Western slopers who fail to grasp danger of Coronavirus are threatening public health

Post on the Grand Junction Community Message Board on Facebook yesterday by Anita Heffalump, who has since changed her name on Facebook to “Anita Hippogriff”

 

Local resident Anita Heffalump alarmed members of the community yesterday by posting an event on the Grand Junction Community Message Board Facebook page that urged people to physically gather to protest public health authorities’ stay-at-home order aimed at protecting people from the pandemic spread of COVID-19, the deadly disease caused by Coronavirus.

Coronavirus currently has no no treatment, no cure, no immunization available to prevent it, and is killing people throughout the globe at an alarming rate. The only tool available to reduce transmission of the new virus and save lives during the pandemic is to distance ourselves from each other by staying home as much as possible.

Heffalump urged readers to “join the protest against totalitarianism.” Her virtual poster for the event said “No More Lockdowns,” sported a raised, clenched fist and touted a “Global March for Freedom…. because there’s more of us than them!!!”

Asked in a private message to take down her post in the interest of public health, Heffalump wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and then she wrote…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms. Heffalump’s post was reported to the Mesa County Health Department and was subsequently removed from the page.

But that’s not all.

Posts like these, by low-information people who are urging people to expose themselves to the Coronavirus, are sprouting up on local social media sites and threatening public health across the western slope.

This morning, Callie Comerer posted this invitation on the Delta County Message Board Facebook page, inviting people to attend a “reopening party” at “my place” amid the Coronavirus pandemic, saying “F**K this coronavirus” “#dancing #dirnking #laughing #fun”:

 

This is a stark reminder that the most ignorant people among us hold the lives of the rest of us in their hands. People like this — who lack understanding of what it means to have a deadly virus on the loose, that has no prevention, no treatment and no cure, spreading unchecked and quickly, throughout society — these people have the power to perpetuate infections, perpetuate the stay-at-home order and the harm to our economy for a long time to come.

 

 

 

  11 comments for “Western slopers who fail to grasp danger of Coronavirus are threatening public health

  1. The sad part is, these knuckleheads are vastly increasing the risks to innocent people. If they were the only victims of their own stupidity, I’d be okay with that.

  2. As offensive as Ms. Heffalump’s comments are, and as potentially unsound her beliefs appear to be, she is nonetheless entitled to expressing them without government sanction. Whether or not this recklessness can be equated with “yelling ‘FIRE’ in a crowded theater” remains to be seen.

    I would be surprised to see any government agency, cognizant of its often symbiotic duty to protect citizens and respect their rights, elect to attempt some type of sanction against her words. I fully support enforcement of any lawful order against assembly in large groups during the emergency, should enough like-minded idiots actually show up.

    She does, however, have a point about the removal of these restrictions as soon as it is determined that it is safe to do so. Due diligence is necessary to assure that the right to peaceably assemble and protest is not abridged in some fashion as a consequence of the pandemic response.

  3. Unfortunately ,as we have seen in Trump supporters , you could beat a lick of sense into the head of someone who thinks this way. It’s possible she could be mentally ill.

  4. So is she keeping her child out of school? Or does she drop him off at the door as she did before the Covid-19 pandemic.

  5. Please report it to Grand Junction Police Department since Anita Heffalump is a threat to public health. You can’t argue with people like her. In fact, people like Anita Heffalump are exactly the reason why we need laws.

    • GJPD said to report it to the Mesa County Health Department (MCHD). I did and they were very concerned and took down all the info. MCHD has a COVID-19 hotline to report such things. The number is 970) 683-2300.

Leave a Reply to Diane Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *