UK - 'Conspiracy-driven' network may be behind 5G mast attacks
A network of "conspiracy-driven" individuals may be behind an escalating series of arson attacks on 5G masts which has caused £4m worth of damage, police have said.
On Tuesday, a 44-year-old man appeared in court charged with arson with intent to destroy after a mast was set alight in west Belfast at the weekend.
An investigating detective said the incident on Sunday had been linked to a wider series of 18 arson attacks on 5G masts across west Belfast since 2023, with the attacks anticipated to cost "in the region of £4m".
"These attacks are not the work of a single individual, but have been carried out by a number of individuals as part of a network, or possibly united by sharing conspiracy-driven beliefs online via social media chatrooms."
Mr Clarke's barrister argued that the alleged conspiracy views about the masts could possibly provide him with a defence at any future prosecution.
"All he would have to prove is whether he had a reasonable belief at the time," Michael Halleron said.
"That could be complete nonsense, looking at it objectively, but it is all on the basis of his subjective belief."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8ryrm39pgo.amp
A network of "conspiracy-driven" individuals may be behind an escalating series of arson attacks on 5G masts which has caused £4m worth of damage, police have said.
On Tuesday, a 44-year-old man appeared in court charged with arson with intent to destroy after a mast was set alight in west Belfast at the weekend.
An investigating detective said the incident on Sunday had been linked to a wider series of 18 arson attacks on 5G masts across west Belfast since 2023, with the attacks anticipated to cost "in the region of £4m".
"These attacks are not the work of a single individual, but have been carried out by a number of individuals as part of a network, or possibly united by sharing conspiracy-driven beliefs online via social media chatrooms."
Mr Clarke's barrister argued that the alleged conspiracy views about the masts could possibly provide him with a defence at any future prosecution.
"All he would have to prove is whether he had a reasonable belief at the time," Michael Halleron said.
"That could be complete nonsense, looking at it objectively, but it is all on the basis of his subjective belief."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8ryrm39pgo.amp
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
