A fairly large crowd, perhaps 250 people, gathered on Saturday (January 8) outside the Global News B.C. building in Burnaby to protest how the media is covering COVID-19 and vaccine mandates.

The host of the event, James Davison, delivered a fiery speech and plenty of commentary between the other speakers.

After one speech by Common Ground publisher Joseph Roberts, who called on media workers to "defect", Davison laid out what he believes is at stake for his movement if it can't use legal means to obtain an end to restrictions on the unvaccinated.

“Our best bet to avoid them taking it to the next level is to hold them accountable," Davison declared. "That’s our best weapon right now. Because if we can’t succeed legally—if we can’t succeed now, legally—then we are going to be in a civil-war situation. That is a fact.

"That’s where this is leading to because they will round us up," he warned the crowd. "They will put us in an institution, call us whatever they want, demonize us however they want to through these organizations like Global News, CTV, CityNews, News 1130. It’s programming.

"And at this point in time, all you can do is try to handle this professionally—at this point in time," Davison emphasized. "It’s not time, here right now in Canada, to take it to the next level. We don’t want to start with the vandalizing and you know, tipping over things and making a mess of our country. But I’ll tell you: at this point we’re at right now, the damage is done."

Several people in the movement opposing mRNA vaccines have made no secret that they are firearms owners, including Davison, who's an administrator of the Stand United Facebook page.

On December 22, he posted video on Facebook of himself firing at a target range.

At the rally, he expressed the hope that governments and employers can be discouraged from taking measures against those who refuse COVID-19 vaccines through notices of liability. These notices warn officials that they will be held legally liable for any actions they take against "freedom of anatomy".

In addition, Davison urged the crowd to send these notices to people who work in the media to hold them accountable for what he believes is misreporting.

The mRNA vaccines, such as those manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, teach cells to make proteins that trigger an immune response.

One of the earliest researchers, virologist Robert Malone, has criticized their use on children, which has galvanized opponents of mRNA vaccines, including Davison. Malone has come under scathing criticism by others, such as the Atlantic magazine writer Tom Bartlett, for "spreading vaccine misinformation".

What does Davison believe?

He began his speech outside the Global News B.C. building with what he called a "fun fact".

"We all know if you take Omicron and you can spell moronic. Take Delta, take Omicron, and you can actually spell media control."

That led him to shout out "MEDIA CONTROL".

"They're using the media, the mainstream media, to twist the minds of all of these impressionable people that have been brought up to trust the government," Davison said. "We're Canadians. Okay. We trusted our government because we were educated to. It's called indoctrination."

Early in his speech he spoke about wars in Europe in the last century before discussing what he thinks is in store for Canadians in the 21st century. 

According to Davison, there's a deliberate attempt underway to trash the economy, which will justify officials showing up at people's doors and confiscating their property. 

He said that this drift into tyranny has begun with a medical passport. Next, he said, the government will introduce a "credit-social score". Then, he added, these two methods of government surveillance will be attached to the use of currency.

“So, okay, you can’t participate in society but now you can’t buy, sell or trade anything because we’re cutting you off of your money," Davison said.

That elicited a strong reaction from the crowd, with one shouting "the number of the beast".

"That’s right," Davison continued. "It’s called Revelations here. This is called Biblical crap. And if you people don’t wake up and fight now, you’re not going to have anything to fight for later. This is why it’s so important that we use the tools we have in place now.”

He emphasized that under Canada's constitution, the government cannot force anyone to put anything in their body.

Moreover, to him, COVID-19 is just another case of the flu, but it's being used to justify extraordinary measures that will take away people's liberties.

“If it wasn’t for the media, this would have never affected any of us," Davison claimed. "It would have been another flu season. And you know what? Some people die every year from the flu.”

Statistics Canada has reported that there were 874 flu deaths from 2009 to 2019 (according to a CTV News report), whereas the B.C. government has reported more than 2,400 COVID-19 deaths since March 2020.

"This isn't about your safety," Davison insisted. "This is about divide, conquer, and reset. It's always been about that. We're not stupid, globalists. We know what’s happening"

To him, taking a vaccine should be a matter of personal choice, regardless of any impact this decision might have on others.

“Do I take heroin just because my neighbour takes heroin? No. I don’t," Davison said. "And if you do, well, that’s your choice. I’m not holding it against you. However, I don’t think it’s good for me so I’m not going to do it. That is how we feel here. We don’t want it. So it’s our body, it’s our choice.

"Freedom of anatomy in Canada—I’m willing to die for that, just like my great-grandfather died for our freedoms," he added. "He actually went to Europe during World War II so we could be free. And he liberated Europe but he gave his life to do it.

"So, like, do you think I am not going to do the same in my own country? It’s in my blood. I’m a patriot. I‘m not alone. There are a lot of strong Canadians and there is a lot of strong people all over the world.”

Another speaker, Tara Beguin, blamed government policies for the loss of her dad, who won't speak to her anymore because he supports vaccine passports. And she blamed Global News B.C. for "killing people by helping the oligarchy destroy what we know is a free society".

"You guys are going to be held accountable if we have to come here and knock on your damn doorstep every single month," Beguin said.

Another speaker, Chris Vee, also described COVID-19 as the flu. And he accused Global News B.C. reporter Paul Johnson of having a "big chip on his shoulder, who has been making fun of us for so many months at the rallies".

Davison said that there will be monthly rallies outside media outlets across the country, but he's going to be organizing his own events every two weeks.

“Let’s hope that we have 50,000, 60,000 across Vancouver doing this with us by April, May, when the weather is nice and when people are tired of being locked down,” Davison said.