How an anti-mask, anti-vaccine activist became a leader of the Gavin Newsom recall

Six weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom handed down a statewide shelter-in-place order, hundreds of people who resented his coronavirus restrictions gathered at the Capitol to decry his emergency powers.

They waved American flags, and hoisted “defend freedom,” “let us work,” and “f--k Newsom” signs. A banner depicting the governor as Adolf Hitler flew above. Protesters clashed with California Highway Patrol Officers, who were policing the scene. Ultimately, 32 people were arrested and cited.

Among the protesters was Cordie Williams, a former Marine and Carlsbad chiropractor who grabbed a megaphone, urging the lines of law enforcement guarding the Capitol to stand down.

“When you’re given an order, you’ve got to say, ‘is this a lawful order or is this a bullshit order?’” Williams said, garnering cheers from the throngs of unmasked supporters. “And when something’s a bulls--t order and it doesn’t pass the sniff test, that’s when you say sergeant, that’s when you say colonel, that’s why you say general, that’s when you say governor, I’m not doing that.”

Since that day, experts have suggested that Newsom’s decision to shut down the state likely saved California from an early and fatal coronavirus wave that buckled states like New York.

The day launched Williams’ online reputation as an anti-shutdown, anti-mask speaker who calls himself the “Megaphone Marine.” He’s spent the last year offering similar speeches at rallies across the country with his organization, 1776 Freedom Forever.

Now, he’s one of the major proponents of the effort to recall Newsom, which has an estimated 2.1 million signatures and looks set to qualify for the ballot. Williams has attended rallies for the recall and hosted weekly town halls to promote the effort. He was in attendance at a press conference on March 7 when leaders announced they believed they had gathered more than enough signatures to force a recall vote.

Williams believes masks are a tool of division, designed to unfairly mark those like him who doubt they work, that the government is forcing dangerous vaccines upon its people, and that Newsom’s attempts to slow a deadly virus make him a California version of Adolf Hilter.

He doesn’t understand why the state kept students out of school while youth depression and reports of suicide rose.

He believes it’s his duty, as a former Marine, a patriot and a father, to spread his message of freedom and choice to others around the country, starting with California.

Williams’ controversial rhetoric reflects the views of some of the recall’s most enthusiastic early proponents, and today are being used by Democrats to characterize the recall as extremist. His comments were cited by members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus earlier this year as examples of why voters should take a hard a look at who is behind the recall.

“These are not folks I align with in any way, shape or form,” Newsom said of recall leaders while visiting a vaccine site in Orange County last month. “I find their views just completely antithetical to everything this state represents and what we’re about.”

Connection to recall

Williams’ name does not appear on the recall petition, which was filed in February 2020, about a month before the pandemic brought California to a screeching halt. But since then, he has become actively involved in the effort, promoting it on social media, attending rallies and working with the organizers of the campaign.

For months, Williams has hosted weekly virtual gatherings to talk about the recall, and joined leaders Orrin Heatlie and Mike Netter online March 17 to celebrate turning in 2.1 million signatures. One description of Williams, noted in a conference speakers brochure, says he “teamed up with the Recall Gavin 2020 Movement” and hosts a weekly online townhall where they discuss how to get rid of “this tyrannical leftist governor.”

On his website, Williams advertises his involvement with a tour called the “Recall Roadtrip” where he is listed as a guest speaker, along with Netter.

Heatlie distanced himself from Williams and said he has limited involvement in the recall movement.

“He has never voiced his personal views on our town hall or any other social media platform operated by the campaign,” Heatlie said in a text message. “He as anyone is entitled to his personal views and opinions. It doesn’t mean we share his thoughts or ideas.”

In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, Williams said his personal views are not the views of the recall or its leaders.

After his May 1 speech at the California Capitol went viral, Williams said many people gravitated toward his message. In early summer 2020, Williams said Heatlie reached out to him and invited him to host the weekly recall town hall.

“I’m entitled to my own views. It’s funny, there are 2.1 million plus people that signed a petition that says they want someone else doing business and they want the future of their kids in California to be under the hands of different leadership,” he said.

“We took it serious for the last six months, you guys didn’t start taking it serious until probably seven weeks ago. The sad thing about that is, now, Gavin’s getting a little hot under the collar and, getting a sweaty t-shirt... and now they’re trying to make this one-sided narrative, which just isn’t true, because there are literally people of every walk of life... involved in this recall,” he said.

Not every person who supports the recall, or signed the petition, is a follower of extremist beliefs or conspiracy theories. Although several big-name Republicans have donated to the cause, organizers say about one-third of signatures were from non-Republican Californians.

Several Democratic leaders, including Newsom, have said they understand why Californians must be feeling frustrated right now, with the stress of the pandemic and ensuing economic turmoil.

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said the recall effort itself isn’t concerning, but there are people who are motivated to remove Newsom because of the whirlpool of misinformation and grievance regarding COVID-19, vaccines, masks and other conspiracy theories that have ramped up in the past year.

“At a time when we’re seeing escalating threats against public officials, the adults in the room should say, ‘some things are legitimate and some types of calls for violence, depictions of the governor as a Hitlarian Nazi, and use of conspiracy theories are off the table,’” Levin said. “But you won’t hear that because unfortunately, in today’s coarse and fact-limited political world, it’s all about making waves and less and less about facts.”

Holocaust references, masks, pandemic skepticism

Williams has, on multiple occasions, compared the governor to Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi movement who systematically killed more than 6 million Jews. In various videos reviewed by The Bee, Williams has used the title “Adolf Newsom” and “Furher Newsom” to describe the governor.

When asked about using those titles for the governor, Williams said he feels politics is the main factor in making decisions regarding the pandemic.

“Since when...have we allowed government to dictate health policy?” he asked. “We’re letting political officials, that look like cadavers, those are the people that are deciding the future of your kids and my kids and what we’re all going to do? That doesn’t make sense to me.”

He traveled to Washington D.C. on Jan. 5 to speak about freedom and choice, though he says he did not participate in the riots at the U.S. Capitol or condone any violence. He told a San Diego TV station earlier this year that he wanted an audit of the 2020 election results. He also expressed dismay at the policies designed to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“You want to wear a mask? Great, just don’t tell me I have to. You want to vaccinate your kids? Great, just don’t tell me I have to,” he told NBC7. “You want to get the COVID vaccine? Great, just don’t tell me I have to.”

At an Aug. 1 rally in Sacramento, Williams described masks as “facial condoms” and said by wearing one, you are complicit with “the other side.”

“In World War II, there was a furnace that said ‘Auschwitz.’ Right now, that furnace says ‘socialism,’ and so many Americans are headed toward that furnace,” he said on Aug. 1. “What my organization, 1776 Forever Free, wants to do is help turn that doggone bus around. We want to take it back the other way.”

That month, Williams launched a Facebook group for his organization, called the 1776 Freedom Fighters. The page is described as a private group for members, and is about “freedom and choice.”

The conversation in the Facebook group, reviewed by The Bee, oscillates between conservative conversation and conspiracy theories. Members frequently post memes about various Democrats, including Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Others lean toward the anti-mask and anti-vaccine ideologies, encouraging fellow members to patronize businesses that aren’t abiding by COVID-19 rules, praising those who enter stores without masks, and spreading false information about the efficacy of vaccines.

Medical beliefs

Williams and his wife run a clinic in Carlsbad, where they describe themselves as “highly trained Holistic Neurological Chiropractors.” Both are licensed as chiropractors with the state of California.

Williams received a doctor of chiropractic degree from Life University in Georgia , a private school focused on training chiropractors. The university’s educational and clinical philosophy is based on a principal called “Vitalism,” which, according to the university, is the recognition that “the Universe itself is self-conscious, and as such, creates itself as a dynamic system wherein living organisms are self-developing, self-maintain and self-healing.”

According to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, compiled by non-partisan watchdog Accountable.us, Williams in 2020 received more than $150,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans for his business, and $12,775 from the Paycheck Protection Program. Both programs were implemented by the federal government last year to help small businesses struggling during the pandemic.

According to the U.S. Marine Corps, Williams served in the Marine Corps from 1998 to 2002, with assignments in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Okinawa, Japan. Williams then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Alabama .

It was after watching his grandparents lose their battles with cancer under the “medical paradigm” that he grew passionate about educating society about the “body’s innate and internal ability to heal itself,” according to his biography on the clinic website.

Williams is scheduled to speak at a “Health & Freedom” conference in Tulsa in April where featured speakers include Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, Trump attorneys who have spent the last year promoting conspiracy theories about the presidential election.

Williams has said he was not directing his employees to use masks or gloves in their clinic, because it was antithetical to his views and also “a constitutional infringement.”

“The idea that we would try to control or mitigate a virus with a piece of cloth, it’s antiquated,” he said.

The Centers for Disease control recommend everyone wear a mask in public settings to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Recent studies show that face masks are an effective tool in prevent the spread of the virus.

Nathan Click, spokesman for the committee to Stop the Republican Recall, said in a statement that Williams used his position as a top official for the recall committee to launch “hateful attacks against Jewish Californians and spew anti-vaccine lies.”

“Instead of condemning this rhetoric, fellow recall leaders elevated his voice within their organization,”Click said. “Do Californians really want to throw in their lot with an organization that sanctioned and promoted this kind of vile rhetoric?”

This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How an anti-mask, anti-vaccine activist became a leader of the Gavin Newsom recall."