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O’Brian Pastrana stood on Capitol Hill on Wednesday carrying a story he says changed the course of his life. The 39-year-old former New York City firefighter, now medically disabled, traveled to Washington, D.C., to tell lawmakers about a vaccine injury he sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic that left him permanently unable to work.
“As difficult as this is for me, a lot of people think they can’t speak out,” Pastrana said. “If I have to be here to show others the consequences for this by explaining what happened to me, then I’m more than willing to do this if it leads to change.”
Pastrana was among lawmakers, military veterans and health freedom advocates who gathered in Washington for Children’s Health Defense’s (CHD) inaugural Advocacy Day, an event focused on vaccine safety, medical autonomy and government accountability for pandemic-era policies.
‘Your children are your wealth’
For many participants, the event represented an opportunity to speak out against governmental overreach.
Actor and comedian Rob Schneider told The Defender that voicing his opinion in Hollywood about pandemic protocols in the U.S. came at both a personal and professional cost — but it was worth it.
“There are only so many times you can be confronted by injustice and say, ‘I’m not going to be involved,’ before you lose your soul,” he said. “When you see injustice and see American children being harmed by products that the parents were told were safe, and then seeing those parents being shunned, that was an injustice I could not ignore.”
Schneider, a father of three, said protecting children should remain the movement’s central focus.
“The real money is the health of your children,” he said. “Your children are your wealth.”
Former Major League Baseball All-Star Noah Syndergaard told The Defender that the choice to vaccinate should not be ordered by the government.
“It should be up to the individual,” he said.
‘The biggest government scandal in my lifetime’
Lawmakers and advocates spoke to what they viewed as Big Pharma’s responsibility in reported vaccine injuries throughout the coronavirus epidemic.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) called the damage caused by COVID-19 vaccines “the biggest government scandal in my lifetime. Hundreds of thousands have died and they didn’t have to.”
Referencing the report, “Unmasked: How Biden Health Officials Purposely Turned a Blind Eye Toward COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Signals,” Johnson said research showed negligence surrounding injection harms. He said those dangers were hidden by an “analytical algorithm.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said vaccine manufacturers need to face repercussions for their role in hurting citizens.
“I think Big Pharma has to be responsible for its products,” he said.
CHD CEO Mary Holland mirrored those concerns, arguing that the companies behind vaccines have been shielded from accountability.
“The immunity that has been given to the pharmaceutical industry has been impunity,” she said. “They have no responsibility for killing people. Disabling people. And causing disease. That is unconstitutional. It’s un-American.”
“Harming babies, harming children in the name of anything is simply a spiritual wrong and we’re here to stop that,” she added.
‘I just pray we learn lessons from this’
A screening and discussion of “Duty to Disobey,” a documentary examining the experiences of U.S. military service members who challenged COVID-19 vaccine mandates on religious, medical and constitutional grounds, played on Capitol Hill as veterans watched.
The movie, backed by CHD, is scheduled to be shown one night only, June 30, in more than 130 theaters.
Among those featured in the film is R. Davis Younts, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and lawyer, who said he witnessed the emotional toll vaccine mandates took on members of the armed forces.
“I have service members that I spoke to that committed suicide over the way they were treated,” he said. “I just pray we learn lessons from this.”
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Former U.S. Army Chaplain James Link, who was also interviewed in the movie, said the COVID-19 vaccine altered his career and health. After initial resistance to getting the shot, he said he faced an Army Regulation 15-6 investigation. This inquiry into misconduct and policy violations by commanders led him to eventually get the vaccine.
“It caused me to get a pacemaker and paralysis of my legs,” he said. “It was a long recovery.”
CHD Military Chapter Director Pam Long read a statement by Navy Commander Robert Green, author of “Defending the Constitution behind Enemy Lines: A Story of Hope for Those Who Love Liberty,” signed by 230 military members.
“While implementing the COVID-19 mandates, both civilian and uniformed military leaders broke the law, trampled constitutional rights, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling medical experimentation, and suppressed the free exercise of religion,” it read.
“If we do not exact meaningful accountability for these crimes, we will doom future generations to a similar fate.”
Related articles in The Defender
- ‘Duty to Disobey’: New Film Exposes Fallout From Military COVID Vaccine Mandates
- Sen. Ron Johnson: There Used to Be ‘Serious Journalism’ on Vaccine Injuries — But COVID Vaccine Cancer Risks Still Being Suppressed
- Sen. Ron Johnson: Emails Show FDA Ignored ‘Overwhelming Evidence of Harm’ From COVID Vaccines
- Sen. Rand Paul Demands U.S. Intelligence Records on Fauci, Baric and COVID Origins
- 10 Ex-Employees Sue Hospital Over COVID Vaccine Mandate, Alleging Civil Rights Discrimination
- ‘Chilling’ Decision: Judge Rules Against Firefighter Injured by COVID Vaccine After Employer Rejected Medical Exemption
