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Mayor Bronson defends use of Holocaust imagery by mask mandate opponents during heated second night of Anchorage Assembly hearing



Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information from a statement issued by Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson on Thursday addressing his comments on the Star of David worn by mask ordinance opponents Wednesday night.

Opponents of a mask ordinance wore yellow Stars of David and shouted at Anchorage Assembly members, and four people were arrested during a second night of heated public testimony on a proposed mask ordinance for the city.

The testimony stretched until midnight and the Assembly did not vote on the ordinance. Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

As Alaska grapples with its worst COVID-19 surge yet, the ordinance would require masks in indoor public spaces and outdoors at large events.

Many spoke out against the proposal, which has drawn intense pushback from Mayor Dave Bronson, who has pledged not to enact any mandates to slow the spread of COVID-19. But many others urged the Assembly to move forward with a mask mandate.

Also during Wednesday’s meeting, Bronson defended the use of yellow Stars of David by people opposed to the mask ordinance.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday’s meetings were marked with tension and frequent outbursts from the crowd inside the packed Assembly chambers. Within the first half hour Wednesday, two people were escorted from the chambers by police for creating disruptions. A man was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct and was also carrying a concealed gun, according to Anchorage Police Sgt. Ken Bushue. He also faces a charge of misconduct involving a weapon, according to an APD spokesman. A woman was charged with disorderly conduct, and two other men face trespassing charges.

State officials last week activated crisis standards of care for hospitals across Alaska. Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage — the state’s largest hospital — announced this month it was rationing care. The city’s hospitals have struggled with limited resources as well as overburdened and exhausted staff, and doctors have had to make difficult decisions about prioritizing patients for treatment and care.

During the first night of the public meeting on Tuesday, Bronson — who has staunchly opposed any COVID-19 restrictions — spoke out against the ordinance, calling it “reckless and ill conceived.”

“I oppose this ordinance because it is based on inconclusive science, because it is bad policy, and because it is an unconstitutional infringement on the freedom guaranteed to every Anchorage citizen by our federal and state constitutions,” Bronson said Tuesday. “But most of all, I oppose this ordinance because it pits neighbor against neighbor, shop owner against customer and friend against friend.”


He also blamed Providence’s vaccine requirement for its staffing issues.

In a letter sent to Assembly members on Wednesday, Providence CEO Preston Simmons rejected Bronson’s claim and declared the hospital’s support for the mask ordinance. He said that the hospital has not yet experienced any staff leaving due to the requirement, which does not go into effect until mid-October.



Outside of the Loussac Library on Tuesday, 535 white flags representing the lives of Alaskans who have lost their lives to COVID-19 stood in a patch of grass. Handmade signs depicting messages of gratitude for health care workers also lined the library property along 36th Avenue and Barrow Street.

On Wednesday, both displays were gone.


Some people in attendance at the meetings wore yellow Stars of David with the words “Do not comply” to show their opposition to a mask ordinance. Anchorage resident Christine Hill, who unsuccessfully ran for the Assembly in 2019 and 2020, had printed out the stars at home and was handing them out for others to wear during the meeting. Hill said she wore a star to draw a comparison to the oppression and genocide of Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

“We’re going down that same road, what’s happening now, taking more and more of our freedom away. And that’s what’s happening. That’s what’s frightening,” Hill said.

The use of yellow Stars of David and other Holocaust imagery by people opposed to mask and vaccine mandates has proliferated across the country during the pandemic, drawing condemnation from the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish organizations.

Assembly member Forrest Dunbar, who is Jewish, on Wednesday spoke out against the use of the Star of David, reading a letter he received from his rabbi, Abram Goodstein.

“It was heart-wrenching for me when I noticed individuals were wearing yellow Stars of David, mimicking my Jewish ancestors who perished during the Holocaust,” Dunbar read, quoting Goodstein. “For myself and most Jews, seeing the yellow Star of David on someone’s chest elicits the same feeling as seeing a swastika on a flag or the SS insignia on a uniform. It is a symbol of hate that reminds us Jews of the terror and horror we suffered. I believe it is a constitutional right to protest for your values. But I request that you do not use symbols that diminish the 6 million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust.”

[Alaska legislator compares Biden to Hitler, shares link to Holocaust-denial website]

Later in the evening, a man sitting in the front row near Dunbar held up one of the stars and pointed at the assemblyman.

During testimony, a woman who said she is a physical therapist testified against the mask ordinance while wearing one of the Stars of David. She espoused beliefs that natural immunity and ivermectin are the best defenses against COVID-19. (The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cautioned people not to take ivermectin to treat COVID-19, given that it’s not approved for that use by the FDA.)

Bronson questioned whether she felt her license and board certifications were under threat due to her beliefs. He then spoke about the stars:

“We’ve referenced the Star of David quite a bit here tonight, but there was a formal message that came out within Jewish culture about that and the message was, ‘never again.’ That’s an ethos. And that’s what that star really means is, ‘We will not forget, this will never happen again.’ And I think us borrowing that from them is actually a credit to them,” Bronson said.


In reply to an earlier question asking if Bronson supported testifiers wearing stars, the mayor’s spokesman said in an emailed statement that “the mayor’s expectation is that people show respect to all cultures and religions.”

On Thursday, Bronson released a statement saying that he should have “chosen his words more carefully,” adding: “I want to apologize for any perception that my statements support or compare what happened to the Jewish people in Nazi Germany.”

At another point in the meeting, a man was escorted out after he called Assembly Vice Chair Chris Constant, who is gay, an obscene word often used in homophobic contexts. Most of the crowd in the chambers cheered at the insult. That man was later arrested when he tried to return to the room.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anc...t-second-night-of-anchorage-assembly-meeting/

 

THE COVID PILL
'CUTS HOSPITALIZATION, DEATH IN HALF'

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a potential leap forward in the global fight against the pandemic, drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental pill for people sick with COVID-19 reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half.

That could add a whole new easy-to-use weapon to an arsenal that already includes the COVID-19 vaccine.

The company said it will soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize the pill’s use. A decision from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could come within weeks after that, and the drug, if it gets the OK, could be distributed quickly soon afterward.

If cleared, it would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19. All other therapies now authorized in the U.S. require an IV or injection. A pill taken at home, by contrast, would ease pressure on hospitals and could also help curb outbreaks in poorer and more remote corners of the world that don’t have access to the more expensive infusion therapies.

“This would allow us to treat many more people much more quickly and, we trust, much less expensively,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the research.

Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said early results showed patients who received the drug, molnupiravir, within five days of COVID-19 symptoms had about half the rate of hospitalization and death as those who received a dummy pill.

The study tracked 775 adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who were considered to be at higher risk for severe disease because of health problems such as obesity, diabetes or heart disease. The results have not been reviewed by outside experts, the usual procedure for vetting new medical research.

Among patients taking molnupiravir, 7.3% were either hospitalized or died at the end of 30 days, compared with 14.1% of those getting the dummy pill. After that time period, there were no deaths among those who received the drug, compared with eight in the placebo group, according to Merck.

The results were so strong that an independent group of medical experts monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early.

Company executives said they plan to submit the data to the FDA in the coming days.

Even with the news of a potentially effective new treatment for COVID-19, experts stressed the importance of vaccines for controlling the pandemic, given that they help prevent transmission and also reduce the severity of illness in those who do get infected.

White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said that vaccination will remain the government’s main strategy for controlling the pandemic. “We want to prevent infections, not just wait to treat them when they happen,” he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s foremost authority on infectious diseases, called the results from Merck “very good news.”

Merck studied its drug only in people who were not vaccinated. But FDA regulators may consider authorizing it for broader use in vaccinated patients who get breakthrough COVID-19 symptoms.

Andrew Pekosz of Johns Hopkins University predicted vaccines and antiviral drugs would ultimately be used together to protect against the worst effects of COVID-19.

“These shouldn’t be seen as replacements for vaccination — the two should be seen as two strategies that can be used together to significantly reduce severe disease,” Pekosz said.

Patients take four pills twice a day for five days. Side effects were reported by both groups in the Merck trial, but they were slightly more common among those who received a dummy pill. The company did not specify the problems.

Earlier study results showed the drug did not benefit patients who were already hospitalized with severe disease.

The U.S. has approved one antiviral drug, remdesivir, specifically for COVID-19, and allowed emergency use of three antibody therapies that help the immune system fight the virus. But all the drugs have to given by IV or injection at hospitals or clinics, and supplies have been stretched by the latest surge of the delta variant.

Health experts, including Fauci, have long called for a convenient pill that patients could take when COVID-19 symptoms first appear, much the way Tamiflu is given to help fight the flu. Such medications are seen as key to controlling waves of infection.

Merck’s pill works by interfering with the coronavirus’s ability to copy its genetic code and reproduce itself.

The U.S. government has committed to purchasing enough pills to treat 1.7 million people, assuming the FDA authorizes the drug. Merck said it can produce pills for 10 million patients by the end of the year and has contracts with governments worldwide. The company has not announced prices.

Several other companies, including Pfizer and Roche, are studying similar drugs and could report results in the coming weeks and months.

Merck had planned to enroll more than 1,500 patients in its late-stage trial before the independent board stopped it early. The results reported Friday included patients across Latin America, Europe and Africa. Executives estimated 10% of patients studied were from the U.S.

https://apnews.com/article/merck-sa...orst-effects-a9a2245fdcee324f6bbd776a0fffcc60

 

I would hope not but based on the concerns that some have about the vaccine I would say this part here would rule out them taking the pill.

 

Shiiit....they wouldn't make it through the gate

 

Good to hear everyone is getting better. What a scare.