My email inbox here at the newspaper is often a cesspool of hatred, with a light sprinkling of death threats.
That’s OK. I can take the slings and arrows of outrageous buffoons (credit to Shakespeare for that one).
But it does crush the spirit to read so many emails from unhinged anti-maskers who refuse to believe that COVID-19 is real.
One common theme is that the experts who are handling the pandemic here in Canada are not actually experts. It’s a common tactic when trying to debunk things involving science, such as vaccinations. (“They are controlled by Big Pharma," is a familiar trope.)
“I love how you all say ‘the experts all say so,’” wrote someone named Nic about COVID-19. “What experts? And if they all agree, why do I personally know experts that disagree. Because you are liars.”
I’ve received multiple messages saying that provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry isn’t an expert. That national health officer Dr. Theresa Tam is also “not an expert.” Nor are any of the scientists at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, or any of the hundreds of other scientists who all say COVID-19 is real.
It’s ridiculous. And terrifying.
Nic’s email was in reference to a column we published about a group of anti-maskers staging a rally in Burnaby’s Metrotown area. You can read that here.
Nic wanted us to supply proof about COVID-19, as if that horrific death toll was somehow untrue.
After calling the media “dirtbag liars,” Nic added a death threat: “I’m just going to say when the time comes, you will be indicted for your heinous crimes of spreading disinformation, and if you are found guilty of this you will see a rope.”
Happy Friday everyone!
Chris Campbell is editor of the Burnaby NOW, New Westminster Record and Tri-City News. Follow him on Twitter @shinebox44.