Transport for London (TfL) workers have been urged to take caution as razors have been reported to hide behind COVID conspiracy posters, with the intent to injure those who try to remove them.
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TfL has since advised its staff on how to safely remove the posters without harming themselves. A spokesperson explained:
We act urgently to remove unauthorised materials from our network, such as posters, including those relating to the pandemic. The safety of our customers and colleagues is paramount, and we have issued guidance to our staff on how to remove them safely after reports of instances outside of our network of razor blades being attached to the back of such materials.
The spokesperson went on, stating that these posters have yet to show up along the TfL network. Still, instances have occurred in other areas: ‘None have been detected on our network, and there have been very few instances of unauthorised adverts related to the pandemic.’
Woman in Cardiff injured by razor blades in conspiracy posters
TfL posted a bulletin to staff online explaining that posters boasting COVID conspiracy theories and spreading misinformation about coronavirus vaccines had been placed along walls and lamposts. The Guardian reported that the post was accompanied by two images, one of a poster and the other depicting its bloodied reverse, accompanied by its injured
victim.
The images seemed to have come from an incident reported back in July when a woman in Cardiff named Layla was cut by a conspiracy poster while trying to remove it. She posted on Twitter:
I’d love to know, which f***wit decides to put razor blades behind stickers? Pulled this anti mask bull**** down on Canton high street, and absolutely mulched my hand.
Dangerous posters have also been spotted near jab sites
The dangerous posters have also been popping up near vaccination sites. Community Health Partnerships warned:
Anti-Vaccination posters have been put up in areas near to or on vaccination sites that also contain hidden razor blades so when staff remove these they are being cut and injured.
The West Malling Practice Patient Group also spoke out after healthcare staff were injured in Kent:
We have also had an alert that anti-vax protestors have taped razor blades to the back of posters elsewhere so that clinic staff in that area have sustained cuts to their hands when pulling the posters down.
Trade union RMT has since called for those putting up the posters to face the harshest consequences. General Secretary Mike Lynch revealed: ‘Any anti-vax conspiracy theorist resorting to this disgusting practice of lacing their propaganda with razor blades needs to know that they will face criminal prosecution and the highest possible sentences.’
As far as RMT is concerned, they should be locked up for a long time. We would expect the police and the courts to take the hardest possible line.
