Unfair Park from p7 “There is no vaccine-induced counterpart of AIDS.” In the hands of just a few regular social media users, a claim like this might not have gained much traction. But Jim and Ron Watkins, two kings of misinformation, have gotten their hands on VAIDS. “I’m not screengrabbing it, because it’s repellent [disinformation], but major con- spiracy influencers are claiming that a ‘vac- cine acquired immune deficiency syndrome’ called VAIDS can be passed through sexual contact to unvaccinated people and is the real pandemic. Really sick stuff,” conspiracy researcher and author Mike Rothschild wrote on Twitter. He continued: “Ron and Jim Watkins are pushing it hard, in case you need further proof that ‘VAIDS’ is total garbage.” The Watkinses were the owners and ad- ministrators of an online site where the QA- non conspiracy theory was allowed to flourish. There, an anonymous user claim- ing to be a high-level government official with “Q clearance” would post about a se- cret war former President Donald Trump was waging against a cabal of pedophiles that include Hollywood stars and Demo- cratic politicians. HBO’s documentary series Q: Into the Storm heavily implied that Jim and Ron Watkins were behind the Q posts. They have denied this. The two have continued to push misinformation, like COVID-19 conspiracy theories and the idea that the last U.S. presi- dential election was rigged even as Ron Wat- kins runs for Congress in Arizona. In fact, VAIDS is a subject covered in the latest episode of Ron Watkins’ podcast, which is being hosted by major podcast plat- forms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Ama- zon Music. The description of the episode reads, in part, “VAIDS, safety of intimate contact with vaccinated partners, and what you can do if you took the vaccine.” Rothschild, who wrote a book about QA- non called THE STORM IS UPON US, told the Observer, “I definitely think the idea could catch on, given the sheer amount of conspiracy nonsense that continues to swirl around the COVID vaccine.” Several online articles have also spread the debunked claim. One headline from early December read, “Vaccine Acquired Immune Deficiency Syn- drome (VAIDS): ‘We should anticipate see- ing this immune erosion more widely.’” These articles cite a study from the medi- cal journal The Lancet. This research hasn’t been formally reviewed by other experts yet, but it found that the COVID-19 vaccine’s ef- fect weakens over time. AFP, a French news agency that fact-checked the VAIDS claims, spoke to the study’s author, Peter Nordstrom. Nordstrom, a physician in the Depart- ment of Community Medicine in Sweden and a professor at Umea University, said the VAIDS claims are misinformation. “It is not true that we saw a significant in- 88 verse effect of the vaccine in any subgroup,” Nordstrom told AFP. “It is also false for any- one to claim that vaccination results in im- mune erosion or acquired immune deficiency, if anything like that even exists, based on our data, or any other data I’m aware of.” Levelten Interactive/creative commons Despite people continuing to debunk claims like these, Rothschild said he’s not sure they will ever go away. “They tend to just get augmented by other wild claims, but they never fade away entirely,” he said. ▼ CRIME HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS A s visions of sugar plums danced in kids’ heads, Jenna Ryan was nest- ling into her new prison bed. Days before Christmas, the embattled Frisco real estate broker reported to Bryan Federal Prison Camp to begin serving her 60-day prison sentence. Ryan, who filmed herself entering the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, pleaded guilty in August to a misde- meanor count of parading, picketing or demonstrating in the Capitol. The 51-year-old had been scheduled to start serving her sentence in January. But in a Dec. 23 video, Florida-based prison con- sultant Daniel Wise noted that Ryan had al- ready surrendered. On his RDAP Dan YouTube channel, Wise said Ryan, who recently bragged about getting a book deal, may have strategically surrendered early. “I have to imagine that there was a mo- tive behind this, and your motive probably is: You want to go in there, now you can write in your book what it was like to be in prison for Christmas,” he said. “I mean I think people are going to see right through the smokescreen. I don’t think you’re going to get a lot of sympathy.” Shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrec- tion, Ryan made frequent headlines over her involvement in the day’s events. She’d flown to Washington via private plane to attend the so-called “Stop the Steal” rally. But the day soon turned violent as supporters of then-President Donald Trump attempted to stop Congress from affirming Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Now, Ryan and other Capitol rioters na- tionwide are beginning new lives behind bars. Another prison consultant, Holli Coul- CAPITOL RIOTER JENNA RYAN WENT TO FEDERAL PRISON DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS. BY SIMONE CARTER Jenna Ryan started her 60-day sentence. man, told Wise that the Frisco broker had previously reached out to her. Ryan report- edly asked if she could choose to stay in soli- tary confinement because she’d heard rumors that she might get hit with a “lock in a sock.” But Ryan eventually decided that she’d do just fine in the general population, claim- ing that she knows how to make friends with anyone, Coulman said. “[Ryan] goes, ‘I grew up in the streets,’” she said, laughing. Regardless, Ryan has big plans for her time in prison. In videos posted to her TikTok account, she claimed to look forward to doing lots of yoga. She also said it would be “worth going to prison” if she manages to lose 30 pounds thanks to a new workout regimen and diet, free from alcohol and junk food. In another video on Wise’s channel, YouTuber DOCTV813 points out that prison officials likely won’t appreciate Ry- an’s TikTok posts. “With her doing what she’s doing, they’re going to look at that and they’re going to make her time hard because they’re going to give her a reality check,” he said. “And she’s not going to lose weight; she’s going to proba- bly gain weight because of how they cook ev- erything in there with starches and all that. “I don’t think she realizes what she’s about to walk into,” he continued. But whatever her level of prison prepared- ness, Ryan hopes that her romantic relation- ship will withstand her time in the slammer. Filming herself lying next to her shirtless boyfriend, Ryan inquires about their future. “Honey, what’s going to happen — are you going to cheat on me when I go to prison?” she asks in an 11-second video posted to Wise’s Instagram page. “No,” he answers before the two flick their tongues together in an open- mouthed kiss. So far, 35 people have been arrested in connection to the insurrection across FBI- Dallas’ division, which stretches across much of the top half of the state, said spokesperson Katie Chaumont. Eleven months after Jan. 6, the Justice Department reported that around 710 defendants have been arrested across the United States. After Ryan’s sentencing in November, many took to social media to complain of what they viewed as a lenient sentence. But even though some Capitol rioters could face a short stay in prison, it will still go on their permanent record, said Heidi Beirich, an ex- pert on extremism and co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. Prosecutors are probably attempting to move hundreds of cases along at the same time they’re trying to deter this from ever happen- ing again, she said. Members of organized ex- tremist groups that are connected to violence, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, are getting hit with the bigger charges. On Jan. 6, lots of middle-class people got caught up in the crowd, Beirich added. They probably never thought they’d see the inside of a prison cell but deserve to go to prison all the same. “It was an attempt to overthrow an election, right? That’s a serious matter,” she said. “And you just hope that that’s enough for them to understand how wrong their actions were.” ▼ CRIME SECRET PROBATION F FEDS CLAIM FORMER FBI AGENT, ACCOMPLICE DEFRAUDED WOMAN OUT OF MORE THAN $700,000. BY JACOB VAUGHN or several years, a woman in Granbury was convinced she was on secret pro- bation, and that she had to cover the expenses of a federal law enforcement officer and his partner while they supervised her. There was no “secret probation,” but the Granbury woman, identified only as C.T. in court documents, ended up paying the sup- posed officer and his partner more than $700,000. William Roy Stone Jr., the man C.T. alleg- edly was paying all those years, was indicted in May on several counts of fraud, one count of false impersonation of a federal officer, and several other charges. The alleged scheme wasn’t built com- pletely on lies, though. Stone was, after all, a recently retired FBI agent. Federal prosecutors say the scheme be- gan in November 2015, a month after Stone’s retiring from the FBI Dallas field office. That month, Stone told C.T. she was on “se- cret probation” for drug crimes in “Judge Anderson’s court in Austin, Texas.” The judge, Stone claimed, appointed him and another man named Joseph Eventino DeLeon to “mentor” and “supervise” C.T. throughout the course of her probation. Stone also said the probation required that C.T. report all her activities and a list of her assets. Additionally, per the terms of her “se- cret probation,” C.T. would have to pay for Stone’s and DeLeon’s services, as well as their expenses. And, she couldn’t tell a soul about it. If she broke the terms of her probation, she might get thrown in jail and lose her children, Stone claimed, according to prosecutors. To make this all more believable, the feds say, Stone and DeLeon got someone else to leave C.T. messages claiming they were with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration “intelligence center.” They also told C.T. they had the ability to monitor her cell phone re- cords and were discussing her probation with a psychiatrist. DeLeon also once carried MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 JANUARY 6–12, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com
