Monday, March 28, 2016 – How far will drug companies and U.S. government-funded scientists go to stop criticism of vaccines? Has a leading American actor been threatened?

On Sunday, actor and Tribeca Film Festival founder Robert De Niro removed Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s documentary film Vaxxed: From Coverup to Catastrophe from this year’s official selections. Only one day earlier, De Niro had bravely defended the film’s inclusion without specifically endorsing its views.

In a 10-minute video available on YouTube, investigative reporter Liam Scheff draws a parallel between the censorship of this film about vaccinations and autism and how alternative views of “AIDS” are also suppressed. (He has posted some valuable links there as well.)

Perhaps reminded of the gangster films on which De Niro built his career, social media is abuzz with speculation as to possible threats. The actor is himself the father of an autistic child, and the film alleges that MMR vaccine additives may have caused the recent explosion in autism.

Why was the film considered so controversial that it was suddenly pulled from the festival? “It’s not because it’s dangerous to people’s health; it’s because it’s dangerous to the CDC [U.S. Centers for Disease Control],” says Scheff. He recalls a similar disruption at the 2009 Boston screening of House of Numbers. This documentary aired the views of mostly mainstream AIDS researchers and activists but also showed their discrepancies and flawed logic.

Wakefield and producer Del Bigtree told the media:

It is our understanding that persons from an organization affiliated with the festival have made unspecified allegations against the film. . . . We have just witnessed yet another example of the power of corporate interests censoring free speech, art, and truth. Tribeca’s action will not succeed in denying the world access to the truth behind the film “Vaxxed.”

(Comment: The filmmaker and producers of House of Numbers did not consent in advance to the “roundtable” discussion after the film’s 2009 screening in Boston. The Boston International Film Festival set up a table anyway for the exclusive use of the movie’s critics, in clear violation of the terms under which the director offered the film to the festival. – Elizabeth Ely, “How Positive Are You” co-host)

Please consider signing the petition circulated by progressive organization Change.org to restore the film to the festival. Helpful links there provide background information on the apparent coverup and stories of vaccine-damaged children, to help you decide.

Liam Scheff appears in Episode 60 and “XTRAs” of August 15, 2011, and March 18, 2014. New York Pacifica Radio station WBAI reported on his undercover work exposing the “volunteering” of city foster children for cruel AIDS drug trials – an investigation that ignited the Incarnation Children’s Center scandal of 2004-2005.

UPDATE: A forgiving view of De Niro’s actions, by Polly Tommey, appeared Sunday at the “Truth Barrier” site of journalist and former HPAY co-host Celia Farber. Tommey, who has an autistic 19-year-old son, also worked to produce Vaxxed.