Maskless and socially distanced. Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, led the panel. He’s nearest the flag. To Johnson’s left is organizer Ken Ruettgers and his wife, Sheryl.
Session closed to pubic except for video
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Senator Ron Johnson’s panel for Covid horror stories was in sterile interior conference room around pop-ip tables arranged in a U at the federal courthouse. There was no public access and no audience other than video-recording crew and staff. Johnson had five panelists. Their stories included:
> Stephanie de Garay of Cincinnati said her12-year-old daughter Maddie, at the panel in a wheelchair, needed three hospitalizations over two months for severe reactions from the Pfizer vaccine. She quoted her daughter: “It feels like my heart is being ripped out.” Other symptoms: Abdominal pain, brain fog, headaches, dizziness and seizures and numbness from the waist down.
> Kristi Dobbs, a dental hygienist from Webb City, Missouri, said her Pfizer vaccination was followed by severe pain, paresthesia and heart palpitations. She talked about “internal vibrations” three days after her first dose. “It feels like you have this electric shock running through your body, like you’re stuck in a vibrating chair,” she said. “It never stops.” Because of tremors, she said she doubted that ll ever practice as a hygienist again. She said she had lymph node problems, muscle weakness, convulsions and seizures.
> Ken Ruetggers, a Former Green Bay Packers player said that his wife, Sheryl, was still experiencing severe neurological reactions, including muscle pain, numbness, weakness and paresthesia.
After the detailed and emotional statements, Johnson defended himself from critics for arranging a panel that discouraged people from being vaccinated. “Do you think that’s reckless and irresponsible?” he said rhetorically. “I think it’s called compassion. I think it’s showing concern for your fellow human beings who have stepped up.” Then Johnson made a confusing point, saying that he, as well as the panelists, were all pro-vaccine.
Earlier: Johnson defends his anti-vax event
The organizer
Ken Ruettgers, a former Green Bay Packers football player, arranged the Milwaukee panel. Ruettgers picked up the hotel bills of panelists ewho traveled to Milwaukee for the event. Ruettgers has a website that reaches out to others to self-report maladies from Covid vaccines. “They want to be heard, they want to be seen, they want to be believed,” he said.
Johnson data
At the panel Johnson again raised the issue of possible vaccine-related deaths. He said he had charts showing that 4,800 deaths that had been linked to Covid vaccines. His source: A federal government’s vaccine adverse event website. The site, known as VAERS, has a form that can be filed by anyone. The claims are not documented as actually having been caused by a vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that whatever is inferred from VERAS posts, nearly 320 million Americans have been vaccinated. The VERS data, even if verified, would be 0.0017%.At the same time, Covid has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 Americans.