PROTESTERS gathered outside Vancouver's City Hall yesterday, appearing to flout lockdown rules and slam the quarantine as "martial law".
Footage from the apparent protest shows a small group of people brandishing posters, one emblazoned with the words "fake news".
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6 Dan Dicks pictured with protesters - who don't appear to be social distancing Credit: Dan Dicks
In the video, shot and shared by Dan Dicks of Press for Truth - described as an "alternative media outlet" - Dicks says the group have already been approached by one man who acted violently and allegedly tried to break a protesters camera.
Similar outrage has been seen online, with some Twitter users branding them "#COVIDIOTS".
Speaking to the protesters, Mr Dicks urges people not to "drink the Kool-Aid" and praises the group for not being " whipped into the fear state by the government".
Speaking to Sun Online the Press for Truth founder said he was in attendance to document the event "as a reporter".
One man brands the virus "overblown," another claims the pandemic is a "b***s*** lie".
Mr Dicks adds that he is planing to speak to David Icke in the coming days, a former footballer and conspiracy theorist, who in a recent YouTube live stream claimed 5G towers and coronavirus are connected.
He said: "If 5G continues and reaches where they want to take it, human life as we know it is over... so people have to make a decision."
It comes following a number of 5G masts being burned down with calls for more to also be destroyed in the aftermath following Icke's interview.
In a Facebook post from someone who appeared to be in attendance at the protest 5G theories are mentioned several times and conspiracy videos shared to the comments, although Mr Dicks' video doesn't cover that particular theory.
In an interview with social justice campaigner Susan Stanfield, who Dicks says helped to organise the protest, Ms Stanfield says the lockdown is "destroying the economy".
She also designed a yellow "no more lockdowns" poster calling for global protests.
Susan tells the reporter: "For me, I'm here to end the economic lockdown, we're all suffering financially and it has to end."
She adds she plans to take legal action against the government of British Columbia for economic fallout due to the lockdown, telling viewers: "Someone has to take responsibility for what has happened to the economy".
One man can be seen at the protest donning a surgical mask and holding a poster claiming: "Stupid-20 is 1000 xs more dangerous than Convid-19."
When asked about the number of people dying from the virus, one protester says: "People die every day".
Dan Dicks adds a clarification that "people die with coronavirus, not of coronavirus".
He adds: "They're clearly fudging the numbers".
Another woman asked why she's there tells him: "It's dumb to be an inside cat."
The protest comes as a number of bizarre conspiracy theories sweep the globe amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Some online crackpots have claimed the virus is the work of the US military, while others allege the outbreak is a "hoax" designed to stop Brexit.
Experts across the globe have blasted the spread of such theories, which threaten to "incite violence" among panicking citizens.
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"Conspiracy theories can be very harmful for society," researchers Daniel Jolley, of Northumbria University, and Pia Lamberty, of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, wrote in The Conversation last week.
"Not only can they influence people's health choices, they can interfere with how different groups relate to each other.
"They also increase hostility and violence towards those who are perceived to be 'conspiring'."
6 One protester in a mask holds up a scathing poster
6 Mr Dicks says the group were approached by someone who reacted violently to their protest
bacan9 on April 13rd, 2020 at 16:48 UTC »
It's like 10 people in that gathering out of the 700,000+ people living here. What a BS article
BiggC on April 13rd, 2020 at 16:17 UTC »
There's like 12 people in that photo. Why give them any attention?
MaximumSink on April 13rd, 2020 at 12:52 UTC »
Why does the media give the lunatic fringe a platform, give these clowns a ticket and make them disperse. This is a small group of people with a limited grasp on reality.
Conspiracy theories are a nice rabbit hole to explore but at the end of the journey you need to come back to the real world.
Edit: well this certainly escalated beyond what I expected, guess I'll just keep my morning dump musings to myself from now on.