An array of baseless vaccine conspiracy theories were brought together in Ohio this week for a bill hearing, including—as you may or may not have seen all over your timeline this week—the particularly ridiculous one about shots causing magnetization.
The magnetism conspiracy theory was first spoken of during the hearing by Sherri Tenpenny, a physician with a well-documented history of spreading misinformation about the global COVID-19 pandemic. During this week’s viral video-inspiring hearing, the focus of which was the vaccination-focused House Bill 248, Tenpenny also mentioned “5G towers,” which have been a popular topic among deeply entrenched conspiracy theorists for quite some time now.
Among the other (also baseless) conspiracy theories given the floor at the hearing, per a report from regional outlet WTOL, was a pastor-shared bit about fetal cells.
But it’s the Tenpenny-referencing comments from self-described ICU RN and current nurse practitioner student Joanna Overholt that have received the bulk of the attention, most notably for including footage of an expectedly failed impromptu mini-experiment.
“There are profound problems with mandatory vaccinations that you guys are most likely unaware of,” Overholt said, starting around the six-minute mark in the video up top. From there, Overholt mentioned something she “found out” while eating lunch that day.
“So I just found out something when I was on lunch and I wanted to show it to you,” she said. “We were talking about Dr. Tenpenny’s testimony about magnetic vaccine crystals. So this is what I found out. So, I have a key and a bobby pin here.”
From there, Overholt attempted to show the pieces being held to her body due to purported magnetics, ultimately failing to do so. Any further description, aside from pointing out that Overholt later said: “it wasn’t a joke” when inviting fellow hearing participants to do magnet stuff on their own, might risk ruining the watchability of the full clip. Catch that above and/or below.
To be clear, absolutely none of this—no, not even the magnet stuff—should be heeded. Instead, now is indeed the time to make a vaccine appointment if you haven’t already done so. As Dr. Fauci explained earlier this week, getting the vaccination numbers here in the States to as high of a level as possible is key in moving forward in—and ultimately, beyond—the pandemic era.
