"I was insulted. I was berated. All the while, I was there to tell THEIR story."

[Dennis Donovan]

Link to tweet

Kevin Vesey ✔@KevinVesey

I'll probably never forget what happened today.
I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic.
All the while, I was there to tell THEIR story. Here's the finished product.

Embedded video

6:04 PM - May 14, 2020

I hate these people.

[ms liberty]

1. Wow. Just wow. K&R

Those people are crazy.

[mnmoderatedem]

2. "I got hydroxychloroquine, I'm fine"

these people are a special kind of stupid. They must take a pill or something.

[keithbvadu2]

24. More bleach cocktails, more lysol injections for him.

More bleach cocktails, more lysol injections for him.

[samnsara]

3. they are literally The Walking Dead!

[Fyrefox]

4. Pretzel logic...

Trump supporters feel that you don’t need logic, reason, or common courtesy if you are loud and angry. As for wearing a mask or social distancing? Why, that’s a sign of weakness and cowardice!

[oldsoftie]

8. Thats the whole thing. If Trump wore a mask every one of these pricks would be too.

[dameatball]

5. Time to understand that these are no longer protests. They are provocations. These groups are

actively seeking confrontation. If the entire country were to reopen today I think many of these people would still be on the streets tomorrow, all the way until November. No source, just opinion.

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. I was just saying to my husband, a protest with weapons is not a protest. It's an angry mob.

[Mercurian]

13. They are Trump's Brownshirts

It was never about protesting, it was always about intimidation. Those who oppose Hair Furor must be silenced.

[dameatball]

14. Welcome to DU.

[lastlib]

20. On Facebook I called them the "Beer-belly Brownshirts (in camo)"

[Laelth]

30. If they're carrying guns ...

... I call them Vanilla ISIS.

-Laelth

[Native]

6. The "Hang Fauci" sign.

[Pacifist Patriot]

9. In my opinion, he deserves a visit from the FBI.

Threatening a federal official violates federal law and can get you some prison time.

[Native]

12. Like that's gonna happen! He'll probably get a presidential medal of freedom instead.

[Pacifist Patriot]

32. Sadly true.

[DeeDeeNY]

10. OMG This was in my neighborhood. I heard police sirens but didn't know what it was.

Very scary.

[UCmeNdc]

11. Trump's 'Merica!

[speaknow]

15. speaknow

Mr. Vesey,
I don't know about those folk being right wing, but out
there is "The Lan of the Klan! They don't like masks
they like HOOD'S ! Didn't you take note of, how white
they all were.

[2naSalit]

16. And many

may well be dead by July 4.

[Danmel]

17. This happened 2 miles from my home

The group, "Setauket Patriots" is from a town about 20 miles east of here. Why they chose this location is unknown. The vast majority of my neighbors are furious and mortified that they chose to "protest" here. Regardless, these are scary, ignorant, hateful people. They are everywhere. If the purists among us as Democrats dont vote for Biden, we are truly f*cked and not in a good way.

[wnylib]

33. I'm on the other side of the state

near Buffalo. In NY state, these demonstrations are about political opposition to Cuomo for the next gubernatorial campaign.

Congressman, Tom Reed (R), from the 23rd district (western NY) will run in the next campaign for governor. He ran for Congress in 2010 as a Tea Party Republican. Ultra RWer. Claims he has nothing to do with Tea Party politics anymore. Not true. He has been promoting a "moderate" self-image lately as a member of a bi-partisan group in Congress. It's total BS. He votes with the extreme right well over 90% of the time. Votes for Trump policies and agenda over 98% of the time.

But he is a smooth talker. Soft voice, big smile. Very skilled at twisting facts to sound like the opposite of what they are. Comes across as a friendly nice guy if you haven't followed his voting record.

His goal right now, with help from RW allies, is to paint Cuomo as a bad guy. Notice in the video the reference to "King Cuomo." This protest has zero to do with coronavirus and everything to do with promoting RW politics and trying to tag Dems with negative images.

So in each state where these protests occur, they are actually political rallies against Dems that Trump and his followers want to discredit and defeat. The followers are
egged on by the demonstration promoters with self-images of patriotism for opposing mandatory shutdowns as limits on American freedoms.

[DeeDeeNY]

34. You must live right near me

I’m a little less than 2 miles away. This is the 2nd time in the last few weeks they’ve used this location. The Hang Fauci sign was especially unsettling.

[ALBliberal]

18. And yet a good many wore masks? What kind of logic is that?

Tells me some are there just to provoke and intimidate. Hypocrites.

[LittleGirl]

26. It's to hide their face.

They may be employed and don’t want to get fired.

They are still freaking idiots.

[Demonaut]

19. Charles Darwin has this under control

[lastlib]

22. But a LOT of good folks will get hurt or killed....

...before Mr. Darwin has his say.

[Demonaut]

23. but there is no amount of reason that will placate them or their leaders

it's dark but true

[gratuitous]

21. I think they told their story very well

Hateful, ignorant, frightened people trying to reconcile their unwavering faith in Donald Trump with the indisputable evidence of his failure staring them in the face. Somebody has to shoulder the blame for 80,000+ deaths, and it isn't going to be their marmalade messiah.

[keithbvadu2]

25. Snowflakes

[BlancheSplanchnik]

27. Every single one of them a giant animated turd.

But that “Don’t worry I’ve got chloroquine” guy really needs to be flushed.

[marble falls]

28. The basket of deplorables.

[Hav]

29. Then don't tell their story anymore

A minority is partially responsible for irresponsible policy decisions that will kill people. They are given more power by the media than the silent majority who cannot take it to the streets.

[Takket]

31. The lesson here is these people don't deserve a forum in the first place

These AstroTurf protests are a few hundred people in each state. Let’s say 1000 in all 50 states. So 50000 people? Why the hell is such a TINY minority, roughly 1 out of 7000 Americans, getting this constant and BREATHLESS attention from the media?