As America continues to pull herself out of the coronavirus pandemic, with swiftness in some locales, there is still plenty of vaccine hesitancy to be had in pockets of this great nation.
Some simply believe that the inoculations were rushed and that the amount of testing down on these jabs was insufficient and potentially dangerous. The repeated reports of serious side effects certainly haven’t helped to boost confidence in this regard.
Others, however, are more concerned about a larger, more nefarious conspiracy theory that has underpinned the entire pandemic experience, believing that these not-quite-mandatory vaccines are part of some widespread and insidious plot to strip us of our freedoms once again.
This is perhaps what drove one Minnesota man to take drastic action.
A 32-year-old St. Paul man has posted multiple Facebook videos of himself stealing Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines by pretending he wants to get vaccinated and walking out with the vials.
Thomas E. Humphrey said on the videos he’s a member of the sovereign citizen movement, which is an anti-government extremist group that believes they are sovereign from the U.S. He also said on a video that he lost his business and home last year due to pandemic restrictions, and now lives in a van with his dog. He says on another video he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but disagreed with the diagnosis.
Humphrey posted videos of himself walking into an Allina Health vaccination site in Oakdale and leaving with a vial of Pfizer vaccine, calling it poison. The following day, he posted a video of himself taking a vial of Johnson & Johnson vaccine from a CVS worker, again telling customers it’s poison.
Humphrey was subsequently arrested, but not for the theft of the vaccines.
Instead, the sovereign citizen was taken into custody on account of his invalid license plate, with Humphrey insisting that the government cannot mandate him register his vehicle.