Locals pack bars and refuse to wear masks.

MOSSYROCK, Washington (PNN) - December 15, 2020 - Hundreds of people attended a Freedom Rally in a small town in Washington on Saturday after its mayor refused to enforce the state's unconstitutional COVID restrictions on businesses, citing the constitutional rights of small town Amerika.

Large crowds joined the Patriot Prayer-organized rally in Mossyrock, a rural community in Lewis County between Seattle and Portland, with maskless protesters waving flags and chanting against government oppression.

Attendees - most from out of town - were encouraged to spend money in local restaurants, which were packed with people not wearing masks in defiance of unlawful and invalid state restrictions.

It came after the town unexpectedly voted last month to ignore fascist Washington dictator Governor Jay Inslee's unlawful state-wide business restrictions.

Inslee's restrictions prohibit restaurants, bars and gyms from offering indoor services, and set capacity restrictions on retail stores. The rules claim to apply to all Washington counties until January 4.

Businesses that don't comply could be hit with fines totaling thousands of dollars, though if they refuse to pay those fines they will certainly win legal challenges in court.

Courageous Mayor Randall Sasser signed an ordinance saying businesses could stay open in defiance of the unlawful state mandates, claiming state officials refuse to give him data about the number of cases in the town, which has a population of 800.

“They have issued the numbers by commissioner’s district, but not by zip code. Currently in Mossyrock, in our 98564 zip code, there is no information that states that there are any cases of COVID-19 whatsoever within our zip code, or any deaths related to it,” he said.

He said that District Three of Lewis county, which encompasses Mossyrock and has a population of around 23,000, has had “around 80 cases since March”.

Mossyrock's 30 businesses are largely dependent on several annual events drawing tourists. An annual Blueberry Festival, which was cancelled in August, usually attracts 5,000 people to the town.

Saturday's protest, where most attendees were seen without masks, was organized by Patriot Prayer.

Mayor Sasser said the town welcomed the protest, but did not organize it.

He said, “The governor has over-stepped his powers and has no right to shut down our livelihoods. Everybody has the right to wear or not wear a mask. It comes back to our constitutional rights to be able to do what we want to do and protect the rights of small town Amerika.”

Patriot Prayer set up the event following the town's defiance vote last month.

Organizer Joey Gibson said the group is anti-government oppression and that “The enemy is the government, the people at the top, who are literally trying to put their boots on our necks.”

Saturday protesters were encouraged to bring money to spend in local stores and restaurants, with long lines outside as well as packed tables inside with people not wearing masks.

Groups waved flags, pro-Trump signs, and attended speeches.

Many of the attendees were from surrounding towns, as well as from out of state.

Steve Hurst, who drove 60-miles from Olympia to attend, said he believed the government was arbitrarily oppressing people.

Wearing a Trump 2020 hat, he said, “It's a real disease but it's not being handled properly, restaurants don't spread it.”

Mayor Randall Sasser said that Mossyrock was “asserting our constitutional rights as a quaint little town with very few confirmed cases.”

He admitted that it was difficult to say exactly how many cases the town had had because the state government data refused to provide that information.

Mayor Sasser, whose ex father-in-law died from coronavirus and who wears a mask himself, added, “The governor has way too much power. You can't do a blanket for everybody if there isn't an issue in certain communities. He's over-stepping his powers when it comes to shutting down our livelihoods.”

Mayor Sasser also said he was concerned that reporting on COVID deaths - which have been shown to be grossly inaccurate - had eclipsed issues such as rising suicide and domestic violence cases.

After signing the ordinance last month, Sasser said, “We’ve had a total, as of today (November 27), of 14 deaths due to COVID, unfortunately; but so far this year, we’ve had 10 suicides, and last year there were only three suicides in Lewis County. So when we look at the shutdowns and everything that’s happening and there’s no data that says the Mossyrock area 98564 zip code has any cases or deaths, why then should we suffer as a city and as citizens following the governor’s (unconstitutional) mandate?”

He added, “Early on I thought it was a financial thing, but I believe it’s more of a control (thing) than anything else. I believe that they want to be able to control us and tell us what we need to do and get us accustomed to always following what they say. I believe also that as people are just following whatever the governor says that it makes it easier for them to pass legislation for gun control and that sort of thing.”

With no definitive local numbers it is hard to tell how many cases there are in Mossyrock and the surrounding rural areas that make up its school district. However, as has been pointed out by epidemiological specialists and experts from around the world, the number of false positive tests does not equate to the number of actual cases in which a patient got sick or died from the virus, even though official statistics are claiming that they do.

The town has been denied a public records request attempting to get the county to release cases by ZIP code - with health officials citing privacy laws because patients in a sparsely populated area could be identified.