words and photos by Sean Rayford

All photos made September 21, 2021 in West Columbia, SC.

As about a dozen protestors lined the sidewalk midday on Tuesday in front of Lexington Medical Center, motorists often honked in support of their message.

One young woman leaned out the window at the traffic signal and asked, “Don’t y’all have jobs?”

Captain Angus, as he refers to himself, blames the hospital and CDC protocols for the deaths of his COVID-19 infected friends. He says it was “murder.”

“Four of my friends died because they crammed a tube down their throats, they gave them medicine that caused their lungs to fill up with liquid and they put them on morphine drips so they couldn't fight it. And they are gone now,” he said.

Angus, wearing a t-shirt reading, “MAGA - The Patriot Church,” and carrying an American flag with a Trump sticker on the pole, has had COVID-19 on multiple occasions — in January and in August. “I've survived COVID twice because I took the proper medications and I stayed out of the hospital,” he said, "I've taken nothing but ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, Vitamin C, Zinc, D3, and I was better within two days. Both times.”

Angus said that if former president Donald Trump would have told folks not to use ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, his opponents would have labeled them as miracle drugs. “If he said green, they would have said blue. And if he said blue, they would have said green. It's just wrong.”

Carolyn Church, of Lexington, also had COVID-19 this summer. She says that she had minor symptoms — headaches and fatigue. She credits hydroxychloroquine for keeping her healthy. She says that Uganda, where the median age is less than 17, has had success fighting Covid-19 with hydroxychloroquine.

“This kills the virus, if it’s before you get it. And then ivermectin and budesonide. And there are about 30 other cures - they're not using them,” she said.

Sandy Wade, of West Columbia, said she came to protest for medical freedom. “I believe that the government is not being honest with us and they are not telling us about alternate therapies that are available early on in the COVID process. Because it doesn't meet their agenda. If there is a cure or early treatment for COVID, then the vaccine could not have been pushed through. And there is early treatment that works. And the American people are not being told about it.”

Wade got vaccinated against COVID-19 in March. She hasn’t experienced any problems but wishes she hadn’t received the shot. “What worries me, is farther down the road and what it's done to my immune system.”

Paige Hungerford, of West Columbia, SC, with a blue sign reading “CDC protocols are killing people,” said that negative vaccine reactions have been suppressed.

“There are many doctors, like American Frontline Doctors, that will tell you that this has the potential to cause problems, such as infertility. It has problems that will not only effect the lungs but the liver, the brain - that's why we have brain fog, all of this sort of stuff. I think people need to do their own research,” she said, “If they want to get the shot, if that's what they think they should do for them, then that's what they should do. But if people had done the research and think that the risk of the shot is not right for them, then they should be allowed to choose not to get the shot.”

Pamela Godwin says we should be treating COVID-19 patients with Ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, budesonide and Regeneron. “We are here to give you information that you don't have,” she said into a bullhorn as motorists turned the hospital parking lot, “To share truth and life. Because this is God's agenda. God’s agenda is for you to have the truth so that you can advocate for yourself and your family and friends.”

About the author: Sean Rayford is a South Carolina photojournalist based in Columbia, SC - covering the American Southeast.