California medical director ‘ambushed’ by van of anti-vaxxers in parking garage

‘They watched my daughter drive herself to school and watched me walk out of my house, get in my car’

Kristina Lawson says alleged stalkers camped early on in the day outside her house (Business Wire)

The chief of California’s medical board has said she was stalked by a group of anti-vaxxers, calling it “a terrifying experience”.

Kristina Lawson, who is serving as the president of the medical board and has been a gubernatorial appointee for six years, narrated her experience in a series of tweets on Wednesday, claiming to have been confronted by four men in a poorly lit parking garage.

“On Monday, I was followed and confronted by a group that peddles medical disinformation, promotes fake Covid-19 treatments, and is under investigation by Congress for stealing millions of dollars from consumers. It was a terrifying experience,” Ms Lawson wrote.

She said the alleged stalkers had camped early on in the day outside her house, sparking suspicion.

“To start the day, the group parked their rental SUV near the end of my driveway, and then flew a drone over my house.  They watched my daughter drive herself to school and watched me walk out of my house, get in my car, and take my two kids to school,” the medical board official recounted.

Adding that at least one of the members in the group had flown in from another country to take part in this, Ms Lawson said she was followed to her place of work, where they “parked the SUV head-to-head with my car in the parking garage that is attached to my office building.”

“That evening, when I left the office building and entered the parking garage four men jumped out of the SUV with cameras and recording equipment and confronted me as I tried to get into my car to drive home,” she added.

On being confronted by Walnut Creek police officials, the group said they had wanted to interview Ms Lawson, the request for which she said was never raised with her or the medical board’s press office.

“Instead, they ambushed me in a dark parking garage when they suspected I would be alone,” she wrote in the Twitter thread.

“The private investigator traveling with them told law enforcement they are producing a video about me that will include footage of my house and neighbourhood, and, of course, me.”

The individuals in question identified themselves as representing America’s Frontline Doctors, that had spread misinformation about the pandemic, according to the Associated Press.

Ms Lawson stated she would continue to work hard amid the ongoing threat of Covid pandemic, adding that she was giving back to the people and her community via public service because she wanted “all Californians to have access to high quality, safe medical care.”

And it means that she has to protect Californians from “bad doctors, and ensuring disinformation and misinformation do not detract from our work to protect patients and consumers.”

She pointed to the devastation caused by the pandemic towards the end of her Twitter thread as a reminder and said: “Covid-19 has killed almost 800,000 Americans, and we must remain vigilant against new variants and against those that peddle fake, dangerous misinformation.”

According to Walnut Creek police’s spokesperson Holley Connors, a man claiming to be “a state detective from Georgia” called a police dispatcher on Monday.

He claimed he was conducting “surveillance” in San Miguel, an unincorporated area near Walnut Creek.

Ms Connors added that the man was asked by the dispatcher if he was carrying a weapon and the man said his gun was locked in a case.

The dispatcher told the man that he should contact Contra Costa County sheriff’s office, which oversees the area he said he was in.

The California Medical Board issued a statement condemning the incident and said this was just the latest instance of rising violence and harassment from anti-vaccine extremists.

“Incidents like this one are increasing in number and severity and present a growing threat to physicians, public health officials and other public servants throughout our state,” a statement by the medical board read.

It added that “this behaviour is not acceptable, and we cannot allow it to be normalised. We must do more to address the dangerous escalation and growing threat from those who peddle misinformation and put our public health at risk.”

Additional reporting by agencies