One of the Anti-Maskers who Stormed Trader Joe's Said She Carries a Knife

Photo: Staci Lares at the anti-mask protest at Trader Joe's in Santa Cruz on February 13. (more photos below)

A video of the protest at Trader Joe's in Santa Cruz, which protesters call a "cash drop," went viral online. The video shows a group of a dozen or so mask-less participants ignoring the line of customers waiting to get into the store, and then storming past employees who were attempting to prevent their entry. The group successfully entered Trader Joe's, ignoring physical distancing norms and invading the close physical space of other customers who were wearing masks and attempting to shop safely. When "shopping," the anti-mask protesters each grabbed one or two random grocery products, then attempted to simply drop payment off at the check-out stand before leaving with the items.

One member of the Santa Cruz Voluntaryists expressed reserves about the tactics used at the protest at Trader Joe's. She said she had been speaking to local management at the Santa Cruz store, and they told her they were gong to begin allowing individuals to shop without masks, one at a time. In response, Lares said, "Might as well wear a yellow star," apparently referring to the Holocaust.

Lares, a resident of Santa Clara County, has participated in a number of these small cash drop protests organized at grocery stores in the South Bay area. She has partnered with the Freedom Angels to organize and promote repeated protests at the Health Department in Santa Clara County, as well as at the home of the Public Health Officer, Dr. Sara Cody. The Freedom Angels is a group of three women who organized the anti-vaccination protests in September of 2019 at the California State Capitol, and more recently the re-open California protests in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lares has used the Santa Cruz Voluntaryists group to promote extensively her protests in Santa Clara County.

In Santa Cruz, Lares has regularly attended other anti-mask protests, including the "free hugs" events organized in front of the Lighthouse on West Cliff Drive.

In the name of "freedom," Lares uses the tactic of threatening legal action at her protests. She flashes legal documents at business employees and public officials to support a variety of legal theories. This tactic is characteristic of the sovereign citizen's movement, to which the Santa Cruz Voluntaryists have frequently been compared.