Anti-vaxxers are continuing their efforts to shut down Covid immunisation programmes in the UK by falsely claiming crimes are being committed.
Activists with large followings on the Telegram encrypted messaging app have been encouraging people to report the “crimes” at local police stations and obtain a record of the report.
Crime reference numbers, which are automatically generated for any allegation, are then used online and at protests to wrongly claim investigations are underway and that vaccinations must be stopped.
A number obtained from the Metropolitan Police in December has become a focus, being displayed on leaflets and banners at protests in London.
Anti-vaxxers have falsely claimed that Scotland Yard launched an investigation into offences including gross negligence manslaughter and misconduct in public office over coronavirus vaccines.
They have been encouraging people to send more “evidence” to the force, sharing individual officers’ contact details online.
A spokesperson from Scotland Yard said: “On 20 December, a number of documents were submitted at a west London police station in support of allegations of criminality in relation to the UK’s vaccine programme.
“A crime reference number was created and provided to the complainants. This is not an indication that an investigation is under way or that a crime has been committed, it merely acknowledges that an allegation has been received and recorded.
“Officers have been tasked with reviewing the documents. This process is time consuming and has been prolonged by the submission of further documents by people encouraged to do so online.
“While the assessment continues, to date there is nothing to indicate that a crime has been committed and no criminal investigation has been launched.”
Posts in anti-vaxx Telegram groups indicate that crime reference numbers have also been obtained from forces in Yorkshire, Somerset, the Midlands and elsewhere.
None of the forces contacted by The Independent had opened a criminal investigation.
West Yorkshire Police said it had no investigations underway relating to alleged criminality relating to the vaccine programme.
It said reference numbers are “created so paperwork can be attached to our systems electronically and to ensure we have a record of interactions”.
How did this start?
The trend appeared to have originated in June last year, when a four-page guide was issued by a prominent activist and shared across Telegram channels followed by hundreds of thousands of people.
It was addressed to “any person, in any village, town or city in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland” and urged them to visit a police station or approach officers in the street to “make a criminal complaint”.
The guide detailed how to formally record the complaint, by reporting themselves to be the victim of a crime, handing over a pre-prepared statement on Covid vaccines and obtaining details of the officer receiving it.
“Be polite, be respectful, be calm and no threats, abuse or bad language,” the guide reads.
“The police are duty bound to record and investigate all reports of crime.”
The post was spread across multiple anti-vaxx Telegram channels, and on other social media platforms, with activists spreading the advice through countless posts and videos.
Further guides were then issued, telling people that they should “follow up to see if the crime has been investigated”, and make reports to the police watchdog if it was not.
By 14 July, the original poster claimed a “44-page evidence bundle” he shared had been downloaded 20,000 times.
Who is being targeted?
The main target of the action was initially police forces, in the hope of forcing an investigation into alleged crimes linked to the UK’s Covid vaccination programmes.
The trend was widened out to schools, by parents’ activist groups who oppose the vaccination of children and other coronavirus measures in classrooms.
Leaflets and posters listing crime reference numbers, and repeating the false claim over live investigations, have been used at numerous protests where anti-vaxxers have targeted vaccination and testing centres.
On 16 January, an anti-vaxx Telegram channel with more than 30,000 followers shared a guide on “how to close down a vax centre using the LIVE criminal investigation crime reference number 6029679/21 (Metropolitan Police)”.
It claimed the number could be used in a “lawful process” to stop vaccinations being administered.
Videos and audio files were shared of protesters attempting the tactic in different locations, with little success.
One post said Nottinghamshire Police had “not even both acting” on a report of “mass genocide”.
What do the activists want?
In a Telegram post on 20 December, the original poster of the guide wrote that a formal criminal complaint had been made to the Metropolitan Police.
“Of paramount importance and as a matter of public safety we as a collective have demanded the vaccine rollout is stopped immediately and suggested an address to the nation is made by the Metropolitan Police to advise accordingly,” he added.
“A number of government departments and in particular individuals in public office and government have been named as offenders and we have it all in terms of supporting evidence.”
The group has subsequently become increasingly frustrated, saying they were “reminding police daily” of the “demand to stop the V programme”.
On 31 December, they called for all “victims of the vaccine” to contact their local police forces individually, adding: “We believe each individual has a right to be classed as a victim of crime. The injuries attributed to the V must be documented by the police and an appropriate crime number issued. It could be anything from actual bodily harm through to grievous bodily harm, manslaughter and ultimately murder.”
The post urged care workers, doctors and nurses who have been told they must be vaccinated to continue in their jobs to lodge complaints of blackmail.
What is happening now?
Anti-vaxxers claim they have submitted more than 1,000 pages of “evidence” to the Metropolitan Police.
The documents are said to allege crimes including: “Miisfeasance in public office, misconduct in public office, conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, conspiracy to administer a poisonous and noxious substance to cause serious harm and death, gross negligence manslaughter, corporate manslaughter, corruption, fraud, blackmail, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, terrorism, genoside [sic], torture, crimes against humanity, false imprisonment, multiple breaches of our human rights, war crimes, multiple breaches of The Nuremberg Code 1947, multiple breaches of the Human Rights Act 1998, (Treason will also be added).”
Campaigners have urged followers to contact the BBC, Sky News and other outlets in an effort to increase media coverage of the supposed investigation.
On 24 January, the original poster lashed out at “doubt and ridicule about a crime reference number and criminal investigation taking place”.
“Some of you should be ashamed of yourselves for the lack of support and togetherness,” the man wrote, lashing out at “fake news and gossip”.
“I’m not wasting any more time on this,” he added. “I’m now taking the decision to stop all communication with everyone and I will carry on under the radar. I never expected so much doubt and ridicule.”
