Actor Kirk Cameron held another Christmas caroling event outside of a Thousand Oaks, California, mall to protest the governor’s stay-at-home order.
The Tuesday night event at The Oaks mall attracted between 75 and 100 mostly maskless people, according to KABC-TV. People of all ages attended, including children and senior citizens.
The “Growing Pains” actor, 50, shared videos of the caroling on his Instagram Story showing a large crowd standing close together and singing “The First Noel.”
The mall said it had asked that the event not be held there and slammed it as “irresponsible.”
“In regards to the peaceful protest planned for The Oaks this evening, we do not condone this irresponsible — yet constitutionally protected — event. We share your concern and have notified the Sheriff’s office,” the mall said in a Facebook statement on Tuesday.
Cameron confirmed to NBC News that he attended the caroling event and stated that all attendees were encouraged to wear masks. He had no further comment.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
The former child star has held several Christmas caroling events to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. During a press conference on Monday, the governor said the order will most likely be extended in four regions due to a rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths.
“I’m looking around in my community and I’m seeing the devastation and the suffering of people whose businesses have been bankrupted,” Cameron said in a television interview last week. “People who have been dealing with anxiety, depression; suicide spiking. The abused being quarantined with their abusers and I can’t just ignore that. I love my neighbors and so I want to give them hope.”
Cameron said he plans to continue hosting caroling events.
“This is the land of the free and home of the brave, and there are thousands and thousands of people in our community who would rather not suffer in isolation and come out to sing and express their gratitude,” he said. “We believe there is immunity in community, but there is desolation in isolation.”
Newsom said last week that he was activating the state’s “mass fatality” program to assist local agencies with a rise in coronavirus deaths.
“This is a deadly disease, a deadly pandemic and we’re in the middle of it right now,” he told reporters. “We’re near the end, but we’re in the middle of the most acute peak as it relates to what we refer to as the third wave.”
The state has also ordered thousands of body bags and has dozens of refrigerated storage units on standby.
About 32,300 new cases of the virus are reported in the state each day, a number Newsom said was historic. The positivity rate climbed from 6.9 percent at the beginning of December to more than 10 percent as of last Monday.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
