To protest COVID mandates, this California town declared itself a 'constitutional republic'

OROVILLE, Calif. — For Oroville Vice Mayor Scott Thomson, the father of two young boys, Gov. Gavin Newsom's mandate requiring schoolchildren to be vaccinated against COVID-19 was the final straw.

He believed the government had no right to tell him what to put into his, or his children's, bodies. Many of his constituents agreed when it came to pandemic mandates.

And so, he came up with a grandiose, headline-grabbing nom de guerre for his small Northern California city.

Oroville declared itself a constitutional republic. A place where the local leaders pledge to fight mandates they say go too far.

"Any executive orders issued by the State of California or by the United States federal government that are overreaching or clearly violate our constitutionally protected rights will not be enforced by the City of Oroville against its citizens," read the declaration passed this month by the City Council.

"The desire here is dialogue," Thomson said.

For some, the declaration