# UK vandals burning down 5G cell towers and attacking workers. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [April 8, 2020, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330 "2020-04-08T06:27:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/1 "2020-04-08T06:27:07Z")
The latest crackpot conspiracy theory circulating on Facebook is that 5G cell towers are somehow causing COVID-19. As a result people in the UK have been burning down cell towers (sometimes the wrong ones) and attacking communication company workers. [British 5G towers are being set on fire because of coronavirus conspiracy theories](https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/4/21207927/5g-towers-burning-uk-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-link) [UK mobile carriers politely ask people to stop burning 5G towers](https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/6/21209363/uk-5g-towers-burning-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-arson-attacks-carrier-response) [5G-coronavirus conspiracy theory spurs rash of telecom tower arson fires](https://fortune.com/2020/04/06/5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-telecom-tower-fires/) ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/2 "2020-04-08T07:37:24Z")
Classic case of “We must do something! This is something! So let’s do it!”. Ridiculous. And this after 2 weeks of lockdown - what if we have to continue it for 2 months or more? To be clear, I am not saying current policy is wrong, just that this is an unfortunate consequence when the world is full of idiots with authority issues. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/3 "2020-04-08T09:06:07Z")
Facebook is why we can’t have good things. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/4 "2020-04-08T11:28:21Z")
Beloved ol’ pothead/actor Woody Harrelson apparently has also been spreading this conspiracy theory. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2020/04/05/woody-harrelson-sharing-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-tied-to-5g/amp/](https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2020/04/05/woody-harrelson-sharing-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-tied-to-5g/amp/) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/5 "2020-04-08T12:18:25Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Beloved ol’ pothead/actor Woody Harrelson apparently has also been spreading this conspiracy theory. > > [https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2020/04/05/woody-harrelson-sharing-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-tied-to-5g/amp/](https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2020/04/05/woody-harrelson-sharing-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-tied-to-5g/amp/) Isn’t he that dude who tihnks his hitman father is completely innocent of killing a federal judge? Yeah, I wouldn’t give too much credence to his blatherings. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/6 "2020-04-08T12:51:50Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Isn’t he that dude who tihnks his hitman father is completely innocent of killing a federal judge? Yeah, I wouldn’t give too much credence to his blatherings. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/7 "2020-04-08T12:58:24Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Facebook is why we can’t have good things. crap - another political rant. Sorry, Colibri. ANd thank you for showing mercy. I keep forgetting where I’m posting. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/8 "2020-04-08T13:40:27Z")
The “go to” guy for conspiracy theories in the UK is David Icke. He held forth on the subject of 5G during a recent livestreamed “interview”. > [@](#): > > During the interview, Mr Icke falsely claimed there “is a link between 5G and this health crisis”. > > And when asked for his reaction to reports of 5G masts being set on fire in England and Northern Ireland, he responded: “If 5G continues and reaches where they want to take it, human life as we know it is over… so people have to make a decision.” > > Several users subsequently called for further attacks on 5G towers in the comments that appeared alongside the feed. > > Mr Icke also claimed that a coronavirus vaccine, when one is developed, would include “nanotechnology microchips” that would allow humans to be controlled. He added that Bill Gates - who is helping fund Covid-19 vaccine research - should be jailed. His views went unchallenged for much of the two-and-a-half-hour show. " > **[Coronavirus: YouTube tightens rules after David Icke 5G interview](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52198946)** > > Videos will now be deleted if they falsely link coronavirus to 5G mobile networks. Icke is a well known crack pot who has entertained the nation over many years. What seems to have changed is the rise of Livestreaming on services like Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc. This has gone from hosting amateurish rants to camera by wild eyed loons to quite professional looking interviews that adopt the same style as serious political TV journalism… Usually a one to one interview, but the journalist role is a sham. This is no sceptical friend, there are no hard questions, it is scripted to allow the interviewee to expound at length on their subject with affirming nods from the interviewer in the right places. It looks for all the world as if these views are being taken credibly by a serious TV program in a studio setting with all right lighting and microphones in place. I guess it was only a matter of time before these techniques filtered down to the crackpot fringe. Who needs a platform like Fox or Russia Today when you can get a similar effect on using these livestream services? Social Media companies are under pressure to remove this kind of content. But who censors the censors in the world of user generated content? This is a big subject for debate that I am sure has been discussed hereabouts at length. A sign of the times. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/9 "2020-04-08T13:44:51Z")
I don’t know what to say. On the one hand, it is somehow comforting that other nations have their share of crazy idiots. On the other hand, it’s disturbing that the world is so full of crazy idiots. I’m pretty sure there was a Simpsons episode where the townfolk stormed the observatory because they didn’t like what science was telling them, and then when they were injured they demanded science save them. Somehow, this feels like that to me. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/10 "2020-04-08T14:16:46Z")
Wonderful. Right when people have the greatest need to be connected by technology, they’re physically attacking the infrastructure supporting that technology. Damned humans. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/11 "2020-04-08T16:10:41Z")
Michael Che of SNL fame recently posted the sad news of his grandmother’s death with a heaping side order of “5G causes Covid” rant. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/12 "2020-04-08T16:31:19Z")
Brilliant, I approve - we haven’t been keeping up with first world anti-science stupidity for some time, at last we have our own tinfoil hat fruitcakes. There has been so little going on that I’m grateful for the entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/13 "2020-04-10T16:54:37Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Michael Che of SNL fame recently posted the sad news of his grandmother’s death with a heaping side order of “5G causes Covid” rant. If you think Che was seriously endorsing the 5G theory, I think you were whooshed. > [@Michael Che](#): > > I actually believe this is 5G poisoning, and not because I’ve done any research on this, or even understand what 5G really is. I just refuse to believe I lost my sweet, beautiful grandma because some n\*\*\*a ate a bat one time. I’m sorry ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/14 "2020-04-10T17:58:41Z")
Wasn’t David Icke the one who believed that the Queen was a lizard person in disguise, or something? I’m not up to date on my recreational paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/15 "2020-04-10T21:16:33Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Wasn’t David Icke the one who believed that the Queen was a lizard person in disguise, or something? I’m not up to date on my recreational paranoia. Back when I modded a UFO-paranormal-conspiracy board, I was constantly mailbombed by an icky female Icke supporter because I spelled a word “reptilioid”, not “reptiloid”, and was thus Part Of The Plot. Meanwhile, [5G radio waves are a poor choice for death rays](https://boingboing.net/2020/04/08/5g-radio-waves-are-a-poor-choi.html). Yes, our Conservative Lizard Masters are sloppy. Will humanity’s successors the [Penguin People](https://www.travelandleisure.com/animals/penguin-speech-patterns-talk-like-humans) vanquish them? ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/16 "2020-04-10T22:41:01Z")
Ah yes, Icke promotes the Repilian conspiracy theory and wrote a book on the subject. The Bushes, the Royal Family, the Rothschilds…Lizard people are everwhere. I don’t think there are any humble, working class shape-shifting aliens of note. The Lizards seem to occupy powerful positions in society. Maybe a bit of a class thing going on there? > **[Reptilian conspiracy theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_conspiracy_theory)** > > Reportedly haunted locations: > Reptilians (also called reptoids, archons, reptiloids, saurians, draconians, or lizard people) are supposed reptilian humanoids, which play a prominent role in fantasy, science fiction, ufology, and conspiracy theories. The idea of reptilians was popularised by David Icke, a conspiracy theorist who claims shapeshifting reptilian aliens control Earth by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate human societies. Icke has stated on multiple occas... I guess these theories quench a thirst to believe that old time religions fail to address. Coronavirus + 5G? A very topical combo. In the conspiracy theory market you have to be pretty quick to get ahead of the crowd. Icke also suggests that Bill Gates is developing a vaccine injection that contains nano computers for mind control. So that four technologies included in one theory, as well as an evil genius who is quite probably a Lizard person. Icke is offering a lot of value for money here. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/17 "2020-04-12T02:35:44Z")
How on earth could you ‘burn down’ a 5g cell tower? Pictures have been removed from youtube and facebook, so I’ll probably never know. 5g is a small box on a power pole or street light. I can imagjne shooting it out, or even chopping them down with an axe, but “burning down” street lights and power poles seems like it would be … difficult. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/18 "2020-04-12T02:44:34Z")
5G exists in both “low-band” frequencies that go on traditional towers as well as as the MM-wave versions that require them to be on every street light. Both are “real” 5G, though AT&T muddied the water a bit with their “5Ge” stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/19 "2020-04-12T09:02:03Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > 5G exists in both “low-band” frequencies that go on traditional towers as well as as the MM-wave versions that require them to be on every street light. Both are “real” 5G, though AT&T muddied the water a bit with their “5Ge” stuff. I did not know that. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330/20 "2020-04-13T17:22:49Z")
Looks like the Dutch also have a 5G protesters sabotaging towers. [https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/04/11/technology/11reuters-netherlands-5g-sabotage.htm](https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/04/11/technology/11reuters-netherlands-5g-sabotage.htm) :eek:l [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-vandals-burning-down-5g-cell-towers-and-attacking-workers/851330.md?page=2)