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About 300 medical freedom advocates gathered today in front of the U.S. Supreme Court for the “Rally to Reclaim Free Speech” as the justices heard oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri, a landmark case that could shape the future of free speech in America.
The rally, organized by Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and other health freedom groups, featured a host of speakers who told the crowd that government-directed social media censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic violated the First Amendment and led to a dangerous suppression of dissenting voices on public health issues.
Speakers included Dr. Pierre Kory, Dr. Paul Marik, Dr. Christina Parks, attorneys Sujata Gibson, Tricia Lindsay and CHD General Counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg, Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, filmmaker Mikki Willis, Highwire host Del Bigtree, Murthy v. Missouri plaintiffs Dr. Aaron Kheriaty and Jim Hoft, Brownstone Institute’s Jeffrey Tucker, activist Amy Bohn, CHD Vice President Laura Bono and Michael Kane, among others.
‘If we win, it will solidify every American’s right to free speech’
Speakers at today’s rally emphasized the potential impact of Murthy v. Missouri on the future of free speech in America.
“This is a historic day,” said Laura Bono, CHD executive vice president. She stressed the importance of today’s hearing on Kennedy v. Biden — the closely related government censorship case in which CHD is a plaintiff.
“If we win, it will solidify every American’s right to free speech,” Bono said, “[And] not just ours. These cases will shape the future of free speech in America and the world.”
Rosenberg, CHD’s attorney for Kennedy v. Biden, said, “Free speech, one of those cornerstones of our democracy, hangs in the balance today.” She clarified that the case is about “the government impermissibly bullying and coercing social media to do what the government itself cannot do to tamp down protected speech.”
Lindsay, a New York attorney who has long been involved in COVID-19-related litigation, compared the case to the suppression of religious freedom in colonial America.
“Today we stand on the precipice of change,” she said. “We stand at the crossroads between tyranny and democracy, freedom and literal slavery, dictatorship and republic.”
Veteran civil rights attorney Gibson called on the Supreme Court justices to uphold the First Amendment and restore the balance of power between the government and the people, or else “our American experiment is over.”
‘We know you got the scientists to lie’
Many of the speakers argued that the COVID-19 pandemic was used to usher in a nefarious agenda, with the government, media and Big Tech companies pushing a false narrative and silencing dissenting voices around vaccine mandates, lockdowns and other pandemic measures.
Bowden, a physician from Texas, described how the government “hijacked our exam rooms, hijacked your right to bodily autonomy and informed consent” by dictating who would get treated and how, without ever treating a single COVID-19 patient themselves.
“Reasonable scientists with good intentions … would have engaged in debate with those they disagreed with,” Bowden said. “But there was far too much invested in a pre-determined plan for that to happen.”
“You lied,” Bigree told the crowd. “We know you got the scientists to lie,” he said, referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci and the suppression of the lab-leak theory.
“What they told you was false,” said Marik, a co-founder of the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). “We know the 6-foot rule was a lie. Social isolation was a lie. The lockdowns were a lie. We know that the vaccines are not safe and effective,” he added.
“Truth is treason in an empire of lies,” said Bohn, co-founder and president of Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids. She warned people in the freedom movement not to become complacent because “complacency is the quickest way to get to tyranny.”
Tucker said:
“The ambition of every tyrant, from the beginning of time … is to curate the public mind, right? … to control what we think by giving us only certain kinds of information so that we arrive at certain conclusions so that we’ll be more loyal subjects to put up with whatever happens after that.”
‘One of the most censored physicians in this country’
Rally speakers addressed the suppression of early treatment options and censorship of concerns about vaccine safety.
Kory, a critical care physician and co-founder of the FLCCC, shared his experience of being censored and attacked for advocating for the use of ivermectin as an early treatment for COVID-19.
“I consider myself to be one of the most censored physicians in this country throughout COVID,” he said.
Noting the suppression of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, Kory said, “Censorship is silence … [because] you have no idea what you are not hearing.”
Marik, another co-founder of the FLCCC, emphasized the importance of early treatment options and the need for open scientific debate. He alleged that 18 million Americans are still experiencing adverse events from the mRNA vaccines, and over 500,000 were killed by them.
Bigtree criticized the media for pushing the narrative that the COVID-19 vaccines were “95% effective at stopping transmission,” despite the lack of evidence from clinical trials.
He also highlighted the increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis associated with the mRNA vaccines, citing a recent study of 99 million people showing numerous adverse events that the mainstream media described as “rare” but that he said were “6 times the amount” (in the case of myocarditis) of normal rates.
Rizza Islam, one of the “Disinformation Dozen,” criticized those offering “joints for jabs” and other incentives while they censored posts saying “that natural immunity is superior to that of vaccine-induced immunity.”
“They allow poison in the water, they put poison in the air — and all of a sudden they care about your health?” he asked. “Does that make sense?”
‘Medical mafia intended to silence me’
Parks, a cellular and molecular biologist, stressed the importance of truth and transparency in the pursuit of scientific knowledge and public health. She criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for becoming “the determiner of truth for social media platforms.”
Parks said that by suppressing alternative views and telling social media companies to remove content they deemed false, the CDC was effectively acting as a “god” and an “arbiter of truth,” while at the same time, it was leading people astray with misinformation.
Willis, a filmmaker and activist, shared his experience of being censored and de-platformed for creating the “Plandemic” documentary series, which questioned the official narrative surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I know a little bit about having my word shut down,” Willis said. “Some call me the most censored filmmaker on the planet, and I take that as a badge of honor.”
Bowden described how she was targeted and censored by the “medical mafia” for speaking out against vaccine mandates and sharing her experiences treating COVID-19 patients with alternative therapies.
“The medical mafia intended to silence me, to make an example out of me,” she said. “And indeed, I know their actions dissuaded other physicians from speaking up.”
Hoft, a plaintiff in Murthy v. Missouri and founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, pointed to the term “cognitive infrastructure” that attorneys found during discovery.
“Think of how Orwellian that is,” he said. “They’re actually using a term like that to describe that they have the right … to control what we think as human beings.”
‘We will see victory together’
The rally speakers emphasized the need for people from all walks of life to come together and resist government overreach.
Bohn likened the health freedom movement to the majestic redwood trees of her home state. “Do you realize that these trees have stood there for thousands of years and they’ve weathered every single storm?”
She highlighted the “intertwined root system” of the redwoods, where “if one tree is weak and needs nourishment, the rest of the trees are there” and said that this “is such a powerful message for us” as activists.
Lindsay, a civil rights attorney from New York, echoed Bohn’s call for unity, calling America “the shining star of the world” because of its commitment to freedom.
Regardless of the outcome of today’s hearing, Lindsay said, the justices’ ruling “will spark a cultural revolution that this country has not seen in modern times.”
Tucker warned that even if the Supreme Court sides with free speech advocates in Murthy v. Missouri, the U.S. Department of Justice might not merit our confidence in upholding the law. He added:
“But in the end, here’s what we’ve learned: It’s the public mind, it’s citizens’ activism, it’s people who care, people whose hearts are in it, whose passion is for liberty and for freedom, an uncompromised demand for all sorts of freedoms — no matter the slings and arrows, no matter what comes at you.”
Willis emphasized the importance of courage in the face of adversity, drawing parallels between the current struggle for medical freedom and the hero’s journey in mythological stories.
“When we wake up to realize that there’s no hero out there other than the hero in here,” he said, “then maybe we’ll feel the deep gratitude for getting to be the generation that is faced with one of the greatest challenges of all time — and knowing that we will see victory together.”
Watch the ‘Rally to Reclaim Free Speech’:
