The John-Henry Westen Show - I was arrested for praying, protesting outside my diocese's COVID vaccine clinic： Catholic mother

00:00:00.160 Every once in a while in this work of mine, I get the great joy of interviewing people who wouldn't say that they're heroes, but I would.

00:00:09.180 This is one of those people.

00:00:11.860 Jennifer Hay is a mother of six children, and she did what few people do.

00:00:16.860 She stood up for her children and other children by standing against vaccines for children.

00:00:25.780 The COVID vaccine is very controversial, but it's most controversial, especially for children, which provides them almost no benefit, but causes great harm and has the potential for life-threatening harm.

00:00:39.540 So when the church got into it, it was most scandalous.

00:00:43.580 When certain churches made vaccine clinics, and you have to remember, these are abortion-tainted vaccines at Catholic churches and clinics, it was most scandalous indeed.

00:00:54.020 Some people dared to confront such horrific things.

00:00:59.320 One of those was Jennifer Hay. 1.00

00:01:01.080 This is the John Henry Weston Show.

00:01:03.020 Stay tuned.

00:01:24.020 Jennifer, thanks for coming on the show.

00:01:27.240 The pleasure is all mine.

00:01:28.800 Thank you very much.

00:01:30.200 Well, let's begin as we always do with the side of the cross.

00:01:33.260 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

00:01:37.740 Amen.

00:01:40.040 Jennifer, it's a privilege for me to speak with you.

00:01:42.380 I'm very much impressed with what you did, the courage it took to do that.

00:01:50.580 Tell everyone about your story.

00:01:53.300 Well, thank you very much.

00:01:55.040 It's a pleasure to be with you.

00:01:58.300 I didn't know what I was getting into.

00:02:00.540 I'm a mother.

00:02:01.560 I have six children.

00:02:02.820 I'm an engineer.

00:02:03.700 I work full-time, but we got some information that the diocese was planning to host a vaccination

00:02:12.200 clinic put on by our local Knox County Health Department, and that that clinic was open to

00:02:23.400 children as young as 12.

00:02:24.900 So, the clinic was advertised for about six weeks as being open to the public and available to children as young as 12.

00:02:36.800 And I just felt like we had to do something about it.

00:02:40.240 So, I wrote a sheet of information for people to hand out, planning to hand it out at the entrance of the clinic.

00:02:49.080 Things people might consider, like the fact that the FDA has not authorized any vaccine for children except for emergency use.

00:02:58.940 So, we like to hide that under the acronym EUA, but the acronym has a meaning.

00:03:03.220 It means emergency use authorization.

00:03:06.300 So, the sheet included information like that.

00:03:08.820 We had it translated into Spanish, and we were planning to hand this out to people at the entrance of the clinic.

00:03:14.600 We notified the health department and Father Bettner, the rector of the cathedral of our plans.

00:03:22.380 And to put it mildly, Father Bettner did not grant permission, and he threatened to accuse us of trespassing and have us arrested.

00:03:32.740 But we felt like we had to be there anyway.

00:03:35.600 And you're in Knoxville, Tennessee.

00:03:38.940 Yes, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

00:03:39.740 And so, this is Bishop Sticca.

00:03:42.080 Bishop Sticca, the cathedral of the most sacred heart of Jesus in Knoxville, Tennessee.

00:03:49.420 Yeah.

00:03:50.960 So, we had made plans to be there.

00:03:54.820 We had a group of about 15 people.

00:03:57.440 One is actually a physician's assistant at a local children's hospital.

00:04:02.300 So, we had people there who could answer questions.

00:04:05.040 We had documentation to hand out.

00:04:07.020 We had a couple people scheduled throughout the day to pray.

00:04:11.160 The clinic had planned to open at 10 a.m., and we planned to get there at 9.30 and get set up.

00:04:16.940 And 9.45, we were confronted and asked to leave the property.

00:04:21.740 And we had anticipated this, and two of us said, no, we're not going to leave.

00:04:27.360 We need to be here where people need us, and the only way we're going to leave is under arrest.

00:04:32.560 And they basically said, suit yourself.

00:04:34.520 So, a friend of mine went to jail.

00:04:39.300 Wow.

00:04:39.860 So, this is on church property, is that right?

00:04:43.560 That's correct.

00:04:44.360 On church property.

00:04:45.680 So, was it inside the church in a hall or something, or what was it exactly?

00:04:49.280 So, this church was very recently renovated.

00:04:54.960 We had a cathedral built.

00:04:56.600 So, there's a brand new cathedral, and that's where Mass was being celebrated.

00:05:00.660 The old cathedral has become a multi-purpose hall.

00:05:06.140 And so, that's where the clinic was being held.

00:05:08.220 So, people exit Mass, go outside in an area, I don't know, you know, maybe 50 feet by 50 feet, and then enter into the cathedral for the vaccination clinic.

00:05:21.080 And so, we had set up near that entrance to pray and hand out information, and that's where we were arrested.

00:05:28.000 Okay.

00:05:28.320 So, while it's private property per se, it's not like it's inside someone's office.

00:05:35.180 You're still sort of outside.

00:05:36.780 It was all outside.

00:05:37.620 We were all outside.

00:05:39.100 Okay.

00:05:39.700 So, were you obstructing people going in?

00:05:43.600 Were you locking the door?

00:05:45.880 No.

00:05:46.540 No.

00:05:46.940 No.

00:05:47.140 We just, we hadn't actually gotten to do anything.

00:05:50.720 We hadn't actually got to execute our plans of providing literature to people as they walked in.

00:05:57.700 But the clinic hadn't even opened yet.

00:06:00.720 We were just standing there praying.

00:06:02.420 Right.

00:06:03.040 You were praying.

00:06:05.000 So, here's a group of people.

00:06:07.500 You were praying the rosary.

00:06:08.560 First of all, how many were there?

00:06:10.680 Two of us were praying, me and the gentleman who were arrested.

00:06:14.340 And there, at the time, there were only three other people there because everybody hadn't arrived yet.

00:06:20.480 Mm-hmm.

00:06:23.100 And so, then what happens when the police arrive?

00:06:27.640 They gave us every chance to leave.

00:06:29.920 Mm-hmm.

00:06:30.320 To be fair to the police.

00:06:31.540 They said, you know, can you just take it off property?

00:06:33.880 But this is a huge property.

00:06:35.660 If we took it off property, we may as well not be there.

00:06:39.040 All right.

00:06:39.680 This is so far removed from where the clinic was going on that there was no sense in doing that.

00:06:46.520 So, we said, no, we're going to stay.

00:06:49.860 And then the gentleman that confronted us radioed to the sheriff, who was already on the property.

00:06:56.580 They had planned for this.

00:06:57.940 So, he radioed to the sheriff.

00:07:00.040 And the sheriff came up and said, you know, we're going to ask you to leave.

00:07:05.520 And we said, no, we're not going to leave.

00:07:07.900 And then we said, well, the only way we're going to leave is under arrest.

00:07:11.260 And he gave us every opportunity, but we were persistent and said, no, we're not going to leave.

00:07:16.780 Mm-hmm.

00:07:17.300 Mm-hmm.

00:07:18.280 Okay.

00:07:18.960 So, this is a parish which, now, did you confront Father before this to tell him this is problematic, please don't do this type of thing?

00:07:26.680 By email.

00:07:27.420 Yeah.

00:07:27.980 Yeah.

00:07:28.740 And did you get a response from him or anything like that?

00:07:32.240 Well, we got the response that we would not be allowed to be there.

00:07:36.200 That, you know, you know what the response was?

00:07:38.400 Well, everybody has their different opinions.

00:07:41.120 But this is what we're doing, and you're not allowed to be there.

00:07:44.800 And if you're there, we're going to have you arrested.

00:07:47.980 Right.

00:07:48.500 So, that's kind of funny.

00:07:50.340 I mean, so, at your parish, are there people who come there who, let's say, might hold views opposed to church teaching?

00:08:01.460 I would say that's a pretty good odds.

00:08:05.260 Right.

00:08:05.820 So, if that's the case, does Father not bar them from coming at all?

00:08:10.700 Not to my knowledge, no.

00:08:13.060 Right.

00:08:13.540 That doesn't really happen.

00:08:14.820 So, this is incredible to me that a hugely contentious issue where you have abortion-tainted vaccines, which at least one bishop in the church has said no Catholic can take.

00:08:27.660 In fact, one U.S. bishop.

00:08:28.900 Of course, there's many bishops all over the world.

00:08:31.160 But Bishop Strickland in Texas has said no Catholic can take this.

00:08:35.400 So, I mean, it's really incredible that this is being done.

00:08:39.000 So, it was a peaceful presentation of information and prayer outside the room where you were just going to hand out literature and do nothing else.

00:08:48.060 That's correct.

00:08:48.840 Out of doors.

00:08:50.240 And I want to clarify, you know, kids are getting this vaccine all over our town.

00:08:56.060 They can go to a local pharmacy and get this vaccine.

00:09:00.040 And I can write letters and I'll try to persuade people, but I'm not willing to go to jail for that.

00:09:05.780 And I have to confess my own feeling with respect to adults at the church.

00:09:12.080 You know, if this church were to hold a clinic for adults, again, I would try to persuade.

00:09:18.060 I would write emails.

00:09:19.000 I would publish articles.

00:09:21.500 I'm not willing to go to jail for that.

00:09:24.080 But the church, the church being involved in distributing this vaccine to children was something that we just couldn't abide.

00:09:33.720 Just for interest's sake, did the parish have any restriction on children in terms of COVID?

00:09:41.780 Were they required to wear masks in church or anything like that?

00:09:46.400 No.

00:09:47.180 And I would say, you know, Tennessee is a very conservative state and the diocese follows suit generally.

00:09:53.980 I think this diocese has navigated this fairly well until it came to the vaccine.

00:10:00.600 They were quick to reopen, quick to drop the mask mandate.

00:10:04.640 Just this last Sunday, they dropped any special requirements for receiving on the tongue.

00:10:10.840 Everybody was allowed to receive on the tongue in the usual way.

00:10:13.600 So for the most part, I actually think this diocese has navigated COVID well.

00:10:19.380 But, you know, looking, when people look back on this 20, 30, 50 years from now, outside the context of this hysteria,

00:10:29.220 they're going to say, what was the church doing, giving this vaccine, giving this experimental vaccine to children for a disease that never threatened them?

00:10:44.800 What was the church doing?

00:10:46.120 That's going to cause spiritual harm to people for years to come.

00:10:49.380 Yeah, indeed, indeed, especially now we're just getting reports that certain sports clinics or sports in schools,

00:10:58.560 they're waiting till children have an ECG test before they're allowed to play sports in school because of the increased risk of myocarditis coming from seemingly nowhere.

00:11:08.620 Yeah, unbelievable.

00:11:12.220 But let's return, Jennifer, to your story.

00:11:14.200 What happens then?

00:11:15.140 So you're arrested by police, and then what goes on?

00:11:18.160 My friend and I were arrested.

00:11:20.540 We were put in the sheriff's car, you know, just a few feet away from where we were.

00:11:28.080 And then we were driven around.

00:11:30.020 This gives you an idea of the scope of the cathedral property.

00:11:34.100 We were driven in the police car down to the front of the cathedral, where by that time they had the transport van.

00:11:44.780 And so we were taken out of the sheriff's car, put in new handcuffs, and each of us was in an individual compartment in the transport van.

00:11:54.200 I've never been arrested before.

00:11:55.540 I didn't know what this involved, but it was a very tiny space.

00:12:00.060 You know, all you could do was sit in this transport van, no windows, you know, maybe three feet by three feet by two feet in depth, very tiny space for us to be transported about 30 miles away to the jail.

00:12:16.720 So the whole time I was in my compartment by myself.

00:12:20.260 My friend Gary was in his compartment, and he was an absolute champion.

00:12:26.900 I could not stay focused.

00:12:28.800 I was distracted at every turn, but he entertained no distraction.

00:12:32.940 He prayed all the mysteries of the rosary for the whole time that we were under arrest and being transported to the jail.

00:12:40.960 It was such a comfort to me.

00:12:43.040 What an amazing thing.

00:12:45.160 Yeah.

00:12:45.440 That's beautiful.

00:12:46.920 So what happens now and, you know, what happened then?

00:12:50.880 And then where are we at right now with this situation?

00:12:54.460 Sure.

00:12:54.900 And so we get there and normal arrest procedure, which was all new for me.

00:13:01.440 You know, you've got to put on the jail clothes.

00:13:05.160 You've got to sit in a holding room.

00:13:07.000 You get a certain amount of time.

00:13:08.960 Other women are in the holding room with me, and we struck up some conversations.

00:13:13.200 They were bored enough that they were actually very interested in the story.

00:13:16.260 So I told the long version to them, and yeah, so I was in that holding cell with other women for about six hours, and then I was transferred to an actual jail cell for another three hours.

00:13:33.820 And then my father came, and I was released under my own recognizance, and my father took me back to the cathedral to get my car, and I immediately returned back to the jail to wait for my friend.

00:13:47.920 And it ended up being another nine hours until he was released.

00:13:52.360 I waited there for nine hours for him to be released as well.

00:13:56.640 Wow, wow, wow.

00:13:59.740 Heroine experience indeed.

00:14:01.260 What did your family think of this?

00:14:02.480 You've got a husband, six children.

00:14:05.300 We had talked about the possibility beforehand, and we had decided that this was a possibility and that we were both okay with it.

00:14:13.040 But then when it really happened, it was actually very scary.

00:14:15.900 It was very scary for my husband.

00:14:18.700 He tried to do his best to shield my kids.

00:14:21.420 But I think, you know, they wanted to know my mom wasn't home.

00:14:25.620 Wow.

00:14:27.180 So what's happened since then?

00:14:28.960 Where are things at right now?

00:14:29.980 So my friend went to court this morning, and the judge said, well, you've been charged with criminal trespassing.

00:14:39.540 But all of the charges will be dropped if you just agree never to come back on cathedral property.

00:14:48.260 Wow.

00:14:48.620 Isn't that unbelievable?

00:14:50.240 So they want to ban him from the cathedral permanently.

00:14:53.820 Yeah.

00:14:55.380 And my first hearing is tomorrow, and I expect the same offer.

00:14:59.200 Wow.

00:15:00.400 Wow.

00:15:01.000 Okay.

00:15:01.680 So at LifeSite, we're going to have a place, obviously, for people to express their concerns.

00:15:07.700 And we might say politely, but with firmness, to Bishop Sticca and the priest, the rector of the parish.

00:15:19.320 Who's that again?

00:15:19.960 Father Brennan, is it?

00:15:21.180 Father Bettner.

00:15:22.840 Bettner.

00:15:23.540 Bettner.

00:15:23.820 B-O-E-T-T-N-E-R, I think. 1.00

00:15:27.020 Very good.

00:15:28.360 Wow.

00:15:29.860 What's the message you'd like to convey?

00:15:32.760 Now you've got, hopefully, a platform where a lot of people will hear you.

00:15:37.180 What message would you like to convey?

00:15:39.780 The most important thing is that this is not for children.

00:15:43.520 You know, I didn't have to start hearing of the side effects before I knew this was wrong.

00:15:50.900 I know the old stories.

00:15:52.360 I know the old stories of witches where, you know, you draw—because let's be straight.

00:15:57.680 Why are kids being vaccinated?

00:15:59.920 You know, people—adults are vaccinating kids to protect the adults around the kid.

00:16:04.920 That's why it's being done.

00:16:07.260 That's the only—that's the only reason.

00:16:09.700 All right?

00:16:10.400 I didn't have to know—I didn't have to hear about side effects to know that was wrong.

00:16:15.020 You know, that's what—that's what witches do in the old stories. 1.00

00:16:18.480 They draw upon the vitality of the youth to—for their own health and well-being and beauty.

00:16:27.800 Okay?

00:16:28.700 Christians don't do that. 0.99

00:16:30.140 Christians don't do that. 0.99

00:16:31.360 Christians protect children.

00:16:32.580 They don't use children to protect themselves.

00:16:35.160 So that's number one.

00:16:35.980 This thing is not for children.

00:16:37.820 But number two, there's a First Amendment issue here.

00:16:40.420 You know, the First Amendment to the Constitution protects our right to criticize the government.

00:16:49.320 And, of course, we have analogous protection under our state constitution in Tennessee.

00:16:55.020 But what good is that if the government—in this case, the Knox County Health Department—can shield itself from criticism by doing its work on private property and expecting the private property to shut down all dissent and have the protesters arrested?

00:17:14.480 I mean, what good is the First Amendment, really, if that's going to be allowed to happen?

00:17:17.980 They get to do their bidding on private property and expect the private entity to take care of any trouble.

00:17:26.220 And this wasn't any private—you know, this wasn't any private entity.

00:17:29.560 This was the Catholic Church that benefits every single day from First Amendment protection in the United States.

00:17:36.380 And yet, in this instance, they conspired with the government to shut down any dissent of its own members.

00:17:45.280 Yeah, it's so deplorable for so many reasons.

00:17:49.220 But, you know, the Church to not only promote something that is morally objectionable without people being able to even state that there is something wrong with this, that's really unbelievable.

00:18:04.700 So, I really do hope people contact Bishop Sticca and the Rector of the Cathedral to voice their concerns.

00:18:14.480 Pray for them, too, for conversion of heart, because that is—this is a very dangerous precedent for our Church.

00:18:20.080 And we really got to pray and stand up as parents.

00:18:24.600 You did a really brave and great thing.

00:18:27.220 God bless you, Jennifer, and your family.

00:18:29.980 Thank you very much.

00:18:31.020 We appreciate it.

00:18:31.800 And God bless all of you.

00:18:35.160 We'll see you next time.

00:18:38.080 We have been warning everyone who would listen and attempting to build up alternative platforms to continue to reach you.

00:18:46.280 We have established ourselves on all sorts of platforms I'm going to explain in a minute.

00:18:50.500 But the most important thing to do is come direct to LifeSiteNews.com, because there we will always be.

00:18:57.540 But we've also established ourselves on platforms like Parler and MeWe, and our videos can be found on Rumble as well.

00:19:05.420 We would love to see each of you on those platforms, too, as they are not censoring or suppressing the truth that we are sharing every single day.

00:19:13.800 More than these alternative social media platforms, we highly encourage you to subscribe to our email newsletter.

00:19:21.260 We have really built up a large list of loyal readers on our email marketing platform.

00:19:26.200 And we have prepared several backup plans for, well, I want to say if, but it's really when, we are removed from our current platform as well.

00:19:36.880 Additionally, I really encourage you, as I said before, to make it a regular habit to go directly to LifeSiteNews.com.

00:19:44.140 Make it your homepage.

00:19:46.360 While all of these different platforms are an excellent way to curate your news, going directly to our website means that you will never encounter any censorship or sudden loss of LifeSiteNews reporting.

00:19:58.960 Here's the thing.

00:20:00.380 We will never stop sharing the truth.

00:20:03.740 We founded this organization with the mission to be the life, family, and culture source for men and women who seek to know the truth.

00:20:11.900 We have established a track record of honest reports, and this will never stop, even with censorship happening around the globe.

00:20:21.780 Again, I'm encouraging you to join us on Parler, MeWe, Rumble, and on our email list.

00:20:28.100 You can find all the direct links in the description of this video.

00:20:33.000 May God bless you and keep you, and we are so thankful that you've chosen to follow and support LifeSiteNews.

00:20:39.020 I'm John Henry Weston, co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.

The John-Henry Westen Show - March 08, 2022

I was arrested for praying, protesting outside my diocese's COVID vaccine clinic： Catholic mother

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript