UCLA doctor 'willing to lose everything' escorted from medical facility for refusing COVID vaccine: 'This is what happens when you stand up for freedom'



Video shows a California doctor being escorted out of the UCLA Medical Plaza in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The UCLA anesthesiologist is vehemently against vaccine mandates and proclaims that he is "willing to lose everything" to defend his position against mandatory vaccinations for COVID-19.

Dr. Christopher Rake — an anesthesiologist with UCLA Health — filmed himself being escorted from his workplace on Monday.

"This is what happens when you stand up for freedom, and you show up to work, willing to work, despite being unvaccinated, this is the price you have to pay sometimes," Rake says in the video as he is being escorted off the premises by three individuals. "What they don't realize is that I'm willing to go lose everything … job, paycheck, freedom, even my life, for this cause."

UCLA anesthesiologist Dr. Chris Rake, a COVID-19 vaccine mandate opponent, was escorted out of the UCLA medical pla… https://t.co/Rr2GpuBALP

— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) 1633486154.0

UCLA Health — which operates several hospitals in the Los Angeles area — requires all in-person employees to be fully vaccinated or obtain an exemption.

"Those out of compliance are subject to progressive discipline, including restricting access to work sites and being placed on leave," a UCLA spokesperson said in a statement to McClatchy News.

Rake has declared that he will not get the COVID-19 vaccine or seek an exemption.

On Aug. 5, the California Department of Health issued a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all health care workers in the state. Medical workers were required to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30.

The University of California outlines the ramifications for employees who refuse to get the coronavirus vaccine — which can result in termination.

If an employee fails to submit proof of Full Vaccination or make a request for an Exception or Deferral within the period prescribed in the Second Notice (or the First Notice, if a Non-Excepted Employee), the employee will receive a Notice of Continued Non-Compliance stating that the Department will commence a period of progressive corrective action/discipline, up to and including termination/dismissal, against the employee. During the corrective action/discipline period, the employee will be permitted Physical Presence for up to six weeks (at the Location's discretion) and must, as a condition of Physical Presence, comply with NPIs defined by the Location. Not withstanding the foregoing, employees subject to the August 5, 2021 CDPH order cannot be Physically Present at any UC health care facility after September 30, 2021 while their requests are pending.

All UCLA Health employees are required to complete a medical evaluation prior to the start of their employment, plus provide immunization records for measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, hepatitis B, and Tdap. As of November 2020, the University of California requires "all members of the UC community to receive an influenza immunization...if planning to be on UC premises for work-related purposes."

Rake has been an outspoken opponent against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the past.

On Aug. 29, Rake delivered a speech at an anti-vaccine mandate rally in Santa Monica.

"Last year I put my life on the line, I put on all the protective equipment, I dealt with COVID patients and very carefully, painstakingly tried to take off that equipment — making sure I didn't get infected and bring some deadly disease home to my wife and my kids," the doctor told the crowd. "And now this year, I'm a zero. This year they want to force a vaccination or medication treatment into my body that I don't want."

Rake continued, "So they're telling me, 'You take the jab or we take your job.' I'm here to say, 'No, that's not OK.'"

"We want vaccinated people with us too," he added. "They deserve medical freedom. If they want to choose the vaccine, they should have that right. If they want to deny it, they should have that right."

He stressed that vaccinated Americans "are not the enemy."

After warning the crowd against listing their religion as an exemption to the vaccine (he says the gov’t will come… https://t.co/lWBa0nOtxF

— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) 1630282503.0

According to Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow, Rake previously spoke out against COVID-19 vaccine mandates at a rally outside the Los Angeles City Hall.

"I have told my workplace I will not take the religious exemption," Rake is seen on video saying. "I'm standing on the Constitution, and I'm standing on human rights, and I'm standing with all my friends who are atheists, I'm standing with everyone who can't claim that exemption."

At a rally in front of LA City Hall, he said that he refused to even request a medical exemption, making yesterday’… https://t.co/StQLbtbhQx

— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) 1633486186.0

At the time of publication, Rake's profile on the UC Health website was still active.

Rake received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in 2004 and completed his residency at the UCLA School of Medicine in 2009. He has been a board-certified anesthesiologist since 2010.

Daily Caller editor-in-chief unloads on the New York Times for misidentifying reporter as 'rioter'



The Daily Caller's editor-in-chief, Geoffrey Ingersoll, blasted the New York Times on Monday after the Sunday edition of the paper falsely identified a credentialed reporter with the outlet as a rioter and falsely accused him of participating in violent activity at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Over the weekend, the Times published an essay by Timothy Snyder, the Levin professor of history at Yale University, commenting on the Capitol Hill riots that took place last week and asserting that the "post-truth" Trump presidency is a precursor to fascism. Embedded in the article is a photograph of Richie McGinniss, a videographer with the Daily Caller.

McGinniss was reporting on the riots on location at the Capitol when the photograph was taken. He was photographed shirtless at a door to the Capitol that had previously been attacked by rioters with the mob. In the picture, he can be seen gesturing to Capitol Police, who are visible through shattered windows on the other side of the door.

In the photo caption, the Times originally identified McGinniss as a "rioter" and said that "he punched the door after being pepper-sprayed and forced out of the building."

None of that was true, according to McGinniss, who said that immediately prior to the photo, he was dosed with pepper spray and removed his shirt because it was "burning my skin." He explained that he had lost his phone in a "melee." He claimed that in the photo he's gesturing to police to help him find his phone.

@andrewkimmel @GPIngersoll @nytimes It was soaked in pepper spray and burning my skin. Immediately prior to the pho… https://t.co/XmR2hFTMpb
— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@Richie🎥McG🍿)1610378105.0

On Sunday, the Times added a correction to the essay, saying, "A picture caption with an earlier version of this essay misidentified the shirtless man shown outside a broken window at the Capitol. He was a videographer working for The Daily Caller, a right-wing website, not one of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol."

A new caption on the photo reads: "A videographer for The Daily Caller, a right-wing website, after being pepper-sprayed during the mayhem at the Capitol, 3:45 p.m."

The correction does not make mention of the removed allegation that McGinniss "punched the door" or was "forced out of the building."

In a Twitter thread, Ingersoll angrily accused the Times of inventing "a story about a credentialed reporter out of whole cloth."

For those who don't know, Sunday's @nytimes published an image of @RichieMcGinniss, referred to him as a "rioter" a… https://t.co/iEKukRhDSa
— Geoffrey Ingersoll (@Geoffrey Ingersoll)1610367485.0

Ingersoll also blasted the Times' correction, accusing the paper of implying that the Daily Caller's reporter "was somehow adjacent to the violence and property destruction."

"This is sickening behavior from the paper of record," Ingersoll tweeted.

Image source: Twitter/@GPIngersoll screenshot

"NYT libeled him, then in their correction, left the implication that POSSIBLY MAYBE because he works for a [right-wing] outlet he may have had some role," he continued.

Image source: Twitter/@GPIngersoll screenshot

He offered his own take on how the correction should have read

"How about: We referred to a man as a rioter and implied he was engaged in violent activity at the capitol. He was a credentialed reporter and was not engaged in violent activity. The NYT regrets the error."