Thousands listen to his talk at the Van Wezel.
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: April 16, 2025
Host: Dr. Anthony Fauci was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until 2022, during Trump’s first administration. As such, he was one of the most visible figures of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, he spoke, twice, to a sold-out crowd at the 1,700-seat Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, as part of the Ringling College Library Association’s speaker series. An estimated couple hundred protesters came to welcome the audience with bullhorns, shouts and chants, creating a few tense moments.
We thank News2Share and WSLR News intern Farah Vallecillo for some of the audio.
Photo via News2Share
Protester 1: Fauci lied, people died. Get your free COVID shot.
Protester 2: Find Jesus!
Protester 1: Yeah, you don’t like it when we protest.
Protester 2: Y’all look so unhealthy.
Protester 1: Yeah! Down with you! Yeah! Communist! Friggin’ communist. Communist Dems. Every single one of them.
Photo via News2Share
Johannes Werner: An estimated couple hundred protesters lined up along US 41 and the main entrance of the Van Wezel parking lot before Dr. Fauci’s Monday morning talk. Maybe 40 of them clustered on the lawn opposite the main entrance of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, where all the mostly elderly audience, one of them in a wheelchair, had to pass through. Many couples were holding hands while walking along the loud protesters. None of them responded to the touts or slogans. Sarasota City cops repeatedly asked the protesters to stay on the lawn. At least two cops could be seen on the roof of the purple building. There were bullhorns. One protester was dressed in a devil Halloween costume, wearing Dr. Fauci’s face. The most popular t-shirt was black, saying “Jail Fauci.” There were at least two t-shirts identifying the bearers as a Proud Boy. There was a “Jesus Saves” sign. There was a black Infowars flag. And someone brought an inflatable “elephant in the room” with a handwritten sign that said “Vaccine Injury.”
Some carried signs showing pictures of loved ones who died of COVID.
Photo via News2Share
Bob Rivernider: My name is Bob Rivernider. This is my father’s death certificate. He was killed on October 19, 2020. The cause of death: COVID-19. As you can see right there, COVID-19 was the cause of death. Anthony Fauci invented COVID-19 and spread it throughout the world. Anthony Fauci murdered my father. He’s guilty of murder. He needs to be arrested.
JW: Many scientists assume COVID-19 emerged naturally. Even so, a Republican-led U.S. House panel last year concluded that the virus likely leaked from a lab in China.
Protester 1: This is just abhorrent. Fourteen countries have warrants for his arrest, for his mass murder, for his genocide. This is incredibly insane. But here you go. This is our liberal part of Sarasota. These are all our liberals that are supporting all this—supported the vaccine all the way through.
Photo by Johannes Werner
JW: The claim about 14 countries, including New Zealand, charging Dr. Fauci for negligent homicide, popped up on social media based on an article by AMG-News. It is unsubstantiated and likely false.
Meanwhile, inside the Van Wezel talking to more than 3,000 people, Dr. Fauci reflected on his 50 years in science and public service. He talked about the danger of budget cutting of federal health agencies, and he encouraged young people to pursue careers in public health. He talked about how uncomfortable he was of having to contradict his president when Trump said that COVID would disappear like magic and advocated unproven treatments. He said people tend to forget that closing schools and businesses happened at a time when thousands of people were dying every day and morgues were overflowing. But he conceded that, given new knowledge, closures today would be shorter. Fauci also talked about falsehoods—such as about vaccines—spreading on social media, and how their repetition makes people believe they are true, creating disruption in society.
Later on Monday, some 300 vaccine and Fauci opponents gathered at Five Points Park in downtown Sarasota, a few blocks from the venue, for a less tense “Freedom Festival.”
Michelle Pozzie addresses a crowd. Photo by Johannes Werner
It featured Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo—who has been an advocate against vaccine and mask mandates—as one of the main speakers. He thanked “all the freedom warriors out there.” He said whenever Dr. Fauci has a message, it’s good to have a counter message. He said that “fortunately, the counter message prevails.” That counter message, he says, is about what is best for human beings, and he seemed to suggest that Fauci is anti-human. He talked about the need to regulate the weed killer Glyphosate, to end putting fluoride in drinking water, about human-induced climate change as a false narrative, how renewable-energy technologies release substances that are harmful to humans, how no one is entitled to the right to medicate people, and about the possibility of vaccine injury. He brought up God repeatedly and called some scientific conversations “insane” and medical rules coercive.
The stage was set on a tractor trailer bearing the name of The Hollow, a venue that says it “connects freedom-loving Patriot groups” and “reinforces our national identity.” Members of the Proud Boys group have volunteered at The Hollow.
The master of ceremonies was Michelle Pozzie, a key figure in a right-wing grassroots rebellion against the Sarasota County Republican establishment.
Reporting for WSLR News, Johannes Werner.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.