Oklahoma ICU locks down, files restraining order against evangelical church leader

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday February 17, 2022 · 2:11 PM PST

2022/02/17 · 14:11

ScreenShot2022-02-17at1.24.36PM.png — Nice smiles everyone!

Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City has had to increase security, lock down their intensive care unit, and file a restraining order, all because of an Oklahoma church group that had been protesting the care and treatment of one of their members for COVID-19. Robert “Bob” Barth, 70, was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 23 “with respiratory failure and COVID-19 pneumonia.” By February, Barth was on a ventilator in the ICU. He was not vaccinated against COVID-19.

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, members of the evangelical group protested out front of Mercy Hospital demanding a higher dose of the steroid budesonide for Barth. Barth was already receiving the steroid as a part of his treatment, but Barth’s wife believed Texas General Physician Dr. Richard Bartlett’s untested declarations that the steroid, traditionally used to help asthma and Crohn’s disease sufferers, was a “silver bullet” treatment for COVID-19. In a Facebook post, Ekklesia of Oklahoma wrote: ”Bob is currently in ICU on a ventilator, fighting for his life against a weaponized medical system and communist agenda that the doctors are blindly following despite three other physicians demanding proper treatment that could have his life.”

Founder of Ekklesia of Oklahoma, Rev. Daniel Navejas, told Oklahoma’s KFOR: “People are dying, not because of Covid but literally because they’re following Fauci’s death sentence,” whatever that was supposed to mean. Navejas and two other members ended up being arrested and receiving tickets that day for trespassing.

Two days later, on Feb. 10, Barth passed away.

According to The Oklahoman, Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City has requested a restraining order against Navejas, saying he has singled out one of their doctors and called him a “murderer,” while also sharing the doctor’s address with other members of the evangelical group. Navejas’ Facebook timeline is a slew of conspiracy theories about Fauci being a “mass murderer,” and that hospitals are making big money following “Fauci protocols” that kill patients. Oh, and most recently, Canadian trucker demonstrations. I guess Jesus only wants truck drivers who refuse to be vaccinated?

In a post for the protest on The Ekklesia of Oklahoma’s Facebook page on Feb. 7, Navejas wrote, “One of the men in my church is being held hostage and forced to receive Fauci's death protocol and REFUSES the family's request to use Dr. Bartlett’s BUDESONIDE Protocol which has saved thousands worldwide. This shepherd can not and will not be silent nor remain idle while these wicked Marxist [sic] murder God's people.”

(Cue a slow, wide-eyed blink.)

In the documents filed by Mercy Hospital, according to KFOR, the true nature of Ekklesia’s cognitive dissonance is laid bare, saying after Barth’s wife had fully bought into the idea that there was some secret trick to solving her husband’s COVID-19, “What followed was a desperate crusade by Ms. Barth to override the medical judgement of Mr. Barth’s treating healthcare professionals in Mercy’s ICU.”

Hospital officials say they actually did increase Barth’s dosage of the steroid on Jan. 28, but unfortunately Barth’s condition “further deteriorated.” In a letter to Mercy employees that The Oklahoman got their hands on, the details of increased security at the hospital and the ICU are elaborated on.

“We do not make money from the heartbreaking deaths of our patients,” they wrote. “And our co-workers are not murderers. … You all are incredible, devoted caregivers who respond to a calling to dedicate your lives to healing the sick. You have endured enough during the past two years, and we will not stand by and allow you to be verbally attacked.”

ScreenShot2022-02-17at1.24.01PM.png — Mr. Navejas likes cameras

Navejas denies ever threatening or encouraging violence against “Mercy Hospital nor their employees.” As a side note, on Feb. 4, while asking for money for Bob and his wife’s legal fees, The Ekklesia of Oklahoma wrote, “Bob is in Mercy hospital fighting for his life! Why? Because this evil Marxist control death camp refuses to give him the treatment he needs to help him.”

On Feb. 11, the day after Bob’s death from COVID-19, Navejas wrote on his own Facebook page, “Let’s get this straight, FAUCI’s a mass murderer and this hospital was complicit in murder for hire, but I’m the threat? PATHETIC! I will be filing charges of murder against this doctor, the hospital, and the staff.”

Oklahoma ICU locks down, files restraining order against evangelical church leader

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