Why are QAnon followers threatening hospitals?

QAnon Followers Threaten Hospital After Outspoken COVID Denier Dies Of COVID

QAnon believers and other conspiracy theorists have inundated a Chicago hospital with threats after a prominent COVID-19 denier who sought treatment for the disease died Monday.

Veronica Wolski, 64, was well-known in the Chicago area for disseminating anti-vaccine and pro-QAnon messages via large banners posted in highly-trafficked areas.

She became a political lightning rod in conspiracy circles after she contracted COVID-19 and suffered complications. Her backers loudly demanded Resurrection Medical Center treat her with ivermectin, a drug commonly used to deworm livestock. The drug has some human applications, but it is not approved for use in treatment of COVID-19 (federal health agencies, in fact, recommend against it).

Lin Wood — a far-right attorney Twitter permanently banned earlier this year after he predicted the execution of then-Vice President Mike Pence by firing squad — seized upon Wolski’s hospitalization to boost his own publicity. He used social media to urge his followers to contact staff at the hospital and demand Wolski be treated with ivermectin.

Hundreds of people have since called and emailed the hospital, according to NBC Chicago. Some have threatened violence.

In a post on Telegram after Wolski’s death, Wood told his followers they had a “responsibility” to stop “medical murders” and to “go to war.” Hospital staff reportedly called the police in response to bomb threats.

Similar scenes are playing out at hospitals across the country. Extremist groups are seeking to agitate their followers after efforts to coerce medical professionals into administering ivermectin have fallen flat.

Dems fear violence at right-wing rally at Capitol

Congressional lawmakers are bracing for potential violence at Saturday’s “Justice for J6” rally at the U.S. Capitol in defense of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the building on Jan. 6 protesting Joe Biden’s certification as president. Capitol Police on Monday arrested a man from California near the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, not far from the Capitol. He had multiple long knives in his vehicle, which had a swastika and other white supremacist symbols painted on it, police said. Last month, authorities arrested a man who claimed to have bomb near the Capitol.

Militia leader gets 53 years in Minnesota mosque bombing

The leader of an Illinois anti-government militia group who authorities say masterminded the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque was sentenced Monday to 53 years in prison for an attack that terrified the mosque’s community. Emily Claire Hari faced a mandatory minimum of 30 years for the attack on Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington. Defense attorneys asked for the minimum, but prosecutors sought life, saying Hari hasn’t taken responsibility for the attack.

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