Cops: Anti-Vaxxer Sped Through Vaccine Site

MAY 26--A Tennessee motorist who allegedly nearly hit multiple workers at a COVID-19 vaccination station told police that she drove through the site to protest distribution of the vaccine, according to an arrest report.

Police Monday arrested Virginia Brown, 36, on seven felony reckless endangerment charges in connection with an incident in the parking lot of a mall about 15 miles from her home in Greenback, a city outside Knoxville.

Brown, pictured above, is locked up in lieu of $21,000 bond in advance of a June 7 court hearing.

Investigators charge that Brown, driving a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica, sped through a series of cones and a tent set up outside the Foothills Mall. Brown allegedly came close to striking seven workers manning the vaccine site, and several victims “stated that they thought the driver was going to kill them,” according to a Blount County Sheriff’s Office report.

As she drove past the workers, Brown appeared to yell, “No vaccine,” witnesses told deputies, as first reported by The Daily Times in Maryville.

After subsequently being pulled over by police, Brown claimed she was only going 5 mph through the vaccine site, adding that she drove through the lot because she wanted to “protest the vaccine.” (2 pages)