#covidisover

Here’s a few tips on dealing with police or health inspectors if your state is enforcing restrictions on gatherings.

1. Who is actually enforcing?

Many county sheriff offices have declared that they will not answer calls about gatherings tomorrow. Check for any such declarations from your county sheriff or other law enforcement. If they have not said either way, it’s good to be prepared but I wouldn’t be overly concerned - most police departments view these restrictions as a waste of their time.

If a public health department says they’ll be sending inspectors, you’re golden. Just don’t answer the door. They have no ability to enter, and you can ask them to leave. You may even be able to call the cops on them if they try to be difficult!

If one of the above situations applies to you, you have nothing to worry about. Have a great Thanksgiving!

2. If a police officer arrives, do NOT let them in.

RECORD. EVERYTHING. GoPros are great for recording interactions, but try to make sure it’s backed up on the cloud.  If possible, live stream to periscope or another streaming platform and use the hashtags #Thanksgiving and #COVIDCops to make it easier for people to see your video. Live streaming means that A) if the cops seize your phone the recording is backed up and B) people can see what’s happening and respond in real time (social media companies can kill live streams, but usually not before a lot of people see them!)

Without a warrant or probable cause, they cannot enter. If the police arrive at your door, knock, and announce themselves, you can do one of the following:

- Without opening the door, ask them to slide their warrant under the door. Hint: they don’t have one. You can also ask them to show their badge in the window or peephole and ask for their name and badge number (write it down!). Once they admit they have no warrant, ask them to leave your property. Know your property lines - usually your property ends either at the sidewalk or a little before, depending on whether there are utility poles or boxes. Make sure they actually leave your property. 

- Have a buddy go with you to the door. Your buddy opens the door, you step outside, and your buddy locks the door behind you. Establish a signal between you and your buddy for when to unlock, such as a distinct pattern of knocks or a code phrase. Your buddy should not unlock the door unless you give a signal. 

Now you may speak with the officer face to face without them being able to walk into your home (officers could try to argue that an open or even unlocked door equals an invitation inside). 

When speaking to an officer face to face, follow these guidelines:

- Keep your hands in front of you and empty, unless holding a phone or recording device. Don’t put them in your pockets or behind your back. If possible (and this one is hard for me), minimize gestures or “talking with your hands.”

- Stand at a 45 degree angle to the officer. Facing them directly can be perceived as “squaring up” and a potential threat. 

- If at any point you need to walk past an officer, walk in front of them rather than behind them if possible. 

- Give the officer space (this isn’t just for COVID, it’s to avoid them thinking you’re going to try to take their gun)

- Keep your voice level and calm. If they escalate, do not match them. 

- Avoid dramatic language or insults. The goal is to persuade them that nothing bad is happening and they can move along. 

Either way, do not answer any questions about the number of guests present and/or households represented in your home. Do not admit to anything. 

Instead, ask them the following questions:

“What brings you here today, officers?” (Likely: we received a report that you are violating the governor’s executive order)

“What evidence do you have that I am violating the order?” (Your neighbor called us / we see x number of cars / etc.)

“Please leave my property.” (If they comply, thank them and wait until they’ve left before giving the signal and going inside. If not, continue...)

“You will not be allowed on my property without a warrant. If you do not have a warrant, please leave now.” (Again, they should leave at this point, but they might try to ask you questions. Remember, do not answer those questions.)

“I would like to speak with your supervisor in person.” (Most states/cities/counties require a supervisor to actually come and speak with you in person if you request it. This is very irritating to both officers and supervisors, and often the officer will decide you’re not worth the hassle. If they won’t have a supervisor come out, ask to speak with one over the phone.)

To the supervisor: “Your officers (name(s) and badge number(s) are on my property without my permission or a valid warrant naming the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. They have been asked twice to leave and have not complied. Please instruct them to leave.” (If the supervisor does not order them to cooperate, guess what - you can ask to speak to their supervisor!)

3. If a police officer arrives with a warrant and/or tries to arrest you or your guests:

- Record. EVERYTHING. See #2, and add #WrongfulArrest to your livestream. 

- Call a lawyer. Consider identifying one today who you could call and writing down their number. Make sure a few people have the number - police will take away phones and papers if you are arrested. Look for lawyers who specialize in free speech, as freedom of assembly is a 1st Amendment issue. Give the lawyer any info and recordings you have - if you have security cameras or a video doorbell, don’t forget about those!

Most important: The chances of the cops showing up to your gathering are extremely low. The purpose of this post is to give you a plan to follow so that you are prepared for the possibility of a police interaction. Most likely your gathering will be uninterrupted, but things tend to go wrong in police interactions when people panic.

How does someone even propose this idea with a straight face?

Also, this poor kid:

Thanks to @fairytalesanddragons for bringing this to my attention!

Johns Hopkins University published and then quickly deleted this, but thankfully the Wayback Machine saved it. It shows that COVID has had almost no effect on the total number of deaths in the U.S. this year, or on the percentage of total deaths in each age group (aka old people are not dying at a higher rate than they did last year).

Which is what I’ve been saying - we aren’t seeing a sharp increase in deaths, we’re simply seeing a re-classification of the deaths we anticipated this year.

If you’re immunocompromised, any cold, flu, viral pneumonia, or other virus could kill you just as easily as COVID. That means for the people who died “from COVID” this year, chances are that without COVID it simply would have been something else. 

So far, we are actually on track to have FEWER deaths in 2020 than we did in 2019 - and that’s even with the sharp increase in suicides and deaths of despair that we’ve seen due to lockdowns and economic chaos. 

Which means all of this has been propaganda and statistical manipulation (also known as lies) from the very beginning. There is no pandemic. There is no plague. 

(Tweet)

It’s about time!

If you’re in/near Austin and you CAN make it, it’s at the South steps of the Texas Capitol. People supporting medical freedom will be wearing red.