PROTESTORS PUSH BACK ON VACCINE MANDATES

Photos and words by Sean Rayford

Sheilah Dixon marched down Main St. on Saturday afternoon as chants of “WE WILL NOT COMPLY! bounced off the downtown buildings. When workers stepped outside they saw about a hundred demonstrators, many toting American and South Carolina state flags.

“I have a very close friend who is a nurse on a Covid unit and she's refusing the vaccine,” said Dixon, “She sacrificed so much then and to see how they are being treated — it tells me that this is very demonic.”

Dixon feels like her friend has gone from “hero to zero,” as she faces the loss of her job due to vaccine mandates.

“That tells me we are doing something pretty dark, pretty evil,” she said, “I'm gonna do what I need to do because I love America and I want to see the generations to come experience what we know is absolutely amazing. We are the greatest country in the world.”

Before the protestors took to the street they gathered at the statehouse with a handful of speakers, including state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, representing Spartanburg, S.C.

“I need you to help me pass senate bill 8011 — to tell dictatorial tyrants on city council, 'you cannot trample religious liberty, take away our right to work and take away our rights to personal autonomy,” said Kimbrell.

“This is the time to stand up. This country is the greatest nation in the history of the world because we believe our rights come from God, not from the government.”

Referring to himself as a free-market capitalist, Kimbrell believes in the rights of business owners to make decisions about payroll, work schedules, dress codes — but not the right to dictate employees’ health care decisions.

Kourtney O’Hara, Moms for Liberty Lexington County chairwoman, followed Kimbrell, speaking on the steps of the capital.

“In our own great state of South Carolina, the battle over mandates being imposed on our first responders and healthcare workers is raging. That is why we are here today,” said Ohara, “God has blessed this city and this state with some of the finest firemen, law enforcement and healthcare workers in the nation.”

Sean Rayfoird is a South Carolina photographer specializing in documentary storytelling and photojournalism