By Canadian Press

Quebec police probing 3 cellphone tower fires, possible link to conspiracy theory

May 4, 2020 | 1:43 PM

MONTREAL — Police in Quebec are investigating whether recent fires at three cellphone towers north of Montreal are connected and if they have anything to do with global conspiracy theories linking COVID-19 with 5G technology.

Provincial police spokesman Marc Tessier said authorities were called to a fire at around 3:40 a.m. today at a cellphone tower in Piedmont, Que., and then again 20 minutes later at another tower fire six kilometres away in Prevost, Que.

Those two fires, about 70 kilometres north of Montreal, occurred after another cellphone tower caught fire early Friday morning in Montreal’s northern suburb of Laval.

Tessier says police suspect foul play and investigators will be contacting Laval police to see whether the three fires are connected or in any way tied to conspiracy theorists about 5G technology and the novel coronavirus.

A day before the fire in Prevost, the town specified on Facebook that its cellphone tower did not have 5G capability, adding that the message was in response to many questions from residents.

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5G, the fifth-generation technology standard for cellphone companies, has been the subject of numerous unfounded conspiracy theories linking it to COVID-19, leading to a spate of arson attacks on cellphone towers across Europe.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2020.

The Canadian Press