Anti-vaxxers: Dozens of anti-vax demonstrators swarmed a food court in New York City‘s Staten Island in protest against a New York City mandate which requires indoor diners to prove they have been vaccinated.
On Saturday, a crowd of about 60 people took over the Food District area at the Staten Island Mall.
In a video published to FreedomNewsTV, activists are seen waving American flags and continuously chanting, ‘USA!’ and F**k Biden.’
One individual was seen wearing a QAnon-themed T-shirt, while another activist sported a ‘Trump won’ shirt.
Individuals who did not appear to be among the protestors were seen cheering for the group.
Despite having a vaccinated-only policy, the protesters were not asked to provide any proof of vaccination upon entry, nor did they receive any resistance from security or staff.
Anti-vax protestors swarm the the Food District area at the Staten Island Mall to protest the city-wide vaccine mandate on Saturday
In protest against vaccine mandates, dozens of anti-vax protesters swarmed a food court in New York City chanting ‘USA’ & ‘f**k Joe Biden’
Bystanders cheer on a group of anti-vax protesters at the Staten Island Mall
Ant-vaxx protestors storm Staten Island food court in protest
The group then proceed to take seats, occasionally breaking into chants while eating food they ordered at the various restaurants.
According to FreedomNewsTV, the group ‘ate for over 30 minutes’ uninterrupted before leaving.
During one moment, the demonstrators chanted ‘My body, my choice,’ and recited the pledge of allegiance.
The scene was a different to one that played out outside an Italian restaurant on NYC’s Upper West Side, where a Black Lives Matter organizer pledged a national ‘uprising’ over COVID vaccine mandates, claiming them to be ‘racist.’
Chivona Newsome, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, made the vow last Monday as NYC restaurants began enforcing legislation requiring all people aged 12 and older to show proof of vaccination to dine inside.
‘We’re putting this city on notice… Black people are not going to stand by, or you will see an uprising. And that is not a threat. That is a promise,’ Newsome declared.
BLM protesters hurl anti-gay slurs at Guardian Angel during protest
Her threat comes as data shows black New York City residents are less likely to have received the COVID jab than their white counterparts – with 38 percent of black New Yorkers fully vaccinated compared to 49 percent of whites.
Newsome was speaking outside Carmine’s – an Italian restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side – where three black women from Texas were arrested for attacking a hostess after members of their group were refused entry because they did not have proof of vaccination.
Newsome joined a protest of 40 people outside Carmine’s, where she stated: ’72 percent of black people in this city from ages 18 to 44 are unvaccinated,’ she declared.
‘So what is going to stop the Gestapo, I mean the NYPD, from rounding up black people, from snatching them off the train, off the bus? … The vaccination passport is not a free passport to racism.’
The arrested tourists had accused an Asian hostess of using the n-word, though the restaurant vehemently denied any racial slur was hurled before the melee.
Owner Jeffrey Bank told ABC 7: ‘Three women brutally attacked our hosts without provocation, got arrested and charged for their misconduct, and then, over the last several days, had their lawyer falsely and grossly misrepresent their acts of wanton violence in a cynical attempt to try to excuse the inexcusable’.
‘My team members work too hard to serve our guests, work too hard to comply with New York’s vaccination requirements, and still suffer too much from the attack for me to allow these false statements to stand.’
Footage of the protest was captured by FNTV, and showed one BLM protester making anti-gay slurs.
Earlier this week, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the waitress at the center of the scandal had only been working at Carmine’s for a few days before she was assaulted by the three women.
The waitress has not been publicly named. Her assailants have been identified as Kaeita Rankin, 44, her niece Tyonnie Keshay Rankin and Sally Rechelle Lewis, 49.
Meanwhile, the restaurant shared the surveillance footage, taken from both inside the entrance to the restaurant and the outdoor area where the brawl broke out last week, after Black Lives Matter protesters accused the restaurant of intentionally keeping it under wraps.
About 73.4 percent of Americans over the age of 12 have at least one vaccine dose, but less than 63 percent are fully vaccinated – far short of the threshold to reach herd immunity.
The mandate, called the Key to NYC program, was announced in August but was not formally enforced until Monday, even though the latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 infections continues to drop.
But business owners that serve many who are unvaccinated say that the edict will drive away customers and cause unnecessary friction with those who did not get the shot.
City inspectors will fine businesses found to be flouting the rules. Those who commit a first offense will be fined $1,000. A second offense will result in a $2,000 fine.
Every subsequent violation will be met with a $5,000 penalty.
De Blasio said that the mandate is key to the Big Apple’s return to normalcy.
