Facebook is a menace. COVID-19 is a menace. Conservatism is a cesspool. Together, those three ingredients have created a toxic stew of malevolent death and devastation. We can talk about all those things in the abstract, look at the numbers and statistics, and catch the occasional whiff of seditionist right-wing rhetoric. But I hadn’t really fully understood just how horrifying that combination of right-wing extremism, Facebook, and a killer virus was until I became a regular at the Herman Cain Awards subreddit. This series will document some of those stories, so we are aware of what the other side is doing to our country.
Today’s cautionary tale is TikToker Amy Briar-Bement, who had over 5,000 followers on that social media platform spewing Qanon and anti-vaxx b.s.
Given that this was a TikTok source, I was going to include links to the original videos. Unfortunately, her account was just made it private, making that impossible. But the folks at SorryAntiVaxxer have a compilation video here. It’s tough to watch. Really tough. So click through at your own discretion.
I’m also going to weave this timeline into the video screencaps here, so it all makes more narrative sense.
Now we pick up with screenshots.
September 14
“I can’t stop this cough. Severe stomach cramps. My kidneys feel like they’re on fire, feels like I’m being punched in the back. And yes, I’m an anti-vaxxer. I won’t get that damn vaccine.”
September 14
She has COVID, she already feels like crap, like she’s being “punched in the back,” but refuses to let go of the ideology that got her there. She would rather feel like COVID-shit than to have gotten the jab.
September 14
Remember, she started by taking time off from work to protect her kids from COVID, and Facebook turned her into this.
September 14
She says, “I look like shit, I feel like shit. Something has to give.”
Something had to give, but it wasn’t going to be her ideological opposition to a vaccine that would’ve prevented all of this agony.
The “poison” virus is better than the “poison” vaccine.
September 17
She complains that the local ER won’t take her because they don’t have any beds, and defiantly states that she still wouldn’t take “the shot.”
It was too late for her anyway. You can’t get the shot once you have COVID. But it would’ve served some purpose had she reconsidered the wisdom of the shot at some point. She wonders if he should call an ambulance, to find her a bed somewhere. On September 20, she says “I broke down, I’m finally in an ER.”
September 20
She blacked out twice, which she says was “good, because it finally got me in the hospital.”
September 21
I can’t imagine having that conversation with young children.
In fact, this is the first time she shifts from that defiant “condemn me” formulation, centered on her own selfishness, and acknowledges that her hospitalization is impacting other people.
September 22
September 23
I hated watching these last videos more than anything. The fear and desperation in her voice is gutting. She may have been originally obnoxious, “come at me” and “say I deserve it, I don’t care,” but her kids certainly didn’t deserve it. And I don’t think she did either. She was a victim of a massive disinformation campaign, and I wouldn’t wish this fate on my worst enemy.
September 23
September 23
September 23
September 23
She had five kids. Four of them living at home. Father had already passed away. The youngest is 8 years old. She said she was trying to be “on the practical side of having kids and bills and everything.” But for the love of god, being on one’s deathbed from an avoidable disease is the last place one wants to begin being “practical”! The time to start was whenever the vaccine became available for her group. And given that she was obese, it would’ve been nearly from the start, in March.
There was never an acknowledgment that her actions destroyed her family. There was never any effort to turn her tragedy into a teachable moment that might’ve saved some lives down the line. Her obituary didn’t even mention COVID. She simply “gained her Angel wings and joined Jesus in Heaven.”
What a waste. What a tragic, senseless, meaningless waste.
You can watch a compilation of her videos at SorryAntivaxxer.com, if you can stomach it. For whatever reason, her coughing got to me. So visceral.
Remember, she didn’t start a rabid anti-vaxxer. She started taking precautions and behaving sensibly to protect her children. Then Facebook came and broke her so deeply, that she lost the fundamental instinct to protect her children against all threats.
Something is deeply broken.
Today’s cautionary tale is TikToker Amy Briar-Bement, who had over 5,000 followers on that social media platform spewing Qanon and anti-vaxx b.s.
Given that this was a TikTok source, I was going to include links to the original videos. Unfortunately, her account was just made it private, making that impossible. But the folks at SorryAntiVaxxer have a compilation video here. It’s tough to watch. Really tough. So click through at your own discretion.
I’m also going to weave this timeline into the video screencaps here, so it all makes more narrative sense.
Now we pick up with screenshots.
September 14
“I can’t stop this cough. Severe stomach cramps. My kidneys feel like they’re on fire, feels like I’m being punched in the back. And yes, I’m an anti-vaxxer. I won’t get that damn vaccine.”
September 14
She has COVID, she already feels like crap, like she’s being “punched in the back,” but refuses to let go of the ideology that got her there. She would rather feel like COVID-shit than to have gotten the jab.
September 14
Remember, she started by taking time off from work to protect her kids from COVID, and Facebook turned her into this.
September 14
She says, “I look like shit, I feel like shit. Something has to give.”
Something had to give, but it wasn’t going to be her ideological opposition to a vaccine that would’ve prevented all of this agony.
The “poison” virus is better than the “poison” vaccine.
September 17
She complains that the local ER won’t take her because they don’t have any beds, and defiantly states that she still wouldn’t take “the shot.”
It was too late for her anyway. You can’t get the shot once you have COVID. But it would’ve served some purpose had she reconsidered the wisdom of the shot at some point. She wonders if he should call an ambulance, to find her a bed somewhere. On September 20, she says “I broke down, I’m finally in an ER.”
September 20
She blacked out twice, which she says was “good, because it finally got me in the hospital.”
September 21
I can’t imagine having that conversation with young children.
In fact, this is the first time she shifts from that defiant “condemn me” formulation, centered on her own selfishness, and acknowledges that her hospitalization is impacting other people.
September 22
September 23
I hated watching these last videos more than anything. The fear and desperation in her voice is gutting. She may have been originally obnoxious, “come at me” and “say I deserve it, I don’t care,” but her kids certainly didn’t deserve it. And I don’t think she did either. She was a victim of a massive disinformation campaign, and I wouldn’t wish this fate on my worst enemy.
September 23
September 23
September 23
September 23
She had five kids. Four of them living at home. Father had already passed away. The youngest is 8 years old. She said she was trying to be “on the practical side of having kids and bills and everything.” But for the love of god, being on one’s deathbed from an avoidable disease is the last place one wants to begin being “practical”! The time to start was whenever the vaccine became available for her group. And given that she was obese, it would’ve been nearly from the start, in March.
There was never an acknowledgment that her actions destroyed her family. There was never any effort to turn her tragedy into a teachable moment that might’ve saved some lives down the line. Her obituary didn’t even mention COVID. She simply “gained her Angel wings and joined Jesus in Heaven.”
What a waste. What a tragic, senseless, meaningless waste.
You can watch a compilation of her videos at SorryAntivaxxer.com, if you can stomach it. For whatever reason, her coughing got to me. So visceral.
Remember, she didn’t start a rabid anti-vaxxer. She started taking precautions and behaving sensibly to protect her children. Then Facebook came and broke her so deeply, that she lost the fundamental instinct to protect her children against all threats.
Something is deeply broken.