Police investigating after fourth Quebec cellphone tower hit by suspected arson
MONTREAL—The
major crimes unit of Quebec’s provincial police is investigating after
four cellphone towers north of Montreal were set on fire within the span
of a few days.
Provincial police
spokesman Marc Tessier says the latest fire occurred at a Rogers-owned
tower in Laval on Tuesday morning. It’s the second fire since Friday to
hit one of the company’s towers in that city.
Two
other towers about 70 kilometres north of Montreal — one operated by
Rogers and the other by Bell — were hit early Monday morning.
Tessier
says the major crimes unit will investigate possible links between the
four fires, including whether they can be traced back to people
espousing conspiracy theories about 5G technology.
False narratives around COVID-19 and
5G — the fifth-generation technology standard for cellphone companies —
have been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media,
leading to attacks on towers across Europe.
None of the Quebec towers targeted by suspected arson have 5G capabilities.
Mariepier
Des Lauriers, spokeswoman for the town of Prevost, where a
Rogers-operated tower was hit Monday morning, said that in recent weeks
many residents brought up unfounded conspiracy theories linking 5G
technology to COVID-19.
On
Sunday, the small town wrote a message on its Facebook page specifying
that its cellphone tower did not have 5G capability in response to
numerous questions from concerned citizens.
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