As if casting out demons, dozens of people tossed pricey KN95 face masks into a fire pit Friday in Mission Bay Park.
The coverings were depicted as ātools of terrorā being used to āturn neighbor against neighbor.ā They were a āprecursor to adult mandatory vaccinationā and āgetting everybody angry.ā
Said one older man, wearing a āMAGA FIGHT CLUBā shirt: āIām ready to die for this missionā but: āFirst of all, we need to get Trump re-elected.ā
The discarded five-layer masks ā fresh from their cellophane packaging ā carried their own defiant messages into the Ski Beach flames at an event labeled āBurn Your Mask Bonfire.ā

Examples included: āThis mask is as useless as Gavin Newsom,ā āLies by the mainstream mediaā and āNice try, Satan.ā
A woman with a young girl tossed many masks. One was labeled: āThis mask does not protect you or me.ā Another said: āJesus and only Jesus can save.ā
As two officers watched from a San Diego police vehicle, the event organized by Amber Lynn Gilles of Starbucks mask-refusal fame could be mistaken for any other beach gathering. (But no marshmallows were roasted. In fact, no refreshments were served at the two-hour rally.)
A handful of critical observers wore masks but didnāt get into the faces of the three dozen responding to Gillesā summons on Facebook. One man labeled the group ābatshit crazyā and rode away on his bike saying āpeople are dying.ā
The event began about 40 minutes late ā with an entertainer unable to activate a small gasoline generator. It was meant to provide electricity for amplifiers.
Story continues below
So the barefoot Gilles went to Plan B, moving featured speakers to the fire pit instead of a grassy overlook.
Most passionate was Genevieve Peters, whose 22-minute May 7 video of being kicked out of a Rancho Palos Verdes Trader Joeās has 144,000 views (and many more on other channels).
āFor millions of years, we have had viruses. ⦠We have had bacteria. And all sorts of ⦠microorganisms,ā she said, searching for the right pronunciation. When they are infectious, she declared, āGod gave us our immune system.ā
She touted hydroxychloroquine as a way to prevent COVID-19 and urged the crowd to watch āAmericaās Frontline Doctors,ā the viral video that health experts have denounced as dangerous.
Peters insisted that countries using hydroxychloroquine to treat malaria can boast of only one or two deaths per million. But that belief, promoted by President Trump, has been debunked. (Few people in malaria-prone countries are even taking such drugs, said factcheck.org.)
She likened Americans obeying mask rules to Jews following Nazi edicts amid the Holocaust.
āWhen people (say) Iām not being kind and ⦠thoughtful ā I might as well get on that train in Germany as well,ā she said before leading a chant of āDo not comply, do not comply.ā
Peters was followed by Joshua Coleman, who contends his 6-year-old son Otto was partially paralyzed after receiving vaccinations when he was 17 months old.
Colemanās overriding concern was that āadult mandatory vaccination is coming.ā
Next was Orange Countyās Carmen Estel, whose website calls her āa Holy Fire Reiki Master Practitionerā who channels healing methods from Jesus and angels.
Estel was adamant: āYou cannot be living in faith if youāre living in fearā of the virus. āI am not dying in my time. I am dying in Godās time. ⦠If God wants me to die of the virus, I will die of the virus.ā
She said darkness can exist only in the absence of light.
Burn your mask ????
Posted by Amber Lynn on Friday, August 7, 2020
āSo when it comes to [Gov. Gavin] Newsom, all we have to do is keep shining a light on that dark mother-effer,ā she said, pausing before the near-vulgarity.
Estel said nobody sees anyone dying of COVID. She seemed to backtrack a moment later.
āEverybody is clued in now. This isnāt really happening,ā she said at sunset. āThe hospitals are empty. Nurses are furloughed. Have you all noticed this?ā
Three rappers, including an apparently married couple, performed for 10 minutes, followed by Estel handing the brand-new face masks out of a box, offering marker pens to inscribe notes before the roasting.
A prayer ended the event just before 8:30 p.m. Everyone held hands.