On Friday, May 1, police in Laval, Quebec, received a call that a cellular tower was on fire. One week later, provincial police arrested a couple in their 20s in connection with seven similar fires, all targeting cell towers.
And they’re now investigating whether the accused might have been motivated by a conspiracy theory linking 5G technology to COVID-19. “There are a lot of possible explanations that are being thrown around as to how the 5G piece could be meshed with the COVID-19 piece — like two puzzle pieces that don’t really fit together, but you’re trying to smush them together,” said Jonathan Jarry, a biological scientist at McGill University.