GOP Candidate Says COVID-19 Masks Linked to 'Satanic Ritual Abuse': Lawsuit

COVID-19 masks and vaccines are tied to "satanic ritual abuse" and "transhumanism," according to a lawsuit filed by a Republican candidate against her former employer in St. Louis, Missouri.

Katherine Pinner, the GOP nominee for St. Louis County Executive, claimed religious discrimination in a suit filed against the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Missouri on Monday. She is demanding $1.2 million from the association.

Earlier this month, Pinner won a surprise victory over state representative Shamed Dogan in the primary for the highest public office in St. Louis County. A self-described "innovation consultant" and author on her website, she was unknown to party officials at the time of her 12-point victory, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Pinner said she was forced to resign from the AAO after refusing to either wear a face covering or get vaccinated, according to the lawsuit obtained by Newsweek. She had requested an exemption from both requirements, citing American Traditional Christian and Croatian Roman Catholic beliefs.

When these accommodations were denied, Pinner said she experienced "discrimination," "coercion" and "harassment."

In a list of claims against the legality of AAO policies, the GOP candidate said that "God's Law" was violated because mask-wearing "has long been associated with dehumanization and satanic ritual abuse."

Pinner also characterized human alteration through vaccines as "transhumanism," claiming the practice "could remove a human being from God's graces."

In another clause, the nominee referenced laws against torture and cruel, inhumane, and degrading punishment under the Geneva Convention and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and Bioethics, arguing that "face coverings and injections have been used historically as instruments of torture."

Lynne Thomas Gordon, the Chief Executive Officer of AAO, told Newsweek that the association denied Pinner's allegations.

"The organization implemented personnel policies and procedures, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to ensure the health and safety of its employees and members," Gordon said.

COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the workplace prompted a tidal wave of legal challenges across the U.S. last year. The mandates became a weapon in political debates, with some Republican candidates boasting about their unvaccinated status.

In 2020, former Missouri gubernatorial candidate Saundra McDowell struck a similar tone to Pinner when she described mask-wearing as part of a "demonic ritual" to take away "God-given rights."

Sharing an unmasked photo of herself in a local Walmart, McDowell said that masks were "a symbol of deception and oppression."

"It's compliance training for what's to come. It's about control and instilling fear in America. Fear is not of the Lord, but of the enemy. Despair is the absence of faith!" she wrote.

Newsweek reached out to Katherine Pinner for comment.

Updated 08/24/2022, 12:14 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from Lynne Thomas Gordon.