Justine Damond, the Australian woman who called police but was then shot dead, being killed because her holistic practices interfered with “Big Pharma” aka pharmaceutical companies is fake news. There is no evidence to support a theory that Damond was targeted by Minnesota police for her healing practices. Where did this conspiracy theory originate?
On July 16, 2017, alternative health blogger Erin Elizabeth reported on her web site Health Nut News that Damond was among a growing list of holistic doctors who had died under suspicious circumstances. That claim quickly circulated social media when the narrative was twisted by the disreputable conspiracy site YourNewsWire with the headline, “Holistic Doctor, Working Against Big Pharma, Shot Dead By Police.” The sensationalized headline worked in terms of helping it gain traction in social media shares.
YourNewsWire published the following story that played off of the conspiracy theory.
According to reports, the police who arrived (including the one who shot her) had their body cameras turned off.
The well-known health and lifestyle coach, who was actively campaigning for people to take control of their lives and reject Big Pharma’s crippling products, joins the long list of holistic doctors and healers who have been killed in suspicious or unsolved circumstances during the past two years.
However, Snopes debunked this conspiracy theory, finding is no evidence to support the conspiracy theory to wipe out holistic doctors. Elizabeth’s list was a sloppy compilation of natural deaths, accidents and crimes. Ten of the people on the list, in fact, had no connection to holistic medicine. But that did not stop people from sharing that list or the YourNewsWire story. Here are some examples of people sharing the fake news on social media.
https://t.co/rBhdlp8f5e Now it all makes sense. #HolisticDoctor murdered by #BigPharma #US is a dirty country. #RIP #JustineDamond #karma
— Cheekyoziechick (@Cheekyoziechick) July 25, 2017
#JustineDamond is yet another holistic healer KILLED. Who would want them dead https://t.co/cJfVngMeWd pic.twitter.com/uQx2hMguy1
— AngB (@AngBee23) July 17, 2017
#BREAKING another holistic healer, Justine Damond, shot & killed by police. Why r so many holistic healers dying? https://t.co/Wtoflnb60o pic.twitter.com/hy9a534YKK
— AngB (@AngBee23) July 17, 2017
While there are debates over subgroups of Americans being disproportionately killed by police, there is no current data to suggest that holistic healers as a group are among them.
According to the tracking site KilledByPolice.net, 688 people have been killed by American law enforcement in 2017. The web site tallied 1,162 law enforcement-related deaths in 2016.
In the case of Damond, she was the one who had called police to the scene so it would seem very unlikely that she was the victim of a conspiracy theory by Big Pharma.
When Minneapolis Police Department officers, Matthew Harrity and Mohamed Noor, responded to the call, the tragedy unfolded. Further contradicting the idea that Damond’s death was an assassination by Big Pharm, both officers tried to revive her.
What did you think of the conspiracy theory suggesting Damond was killed because of her holistic practices? Did you believe it or see people sharing it falsely on social media? Let us know in the comments section.
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Source: B2C
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