Kirk Cameron Holds Christmas Carol Protests

Outspoken conservative evangelical Kirk Cameron is staging Christmas caroling protests in Southern California. As TMZ reports, the first one, held Dec. 6, had more than 500 attendees. The second, held Sunday in a mall parking lot in Thousand Oaks, aimed to have more than that and may have accomplished that goal, per the gossip site. Attendees stood close together and sang without masks as a protest against Gov. Gavin Newsom's coronavirus lockdown measures. Despite those lockdown measures, however, no one was cited after police were called; authorities simply informed those in attendance that it's important to wear a mask.

Los Angeles Magazine reports the state's COVID restrictions already include an exemption for outdoor religious services, so it's likely the gathering did not actually defy anything. Even so, many were outraged. "Liberty and freedom are very fragile and they come with great responsibility," said Thousand Oaks' mayor, per ABC 7. "Continuing to hold large gatherings and ignoring all guidelines, I feel, is unchristian." Ventura County, where the city is located, is running out of ICU beds, as is much of the state. (More Kirk Cameron stories.)