“Hang Fauci, Hang Gates” sign appears in New York’s protest [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• An alarming sign carrying the words ‘Hang Fauci Hang Gates’ appeared in a news report on Thursday as protesters in Commack, New York rallied to reopen the state amid COVID-19 threat. The sign referred to Dr. Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.
• The news report, which was filmed by TV journalist Kevin Vesey, got Trump’s attention as he described the protesters in his tweet as “great people,” saying they can’t get enough.
• The protest was led by Setauket Patriots, a group of Trump supporters, with backing by The Oath Keepers group, a radical right-wing organization.

“Hang Fauci, Hang Gates” disturbed the local television news in New York when it was flashed on News 12 Long Island on Thursday — telling about the “Re-Open New York” protest held in Commack.

The sign which came from a threatening rhyme: “Hang Fauci Hang Gates, Open Up All Our States,” was traced coming from lockdown protesters, whom President Donald Trump praised “as great people” on his Saturday tweet.

The attack was against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and key member of the White House coronavirus task force, and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates. Both have warned the public against the pandemic. Fauci cautioned the country could face serious health consequences if it reopens the economy immediately and disregards the safety measures in place.

The alarming message was part of a protest coverage by by Kevin Vesey, a TV journalist who became Trump’s target on Twitter.

Vesey initially got the president’s attention after he tweeted about his ugly experience at the protest, where protesters harassed and berated him.

“I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic,” Vesey tweeted.

On Thursday, Trump tweeted in response to one of Vesey’s posts: “FAKE NEWS IS NOT ESSENTIAL.” The president tweeted again on Saturday about Vesey’s video, saying that the protesters were “great” and they “can’t get enough of this.”

The Commack protest was led by a group of Trump supporters named the Setauket Patriots. They were also backed by the Long Island branch of the radical right-wing organization The Oath Keepers as reported by The Intercept, the first to report about the disturbing sign.

Suffolk County, the strike’s location, has a COVID-19 mortality rate which is more than four times of the national average. It has almost 38,000 infected cases and 1,733 fatalities as of Saturday.

Source: AOL.com