Chapter 74: Free to Die

293      approached . . . on November 16, 2021  Tonda MacCharles and Alex Ballingall, “‘Freedom Convoy’ Began in 2019—Lawyers Chart Protest Movement’s Growth Back to Anti-Trudeau Government Demonstrations,” Toronto Star, October 14, 2022, A6.
 
293      home to Wallaceburg, Ontario MacCharles and Ballingall, “‘Freedom Convoy’ Began in 2019,” A6.
 
293      denied . . . entry . . . was not wearing a mask MacCharles and Ballingall, “‘Freedom Convoy’ Began in 2019,” A6.
 
293      vented . . . connected . . . with . . . Barber . . .  MacCharles and Ballingall, “‘Freedom Convoy’ Began in 2019,” A6.
 
293       multiple TikTok accounts . . . multiple Confederate flags . . .  Shannon Proudfoot, “Two Chris Barbers Came to the Public Emergency Commission: A Self-Professed Internet Troll and a Wide-Eyed Naif,” Globe and Mail, November 1, 2022, www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-two-chris-barbers-came-to-the-public-emergency-commission-a-self/; Justin Ling, Twitter, February 1, 2022, 3:15 p.m., x.com/Justin_Ling/status/1488607007879974914; and Mark Fawcett, “The CPC is Now the Convoy Party of Canada,” opinion, Canada’s National Observer, July 7, 2022, www.nationalobserver.com/2022/07/07/opinion/cpc-now-convoy-party-canada.
 
293      set to come into effect on January 15, 2022 “Thousands in Ottawa Protest COVID Mandates, Many Rebuked,” Associated Press (AP) News, apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-justin-trudeau-canada-45778ef0bdca45501411fb21066c46a0.
 
293      required to be vaccinated  “Thousands in Ottawa Protest COVID Mandates, Many Rebuked,” apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-justin-trudeau-canada-45778ef0bdca45501411fb21066c46a0.
 
293      COVID-19 pandemic . . . most infections  According to the World Health Organization, the number of COVID cases reported to the organization since January 2020 spiked in January 2022—the highest spike up until that point. However, there would be an even higher rate of cases in January 2023. “Trends in COVID-19 Cases, World: Number of COVID-19 Cases Reported to WHO (weekly), World, January 2020—Present,” WHO COVID-19 dashboard, World Health Organization, accessed May 1, 2025, data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/cases?n=o.
 
293      more than seven million people . . . first four years  Aila Slisco, “How Many Lives Were Lost to COVID-19? A Look Back Nearly 5 Years Later,” Newsweek, December 19, 2024, www.newsweek.com/covid-death-update-2024-virus-chart-2003132.
 
293      the United States, Brazil, India, and Russia  “Number of COVID-19 Deaths Reported to WHO (cumulative total),” WHO COVID-19 dashboard, World Health Organization, accessed May 1, 2025, data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths?n=o.
 
293      first began in Wuhan, China, in late 2019  “CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline,” David J. Sencer CDC Museum: In Association with the Smithsonian Institution, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed March 10, 2025, www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html; and Karen Weintraub, “A Look Back: Key Moments from the First Months of COVID-19,” USA Today, January 1, 2025, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/01/covid-19-pandemic-timeline-key-moments/77240518007.
 
294     hundreds of thousands . . . 114 countries . . . more than 4,000 people  “WHO Director-General’s Opening Remarks at the Media Briefing on COVID-19—11 March 2020,” World Health Organization, March 11, 2020, www.who.int/news-room/speeches/item/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020.
 
294     declared COVID-19 a pandemic “WHO Director- General’s Opening Remarks at the Media Briefing on COVID-19—11 March 2020,” www.who.int/news-room/speeches/item/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020.
 
294     attempted to stop . . . by restricting travel, prohibiting . . .“social distancing”  See Nina Haug et al., “Ranking the Effectiveness of Worldwide COVID-19 Government Interventions,” Nature Human Behavior 4 (November 2020), www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-01009-0.
 
294     closed schools and churches . . . all but essential . . .Haug et al., “Ranking the Effectiveness of Worldwide COVID-19 Government Interventions,” www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-01009-0; Pew Research Center, “How COVID-19 Restrictions Affected Religious Groups Around the World in 2020,” November 29, 2022, www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/11/29/how-covid-19-restrictions-affected-religious-groups-around-the-world-in-2020; Zhitao Xu et al., “Impacts of COVID-19 on Global Supply Chains: Facts and Perspectives,” IEEE Engineering Management Review 48, no. 3 (August 2020), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8768947/.
 
294     failed en masse . . . tanked . . . higher than during the Great Recession Gita Gopinath, “The Great Lockdown: Worst Economic Downturn Since the Great Depression,” IMF Blog, International Monetary Fund, April 14, 2020, www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2020/04/14/blog-weo-the-great-lockdown-worst-economic-downturn-since-the-great-depression; Adam Tooze, “How Coronavirus Almost Brought Down the Global Financial System,” The Guardian, April 14, 2020, www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/14/how-coronavirus-almost-brought-down-the-global-financial-system; Keith Johnson, “Another Big Market Collapse Heightens Fears of Global Recession,” Foreign Policy, March 16, 2020, foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/16/market-collapse-fears-global-recession-coronavirus-pandemic; and Heather Long and Andrew Van Dam, “U.S. Unemployment Rate Soars to 14.7 percent, the Worst Since the Depression Era,” Washington Post, May 8, 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/08/april-2020-jobs-report.
 
294     did not follow  . . . minimized the threat and undermined . . . Jakub Wondreys and Cas Mudde, “Victims of the Pandemic? European Far-Right Parties and COVID-19,” Nationalities Papers 50, no. 1 (2020), www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/victims-of-the-pandemic-european-farright-parties-and-covid19/638E1BEA8CF82CA068DBC46149BE9F42, 81, 88; Dareh Gregorian, “Trump Says ‘I Don’t Agree’ with CDC Director’s Mask Message,” NBC News, July 17, 2020, www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-i-don-t-agree-cdc-director-s-mask-n1234253; and “Covid: Bolsonaro tells Brazilians to ‘Stop Whining’ as Deaths Spike,” BBC News, March 5, 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56288548.
 
294       heads of state or members of ruling coalitions “While far-right parties in power used the pandemic to push through, at times draconian, authoritarian measures, most notably Viktor Orbán in Hungary, far-right parties in opposition were among the first and loudest to criticize the lockdown in their countries. Across the continent, they would accuse mainstream governments of abusing their power and threatening democracy.” Wondreys and Mudde, “Victims of the Pandemic? European Far-Right Parties and COVID-19,” www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/victims-of-the-pandemic-european-farright-parties-and-covid19/638E1BEA8CF82CA068DBC46149BE9F42, 97.
 
294     initially supported . . . to stop the virus’s spread Krisztina Than, “Hungary Tightens Anti-COVID Rules, May Suffice if Followed—Orbán,” Reuters, November 4, 2020, www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN27J2GU/; Zoltán Kovács, “PM Orbán: Mask Wearing Is Key, Hungarians Must Abide by the Regulations,” About Hungary, October 30, 2020, abouthungary.hu/blog/pm-orban-mask-wearing-is-key-hungarians-must-abide-by-the-regulations; and Zoltán Kovács, “PM Orbán Announces New Restrictions Aimed at Slowing the Spread of the Coronavirus: Here’s a Complete List,” About Hungary, November 9, 2020, abouthungary.hu/blog/pm-orban-announces-new-restrictions-aimed-at-slowing-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-heres-a-complete-list.
 
294     pushed through . . . suspended elections . . . rule by emergency decree . . .  Zack Beauchamp, “Hungary’s ‘Coronavirus Coup,’ Explained,” Vox, April 15, 2020, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/15/21193960/coronavirus-covid-19-hungary-orban-trump-populism.
 
294     “coronavirus coup”  Beauchamp, “Hungary’s ‘Coronavirus Coup,’ Explained,” www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/15/21193960/coronavirus-covid-19-hungary-orban-trump-populism.
 
294     allowed him to reappropriate . . . to stimulus funding  Beauchamp, “Hungary’s ‘Coronavirus Coup,’ Explained,” www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/15/21193960/coronavirus-covid-19-hungary-orban-trump-populism.
 
294–295 “states or disseminates any . . .”  Ministry of Justice Hungary, courtesy translation of “Act XII of 2020 on the Containment of Coronavirus,” accessed via Wayback Machine, October 22, 2020 capture, web.archive.org/web/20201022125348/https://berlin.mfa.gov.hu/assets/77/49/43/cc3672166e33b2cf015ce4371aeedf19417c2710.pdf, 2.
 
294–295 “hindering or preventing”  Ministry of Justice Hungary, courtesy translation of “Act XII of 2020 on the Containment of Coronavirus,” web.archive.org/web/20201022125348/https://berlin.mfa.gov.hu/assets/77/49/43/cc3672166e33b2cf015ce4371aeedf19417c2710.pdf, 2.
 
294–295 could be imprisoned  Ministry of Justice Hungary, courtesy translation of “Act XII of 2020 on the Containment of Coronavirus,” web.archive.org/web/20201022125348/https://berlin.mfa.gov.hu/assets/77/49/43/cc3672166e33b2cf015ce4371aeedf19417c2710.pdf,2; and Beauchamp, “Hungary’s ‘coronavirus coup,’ explained,” www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/15/21193960/coronavirus-covid-19-hungary-orban-trump-populism.
 
295     “to force self-censorship . . .”  Beauchamp, “Hungary’s ‘Coronavirus Coup,’ Explained,” www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/15/21193960/coronavirus-covid-19-hungary-orban-trump-populism.
 
295     did not revoke . . . until June 2020  “Coronavirus: Hungary Votes to End Viktor Orban emergency powers,” BBC News, June 16, 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53062177.
 
295     joined Trump and Bolsonaro in spreading . . . while opposing . . . usually pointing . . .  Wondreys and Mudde, “Victims of the Pandemic? European Far-Right Parties and COVID-19,” www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/victims-of-the-pandemic-european-farright-parties-and-covid19/638E1BEA8CF82CA068DBC46149BE9F42, 88–89.
 
295     supported lockdown . . . and social distancing  Sevgi Çi̇li̇ngi̇r, “The Covid-19 Crisis: Opportunity or Threat for Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe?” Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi (Anadolu University Journal of Social Sciences) 21, no. 3 (2021), dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1998170, 816.
 
295     “Our fellow citizens are free citizens . . .”  Marine Le Pen, Twitter, November 15, 2020, 8:34 a.m., x.com/MLP_officiel/status/1327968116412993536, via Google Translate. Archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/9mVBu.
 
295     proposed mandating a vaccine passport. . . Charles Bremner, “Marine Le Pen Claims Travel Ban for Covid Antivaxers Is Health Dictatorship,” December 23, 2020, www.thetimes.com/article/marine-le-pen-claims-travel-ban-for-covid-antivaxers-is-health-dictatorship-6strqfvwm.
 
295     “essentially totalitarian”  Marine Le Pen quoted in Bremner, “Marine Le Pen Claims Travel Ban for Covid Antivaxers Is Health Dictatorship,” www.thetimes.com/article/marine-le-pen-claims-travel-ban-for-covid-antivaxers-is-health-dictatorship-6strqfvwm.
 
295     “Emmanuel Macron and the government” . . . “restricting freedoms”  Marine Le Pen, Twitter, December 27, 2021, 2:08 p.m., x.com/MLP_officiel/status/1475544050765901830, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/1T3fU, via Google Translate; and Marine Le Pen, Twitter, December 27, 2021, 2:08 p.m., x.com/MLP_officiel/status/1475544055580872711, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/Ht1T1, via Google Translate.
 
295     Following Trump’s lead . . . “Chinese virus”  Wondreys and Mudde, “Victims of the Pandemic? European Far-Right Parties and COVID-19,” www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/victims-of-the-pandemic-european-farright-parties-and-covid19/638E1BEA8CF82CA068DBC46149BE9F42, 88.
 
295     “my ‘Spanish antibodies’ fight against the damn Chinese viruses” Ortega Smith quoted in Wondreys and Mudde, “Victims of the Pandemic? European Far-Right Parties and COVID-19,” www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/victims-of-the-pandemic-european-farright-parties-and-covid19/638E1BEA8CF82CA068DBC46149BE9F42, 88.
 
295     did not want . . . to join the fight against the virus Çi̇li̇ngi̇r, “The Covid-19 Crisis: Opportunity or Threat for Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe?” dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1998170, 815.
 
295     five main narratives emerged . . . a narrative skeptical of the danger of COVID-19  Political Capital, “Main Narratives About Covid-19 in the V4 Countries: Takeaways from the First Wave of the Pandemic,” 2020, accessed March 11, 2025, www.politikaspolecnost.cz/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/pc_fnf_covid_narratives_research_briefing_2020.pdf, 4–6.
 
296     used the pandemic . . . or abolishing political asylum  Wondreys and Mudde, “Victims of the Pandemic? European Far-Right Parties and COVID-19,” www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/victims-of-the-pandemic-european-farright-parties-and-covid19/638E1BEA8CF82CA068DBC46149BE9F42, 88, 90–91.
 
296     falsely linked the spread of the virus to immigrants  “Main Narratives About Covid-19 in the V4 Countries: Takeaways from the First Wave of the Pandemic,” www.politikaspolecnost.cz/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/pc_fnf_covid_narratives_research_briefing_2020.pdf, 6.
 
296     “New landing of illegal immigrants in Italy . . .”  Giorgia Meloni, Twitter, March 23, 2021, 1:53 p.m., x.com/GiorgiaMeloni/status/1374419125167034382, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/kvIbF, via Google Translate.
 
296     “While the government continues . . .”  Giorgia Meloni, Twitter, March 23, 2021,x.com/GiorgiaMeloni/status/1374419125167034382, archived at archive.ph/wip/kvIbF.
 
296     the first American received a COVID-19 vaccine Ben Guarino et al. “‘The Weapon That Will End the War’: First Coronavirus Vaccine Shots Given Outside Trials in U.S.,” Washington Post, December 14, 2020, wapo.st/43F9Kam.
 
296       became available free of charge . . . in the United States and Canada  Government of Canada, “Canada’s COVID-19 Immunization Plan: Saving Lives and Livelihoods,” December 18, 2020, www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/canadas-reponse/canadas-covid-19-immunization-plan.html; Kerry Breen, “COVID-19 Vaccines Are Free to All, Experts Stress,” Today, April 19, 2021, www.today.com/health/covid-vaccine-free-today-t215538.
 
296     one of the highest vaccination rates in the world  “Thousands in Ottawa Protest COVID Mandates, Many Rebuked,” apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-justin-trudeau-canada-45778ef0bdca45501411fb21066c46a0.
 
296     Almost 90 percent . . . vaccinated Katherine Fung, “Canadian ‘Freedom’ Truckers Protest Vaccines as 90 Percent of Drivers Vaccinated,” Newsweek, January 28, 2022, www.newsweek.com/canadian-freedom-truckers-protest-vaccines-90-percent-drivers-vaccinated-1674109.