TRENTON – The coronavirus hasn’t spared the capital city, and now a hoax linking the outbreak to 5G technology has infected some council members.
The Trentonian has learned that a faction of the governing body, prompted by a conspiracy peddled in a letter from a city resident, pushed to ban 5G in the city.
Council President Kathy McBride, who was famously duped by a “Blue Waffle Disease” hoax during her first stint on council, claimed during an interview last week with The Trentonian that she hadn’t seen the letter.
She said residents raised hackles before about a telecommunications tower going up in the South Ward, and that may have led to the concern.
Suggesting talk of a ban was premature since the city was still in the meat-making phase, McBride hoped to consult a “scientist” or someone with expertise who could advise council on public health risks of installing 5G in Trenton.
Screenshots of the council president’s Facebook page, however, show that she was one of the legislative leaders who shared posts seeming to perpetuate the conspiracies about 5G technology.
The posts depicted a worker in a hazmat suit near a 5G tower and mentioned how a “new report” cautioned the public to stay away from the towers.
Also, documents show, and sources tell The Trentonian, that the legislative body didn’t hold off until it got professional feedback before taking steps toward pushing for a ban on the telecommunication towers.
The governing body ghost-wrote an undated draft ordinance, obtained by the newspaper, and sought legal advice from its attorney about whether such a measure could be enacted.
The ordinance, as written, would ban construction of antennae, towers and “similar structures that employ camouflage technology” in Trenton under the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Technology for police dispatch and firefighters would be exempted under the ordinance, according to the draft copy.
While the proposed measure doesn’t mention 5G or the coronavirus, responsible for more than 2,400 deaths in New Jersey (five in the capital city), it does say “wireless telecommunications facilities and related equipment may pose unique impacts upon public health.”
The suggested telecommunications moratorium appeared inspired by an April 6 letter that was sent to Mayor Reed Gusciora and members of the legislative body.
That letter, appearing to draw from renewed conspiracy theories about 5G amid the coronavirus, urged leaders to “impose a moratorium on ‘small cells’ and other wireless infrastructure permits process and deployment until the COVID-19 emergency is over.”
Although she couldn’t be reached for comment, Tahirah Gurley of Bellevue Avenue outlined her concerns in the letter, suggesting “wireless providers are using the COVID-19 emergency as cover to expand and cement their rapid and virtually unsupervised deployment of harmful wireless infrastructure.”
“Our local leaders should not have to dedicate time and resources to policing whether the wireless companies are following local and state law,” she wrote. “They have far more important things to do.”
Acting on that supposed tip, at-large councilman Santiago Rodriguez – who didn’t respond to messages seeking comment – forwarded the resident’s correspondence to council-hired attorney Edward Kologi and asked him to research whether the city could enact such a ban.
Kologi replied to the legislative body the same day with his answer.
“While her contentions may reflect her own opinion, she provides no evidence to support them,” the attorney wrote. “There is clear Federal and State law governing such applications, which must be strictly adhered to by the applicant.
“There is nothing to even remotely suggest that any such applicant has failed to follow, or would not follow such any provision of law. Further, the City’s ability to take action in this process, even if it were inclined to do so, would be extremely limited, based upon the governing statutes.
“In view of the above, it appears that this resident for whatever reason does not favor expansion of wireless communication. Indeed, the last several weeks have probably shown that the need for such services is as critical as ever.”
The city doesn’t have 5G technology in the city, but Mayor Reed Gusciora welcomes it.
He was unaware that some council members favored a citywide ban on such technology until made aware of it by the newspaper.
“The only time I would even consider that if it came from a scientist or someone who had that type of experience,” Gusciora said.
The 5G conspiracy theory has percolated again amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Actor Woody Harrelson and singer M.I.A were among the celebrities who continued stoking fear on the claim scientists have debunked.
Bloomberg reported this month that 5G coronavirus hoax appeared to be a coordinated disinformation campaign similar to Russian meddling in the last presidential election.
The outlet reported conspiracy theories have persisted about the health risks associated with 5G since at least 2016.
They were popular on “internet forums and YouTube, and were later picked up by the website InfoWars and Russian state broadcaster RT, which published stories cautioning that 5G could be “a global catastrophe,” causing cancer in humans and wildlife,” Bloomberg reported.
According to health experts, the virus is actually spread from close contact with an infected or asymptomatic people.
Tell that to the highly irrational council, the mayor said.
“We have to get rid of that as the status quo where we do act on things that are brought on by internet hoaxes,” he said.
