that “COVID-19 is a lie” lasts with the hardcore conspiracy theorists who are out there protesting these days. If even one of them unknowingly had it at the time, others will likely soon follow.
That’s one way to change your beliefs. Or we could all just listen to health experts and stay home and stay safe.
It is such a difficult choice.
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