(NewsNation) — A family accused of forming a fake church and selling bleach as a miracle cure for COVID-19 are on trial in Miami.
The Genesis II Church of Health and Healing operated online, though it claimed to have multiple local chapters, and offered a religious exemption card for those who did not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The church also sold what they called a “Miracle Mineral Solution” that would cure a number of serious illnesses, including Alzheimer’s, HIV, cancer, autism and multiple sclerosis.
In opening statements, prosecutors called the founders of the church “con men” and referred to the solution as “snake oil.”
Prosecutors said what Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons; 37-year-old Jonathan, 35-year-old Joseph and 29-year-old Jordan, were actually selling was industrial bleach. The solution of water and sodium chlorite would become chlorine dioxide when ingested.
Chlorine dioxide is used as an industrial chemical in the textile industry. When ingested, chlorine dioxide can be deadly. The Food and Drug Administration received reports from people ingesting chlorine dioxide products as a method to treat COVID who experienced side effects including changes to the heart’s electrical rhythm, life-threatening low blood pressure, low red blood cell counts, acute liver failure and respiratory failure.
A Miami judge ordered the Grenons to stop selling their solution in 2020, but they ignored the order. Jonathan and Jordan were arrested in Florida, while Mark and Joseph fled to Colombia, where they were arrested and extradited.