Pro-Trump Pastor Greg Locke falsely claimed that Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee has signed an executive order that allows the National Guard to build “quarantine camps” to lock up those who refuse to be vaccinated against the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Locke, a longtime COVID denier, slammed Lee for easing some regulations so health officials can better deal with rising infection and hospitalization rates, notes Right Wing Watch:
Did you see the executive order he just signed for COVID-19? Anybody that has a medical license can now practice in Tennessee from out of state, which is unconstitutional, super, super dangerous, and that is very unlawful for a lot of reasons. But they’re talking about all these hospitals are overflowing with people. Why don’t you carry camera in one of these hospitals that are supposed to be overflowing with COVID patients and show me how empty they are?
...But here’s the two things that bothered me. Number one: He has authorized the power of the National Guard to get involved in issues of COVID-19. … You know what bothers me more about the National Guard getting involved? Why don’t you look at Section 8 of what he signed? … They’ve authorized the Tennessee Department of FEMA to build what they call—in his own authorized pages of a signature—quarantine camps. I ain’t talking about East Germany, I’m talking about Tennessee! Quarantine camps for the uninformed people that are still in refusal to be vaccinated.
Right Wing Watch also debunked Locke’s lies:
In addition to the fact that authorization to build temporary quarantine facilities is mentioned in Section 18, not Section 8, of Lee’s executive order, everything else Locke said about it is wrong.
The order does not give the National Guard the power to imprison those who refuse to be vaccinated but merely states that if temporary quarantine or isolation facilities need to be quickly constructed in Tennessee, the state, in an effort to speed up the process, has suspended regulations that require plans for the construction of new health care facilities to be preapproved and certified as meeting applicable state health and safety requirements.
(Sources: Vimeo, Right Wing Watch)