4 ms·

Is there any evidence that those hate crimes were connected to people concerned about the experiments conducted by the Wuhan Institute of Virology?

• munk-a 5y ago
  That's the kind of question that can't reasonably be answered - we don't and, I personally think, can't really track the personal motives of crimes in a logical manner since hate crimes are generally pretty illogical actions. The most legitimate response you could hope to get to such a question is some anecdotal evidence.
  • pageandrew 5y ago
    Agreed. So why do people try to stifle reasonable debate about a plausible theory by making unfalsifiable allegations tying that theory to hate crimes?
    • manuelabeledo 5y ago
      The hypothesis that links the increase of hate crimes to the idea that the virus was intentionally created and/or spread by the Chinese, is also “plausible”. The reporting of harassment and hate crimes usually involve the aggressor’s statements at the time of the occurrence, thus it is perfectly possible to link a physical or verbal attack to a motivation. There isn’t a concerted effort anywhere to stop the debate about the lab leak hypothesis, and proof of it is the widespread coverage in media, from MIT review to NYT. There is though a more unified push of such hypothesis made by right-wing outlets, like this one, FOX, or NYP, among others. And, if anything, that should give us pause, as this is more about shaping public opinion than informing.