A homeless person has been caught on video shutting down an anti-vaxx argument with six simple words.
In a clip that went viral on Twitter, a group of anti-vaccine protesters can be seen walking down Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, carrying picket signs and American flags.
“Do you see all of these homeless people around?” the lead protester yells through a bullhorn. “Are they dead in the streets with Covid? Hell no! Why?”
A man pushing a shopping cart down the street then offers her an answer:
“Because I’m vaccinated, you dumb f***!”
There is a moment of awkward silence, and then the bullhorn rant resumes.
“Is anyone questioning anything? Wake up!” the woman continues, apparently undeterred.
On Twitter, however, the succinct counterargument got a big reaction.
“This is the most perfect exchange,” one user wrote. “Hero.”
“May make this my ringtone,” another commented. “It’s perfect. And hilarious.”
“A beautiful moment in history,” another declared.
Covid-19 vaccines are available free of charge to all Americans, including the homeless. All three of the authorized brands – Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson – have proven safe and extremely effective against severe cases of the disease.
But misinformation has slowed the vaccine rollout in the United States, where many conservative pundits and politicians have publicly resisted the inoculations. And as vaccinated Americans wait for their fellow citizens to get the shot, the pandemic continues.
Frustration with that situation was evident in the comments under the Twitter video, which as of Thursday had been viewed 3.7 million times.
One viewer was particularly annoyed that the bullhorn protester seemed to use homeless people as props for her argument.
“The worst part is how people talk about homeless community members like they’re furniture or can’t f***in’ hear,” she wrote.
The person who filmed the video, however, took an interest in the pro-vaxx homeless man as a human being. That person’s Twitter account, @FilmThePoliceLA, reported later that it had found the man and was working to set up a GoFundMe for him.
“We found the king,” @FilmThePoliceLA wrote. “His name is Ray. Super-intelligent with a gentle demeanor.”
