Thread by @bauthorfowler

I went to the #RoyalAlexandriaHospital today to support the hospital staff being #harassed by #AntiVaxxers. I stayed until shortly after 3 pm but the time I was there was... Eventful.
LONG THREAD

#SupportHealthCareWorkers
#CanadianFrontlineNurses
#AbLeg #RAH #Antimaskers #PPC

First, we met THIS "gentleman," who I will call Mr. PPC because he showed up in a grey convertible with a #PPC sign on the dashboard, and a decal at the top of the windshield saying Wildrose. He parked on the grass and came out with a megaphone straight for us.

Mr. PPC here gave us three different sob stories about a cousin who relapsed into opioids, a brother-in-law who shot himself, and a third person I don't remember, who died.

Mr. PPC was very adamant (yet completely unclear) that all three deaths were a result of "the lockdown."

The organizer of the counterprotest, who I'll call Mr. Resist (he wore a shirt saying "Resistance is Awesome") was having NONE of this.

Mr. Resist got his own megaphone, called Mr. PPC "Ryan" or "Bryan" something, & called him a domestic abuser.

AGAIN, I'm ashamed of my name.

Mr. PPC responded not just with threats to sue Mr. Resist for slander, but also four threats of violence.

Mr. Resist repeated his allegations, the rest of us told Mr. PPC to go home, and a man in a suit came up to ask who's convertible was parked on his grass.

Now, #DomesticAbuse is a bloody serious allegation and I never met either man until today.

That said... Maybe don't respond by threatening #violence? Mr. PPC also got pretty confrontational with two counter-protesting women at this point. Not exactly the best look.

Between Mr. Resist repeating his allegation, the rest of us telling Mr. PPC to go home, and a man in a suit wanting his car off the grass, Mr. PPC was quickly sent packing. And I realized I missed my chance to get a picture of his license plate.

This is my best shot of his car

Here's another shot of Mr. PPC (& his lovely car). I don't know who the blue-shirted man is, he just showed up and took pictures.

I don't think he's a counter-protester. I don't remember seeing him after this and he seemed to be the ONE person Mr. PPC was NOT aggressive towards.

Did I mention Mr. PPC said we all should use #Ivermectin? Because the last thing he said before driving off (sadly he came back) was that we should use Ivermectin. Got a good laugh from the two women heckling him.

I wish I could make this up, I'd be a best selling writer by now.

While all this happened, the #Mob of #Harrasers gathered outside the entrance of #RAH. Not a lot at first, but sadly, they got bigger.

Guess who's back? Back again? PPC's back. Hide the Ivermectin. That's him in the 4th shot, with the black jacket and purple (PPC?) shirt.

I got to figure out where you get megaphones, the #Harrassers had THREE of them.

One was used by Mr. PPC himself, another by a woman screaming about how the only country standing up to the "new world order" was #Belarus. This is a thing that happened and I was there to hear it.

The third megaphone user was a woman claiming she was a health care worker (she specified what kind but I forgot) who, because she "questioned things," lost her job. My counter-protesters found this very hilarious because they immediately drowned her out with loud laughter.

Getting fired sucks and I speak from experience. Having said that, if you trust conspiracy people over the internet more than your fellow healthcare workers, maybe you shouldn't be a health care worker in the first place.

Mr. Resist dueled Mr. PPC via megaphone, with Mr. Resist calling Mr. PPC "ryan/bryan" something and repeating allegations of domestic abuse,

Mr. PPC responded that he (PPC) was really named "Phil Pringle," and that Mr. Resist only wore a mask and glasses to avoid a slander suit.

Now, I don't know either Mr. Resist OR Mr. PPC before today, but personally, I'll trust the one who ISN'T

-Endorsing #MaximeBernier,
-Telling people to take #Ivermectin,
-Leading a mob of #AntiVaxxers,
-Making up stories of (unnamed) relatives who died from "the lockdown."

One thing I noticed in my photos. Anyone getting a mixed message, here? Because, make no mistake, the guys on that side of the street were the #ANTIVAXXERS. So the guy with the CORRECTLY
spelled sign was either lost, trying to confuse people, or is a damned hero.

Dammit, #Twitter, I am NOT done. Anyway, this is the woman who claimed she lost her job for "asking questions."

Note the "needle nazi" sign behind her, it will become important later.

One last shot of Mr. PPC. This is the best picture I could get of the logo on his jacket (the one saying tradition). Thought it might be important.

There was a doggy, on OUR side (the side SUPPORTING the #healthcareworkers). Their human said I could pet them but when I tried they weren't interested. They didn't bark or anything, just turned away. Rebuffed me, it's fine.

Photo taken from behind to avoid doxxing their human.

There was a weird guy who crossed over from the #Antivaxxer side and started taking pictures from his phone. He had a #ZZTopBeard but no mask. Almost all of us were masked (pandemic, you know).

He didn't say or do anything aggressive, but I snapped a photo of him just in case.

One guy who ALSO crossed the road was this "gentleman."

Remember the "Needle Nazis" placard, above? That's the other side of his "vaccines kill" sign. The lady (and damn hero) with the blue sign is trying to block the view of his from oncoming traffic.

These two twirled around each other, to the point where the "vaccines kill" guy actually stepped out in traffic to get past her. Fortunately, for the oncoming traffic, he was smart enough to get back on the sidewalk.

While the woman in the picture kept trying to block him, I shouted at him to "Go Home."

He said, "I WILL, because unlike YOU, tomorrow I have to go to work."

Personally, I hope these photos fix that.

Both she and I kept in his face and a third counterprotester joined in. Eventually, he had enough and started shouting for police.

The #police, who were on the anti-vaxxer side and completely ignored Mr. Resist when he informed them of the threats by Mr. PPC, escorted him back.

If you're wondering how I got the close-up shots of Ms. Lost her job and Mr. PPC above, it's a really dumb story.

See, I really wished I got a photo of Mr. PPC's licence plate, and since he came back ALMOST as soon as he left, I went looking for his car, thinking it was nearby.

Well, it probably was, but so was about a hundred others. Grey convertibles stand out less than you'd think.

So I guess this is it, my first counter-protest. I stayed until shortly after three, then went home (I'm from out of town).
#abhealth #ableg
#supportOurHealthCareWorkers