Pro-vaccine activist finds his photo on anti-vaxxer vigil for children ‘killed by vaccines’

In the wake of California governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of a bill that makes religious exemptions for vaccines exponentially harder to get, anti-vaccine activists organized a candlelight vigil in the state capitol where they displayed photos of children who they claim were “killed” by vaccines. But as images of the event circulated social media, one man noticed that he was included among the gallery of supposedly dead children, Insider reports.

In a tweet posted three days after the event, Ethan J. Lindenberger shared an image of the vigil and circled a photo at the bottom right of the image, showing his portrait was included amongst the alleged victims.

“It would seem that an antivaxx rally on 9/11 had a candle light vigil for dead children…and my picture was included,” Lindenberger tweeted.

Coincidentally (or not), Lindenberger is also a known pro-vaccine advocate. In 2018, a message he posted to Reddit asking how he could get his required vaccines went viral. In the post, Lindenberger pointed out that he had just turned 18 and no longer was under the control of his parents who previously denied him immunizations due to their anti-vax ideology. In March of 2019, he testified in front of the U.S. Senate on disinformation about vaccines and how it spreads on social media.

It turns out that Lindenberger’s photo wasn’t the only fraudulent image included in the vigil. One Twitter user pointed out a stock photo of a baby about to get vaccinated amongst the candle-lit display.

Featured image via Twitter

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.