Actor Kirk Cameron Leads Christmas-Themed Protest Against California Lockdown Order
Actor Kirk Cameron led a peaceful protest on Tuesday, as he and more than 150 people gathered outside a mall in Thousand Oaks, California, to sing Christmas carols.
Decked out in a red Christmas hat and sporting a white Santa beard, the former “Growing Pains” star led the gathered audience in song.
Cameron held a similar protest earlier this month that drew hundreds.
After the initial Dec. 13 event, he posted a message on Instagram reading “God bless America! Joy over fear” and another that read, “Christmas in Community! Peaceful Protest in Song!”
The actor received several reproachful comments on these posts berating the large group for not wearing masks or social distancing.
It was Tuesday’s protest in the parking lot of the Oaks Mall, however, that drew the expected condemnation from the establishment media.
A large group of mostly maskless people gathered Tuesday to protest a likely extension of Los Angeles County’s stay-at-home order as California battles the raging COVID-19 surge. The demonstrators, lead by actor Kirk Cameron, sang various Christmas carols https://t.co/D06i1iEj8I pic.twitter.com/vckhWywn36
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 23, 2020
Wearing a Santa beard but no mask, #KirkCameron hosts maskless caroling event at Ventura County mall, even though mall management says event was unauthorized and he was asked to leave https://t.co/OpTGBoZyv2
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) December 23, 2020
“Some super spreading events end up in people dying,” Dignity Health California Medical Center’s Dr. Suman Radnakrishna told KCAL-TV.
“This is just for the season. The vaccine is coming, if we can just wait it out.”
The Oaks Mall told KABC-TV that management did not support the gathering.
“The event occurring at The Oaks at this moment is a non-sanctioned event,” mall officials said.
“We continue to share our community’s concerns over these irresponsible — yet constitutionally protected — events and have law enforcement on property. We reached out to the organizer to ask that the event be moved.”
The shopping mall additionally posted a tweet voicing its displeasure with the parking lot protest.
We do not condone this irresponsible – yet constitutionally protected – peaceful protest event planned. We share your concern and have notified the Sheriff’s office. As well, we have reached out to the event planner to ask that they do not use The Oaks as their venue.
— The Oaks (@ShopTheOaks) December 23, 2020
In an interview earlier this month after his first singing protest, however, Cameron told Fox News the event was important.
“All I can tell you is that I’m looking around in my community and I’m seeing the devastation and the suffering of people whose businesses have been bankrupted, people dealing with anxiety, depression, suicide is spiking, the abused being quarantined with their abusers, and I can just ignore that,” he said.
“I love my neighbors and so I want to give them hope.”
Since Dec. 5, millions of Californians, including Thousand Oaks residents, have been living under a stay-at-home order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
On Monday, Newsom revealed that he expects the lockdown order will be renewed once the current Dec. 28 expiration rolls around, according to KCAL-TV.
“We are likely, I think it’s pretty self-evident, going to need to extend those regional dates,” Newsom said.
“Based upon all the data and based upon all these trend lines, it is very likely based on those current trends that we’ll need to extend that stay at home order, [which] you recall was a three-week order when we announced it.”
Cameron, however, previously announced his plan to Fox News to “absolutely” continue to host similar peaceful protests, as he believes the gatherings have been gratefully received by those in his community tired of lockdowns.
“This is the land of the free and the home of the brave and there are thousands and thousands of people in our community who would rather not suffer in isolation and come out to sing and express their gratitude because we believe that there is immunity in community, but there is desolation in isolation,” he said.
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