Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington, DC, on Sunday to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.
Although some 20,000 individuals had earlier been projected to attend the event, only a few thousand took part in a "Defeat the Mandates" event, which saw individuals take a mile-long walk toward the Lincoln Memorial.
Video shared across social media captured event goers advocating for protecting their freedom to avoid the anti-COVID vaccine as speakers took turns preaching their personal stance on COVID-19 vaccine health mandates.
Among the speakers were a former Trump administration official, Paul Alexander, and an organizer, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who complained that Anne Frank had a better chance at escaping Nazis during World War II than Americans had of avoiding the COVID vaccine.
Kennedy is banned from Instagram and is notorious as a member of the "Disinformation Dozen" for his baseless claims regarding COVID-19 vaccines and support of conspiracy theories about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House medical advisor and the nation's top immunologist.
Attendees reportedly came from all over the US, including nearby New Jersey and Pennsylvania. One individual identified as Jeffrey told local media outlet WTOP that the US would become a "feudal two-class system" if Americans do not stand up to the US government.
"We have to break the line somewhere and America is the country where it can happen," he added.
Various chants could be heard throughout the day, ranging between the popular pro-choice call of "my body, my choice," to the more middle-of-the-road "no vaccine mandates" and the decidedly right-wing "let's go Brandon."
The march, which started at about 11:30 a.m. local time, was announced in December 2021. It took place about a week after the nation's capital implemented the vaccine mandate that requires individuals 12 and older to have received at least one dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine to enter many indoor venues.