Wokeness in the medical profession has been on full display since the 2020 BLM and Antifa riots, when the same people who warned that going back to work meant “killing grandma” suddenly decided that mass protests were perfectly safe in the name of “social justice.” Government mandates and CDC guidance were optional — as long as the politics were correct.
That trend has only gotten worse in the years since, especially with so-called “gender transition counseling” and surgeries for minors. It also showed up in some truly vile reactions by healthcare professionals after the Camp Mystic flooding tragedy in Texas and later after the assassination of TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Now, it’s showing up again — this time in open hostility toward immigration enforcement.
Last week, reports emerged of anti-ICE sentiment inside hospitals after NYPD detectives alleged they were treated with hostility at a nearby hospital because staff believed they were ICE agents. According to reporting, some medical workers were not exactly thrilled about treating people they assumed were enforcing federal law.
As RedState’s Becky Noble noted, social media has been flooded with “some of the most heinous and inhumane reactions” to ICE operations — coming from the very people tasked with caring for patients regardless of who they are. A stunning display of selective compassion.
One of the most alarming cases involved Malinda Cook, a certified registered nurse anesthetist at VCU Medical Center in Richmond. Cook posted TikTok videos urging others in her profession to take actions that could medically harm or incapacitate immigration enforcement officers. The videos went viral and sparked major backlash — and this time, there were consequences.
VCU Health has now fired Cook following the public outcry. There were also rumors she worked at Duke University Hospital, but her LinkedIn profile shows she has not been employed there since December 2018.
The episode raises serious questions about how widespread this ideology has become in healthcare and how many patients — or law enforcement officers — may have been put at risk by people who view politics as more important than their oath to heal.
These are uncertain times, and trust in institutions matters more than ever. The good news is that accountability still exists when the public demands it. VCU Health’s decision sends a clear signal that encouraging harm has no place in medicine, and that professionalism must come before politics. That’s a step in the right direction — and a reminder that common sense isn’t completely extinct just yet.
