LONDON: An opponent of vaccines who wrote social media posts urging violence against scientists, politicians and public health officials during the Covid-19 pandemic was sentenced Monday to five years in prison after being convicted of encouraging terrorism.
A British judge said 55-year-old Patrick Ruane had a “compulsive and obsessive” opposition to vaccines and spewed vitriol on the Telegram messaging app. One message described “whacking” England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, over the head.
In a series of messages in 2021, Ruane posted that he was “all for hunting them down and … executing” those who made and delivered Covid-19 vaccines. He encouraged others to “find where they live, put a kill squad together and shoot” them in their beds.
In a discussion about Whitty, the vaccine opponent wrote that hitting someone on the back of the skull with a bat or a metal mace “would turn said target into a vegetable for the rest of its life.” He also advocated blowing up vaccine laboratories and 5G phone towers.
“This wasn’t idle chit-chat online – he was encouraging people to seriously injure or kill others, suggesting who to target,” said acting commander of the Met Police counterterrorism command. Judge Richard Marks said Ruane’s messages were “extremely dangerous” during a volatile time.