Anti-vaxxers are holding a mock grand jury trial of Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and charging $10,000 a ticket for "VIP jurors”.
"America's Grand Jury”, an organisation with no legal powers which includes among its members a former Trump administration official, a former state attorney general who faced sexual assault allegations, and a slew of right-wing activists, will hold the event over five days beginning on 11 April, according to The Daily Beast.
The group will call on "evidence" to be presented by anti-vaccine celebrities, including Robert F Kennedy Jr and Dr Robert Malone. Dr Paul Alexander, who formerly served as the senior adviser to the assistant secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services under former President Donald Trump, will also be presenting.
According to The Indy Star, Indiana's scandal-ridden former Attorney General Curtis Hill will also be involved in the trial. His law licenses were temporarily suspended in 2020 after four women accused him of groping them. Mr Hill has denied those allegations and a special prosecutor chose not to pursue criminal charges against him in 2018.
"Even though America's Grand Jury is a mock investigation into Fauci and the government agencies overseeing our nation's health services, the evidence gathered is factual information and will be presented for real world application of the law," Mr Hill is quoted as saying on the America's Grand Jury Twitter page.
People interested in voting on the grand jury can purchase spots for $25 and up, allowing them to poll and vote online in the outcome.
For those with deep pockets and a deeper desire to dish out punishment on a pretend Dr Fauci, VIP juror tickets can be purchased for $2,500 to $10,000. VIPs will not only get to serve in-person on the jury but also meet their favorite anti-vaxxers in a small room during the event. They also will be given a five-night stay in Nashville, Tennessee, where the mock trial will be hosted.
The event bills itself as "the fair and balanced way to decide if Anthony Fauci should be indicted," though it does not appear that the group has actually slated anyone to act as the doctor's defence attorney.
According to The Daily Beast, the group appears to be supported by The Unity Project, an anti-vaxx group that also boosted and supported the short-lived US trucker convoy that mildly annoyed residents of Washington DC for three weeks and accomplished little more than headlines.
Dr Fauci will not be the only target of the group's mock trials. If people pay out for the juror tickets, the group plans on holding similar trials for both Joe Biden's son Hunter and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
