Is the Anti-Nuke Movement's Most Popular Leader a Danger to Public Safety?

[SpunkyMonkey]

The most popular online anti-nuclear leader, Dana Durnford, was arrested this week for criminal harassment of two scientists.

Charges laid against B.C. man who called for death of Fukushima researcher​

A British Columbia man who posted a video calling for the death of scientists whose research shows the Fukushima nuclear accident is not destroying the Pacific has been charged with two counts of criminal harassment.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/charges-laid-against-bc-man-who-called-for-death-of-ex-fukushima-researcher/article27136264/
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It wasn't merely "a video calling for the death of scientists," it was over a year of rhetoric calling for violence and murder of scientists, journalists, academics and government employees. He relentlessly drummed into the heads of his lunatic following the idea that vigilante justice against anyone informing the public about facts of Fukushima (which he claims are lies) should at least be physically assaulted or at worst murdered. He tried to avoid directly asking "please go kill this person," but as these examples show, he clearly crossed an ethical and legal line.

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Released on bail, Durnford removed most of his videos and immediately posted a video claiming the arrest was an illegal attempt to suppress his Fukushima "research" and he solicited donations. His fans are now doing a full-court press to garner public support under the fraudulent pretext that the arrest was enforced by the nuclear industry to suppress "the truth." Having kept a casual eye on Durnford's doomsday cult for over a year, there's no way his fans could have missed his murderous rhetoric and threats. Instead, it's certainly that they believe it was justified. After all, Durnford has persuaded them Fukushima has killed 99% of the sealife in the Pacific Ocean, and we're next.

While Helen Caldicott has 10k followers online (twitter), Durnford has 18k followers (youtube). I am not aware of an active anti-nuclear leader who is more popular than Durnford is today. This has to say something about the movement, that the people's choice among anti-nuclear folks is a bloodthirsty psychopath.

 

[Astronuc]

As far as I can tell, Dr. Cullen is doing his own independent research.

From the Globe and Mail article.

In an earlier interview, Dr. Cullen said he started the Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring Network, known as InFORM, to provide the public with scientific findings on the nuclear accident.

“The goal and motivation … was that people were asking me, family and friends and the public at large, what the impact of the disaster was on B.C., on the North Pacific and on Canada. After the disaster occurred, I started looking for quality monitoring information so I could answer those questions as honestly and accurately as I could,” he said.

Durnford certainly comes across as a deranged individual. I would imagine he is incapable of conducting research.

 

[rootone]

He sounds like a graduate from the Alex Jones school of applied paranoia.

 

[SpunkyMonkey]

As far as I can tell, Dr. Cullen is doing his own independent research.

From the Globe and Mail article.
Durnford certainly comes across as a deranged individual. I would imagine he is incapable of conducting research.

Durnford believes, or claims to believe, every negative video comment he deletes was funded by "nuclear PR firms." His cult believes they are in a daily pitched battle with an industry that outside their delusional world actually doesn't even know they exist. Every glitch in his live-stream broadcast is the industry, every computer-hardware failure is the industry. In their tiny minds, the nuclear industry has an office of full-time workers dedicated to foiling their heroic efforts. But in reality, whatever blowback they get comes from average concerned citizens. Yet they swat at their invisible demons 24/7.

 

[SpunkyMonkey]

Here are threats Durnford made a few days before the police showed up, aimed not only directly at the scientists he wants dead, but also calling for "anything" from WHOI to be "put down like a rabid animal."

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He also admits that he'd been making death threats, a rare moment of honesty. Yet after the arrest he does a 180˚ and claims he only published civil critique of the scientists he sought to terrorize. That bogus innocence narrative is being pushed online by antinuclear activists appealing for public support and donations for Durnford's legal defense.

 

[mheslep]

The most popular online anti-nuclear leader, ...

How do you make the assessment "most popular"? I hope it is not true.

 

[SpunkyMonkey]

How do you make the assessment "most popular"? I hope it is not true.

As I state in the last paragraph of the original post, his online following exceeds that of Caldicott. Additionally, I could not find another antinuclear activist with a larger online following.

Granted, it's not fair to say this deranged lunatic, however popular he may be, is a leader of most people who oppose nuclear energy. However, most people who if polled would assert opposition to nuclear power wouldn't be considered antinuclear activists, which is to say people who dedicate a significant amount of their time to fighting nuclear energy. That fraction is certainly a small fraction of all those who simply oppose nuclear energy. It's my impression that antinuclear activists are a decidedly different kind of person than those who would be polled as opposed to nuclear. The activists seem to be especially paranoid and malevolent and therefore inclined to be drawn to a deranged bloodthirsty psychopath like Durnford.

 

[jack476]

Death threats? Actually, it's about ethics in gaming nuclear technology journalism.

He sounds like a graduate from the Alex Jones school of applied paranoia.

Yes, top of his class with a concentration in herpetological anthropology.

 

[mheslep]

Death threats? Actually, it's about ethics in gaming nuclear technology journalism.

could you explain?

 

[jack476]

could you explain?

There was an incident last year where some people, mostly women but some men, were harassed on the internet over a period of several months because of a conspiracy theory about feminists using sexual favors to control video gaming journalism. And whenever that whole movement was called out on its behavior, it would claim that what others were seeing as doxxing, harassment, and death threats, were in fact part of how they were "speaking out" against the allegedly corrupt journalists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamergate_controversy

I thought it was more common knowledge, though I'm kind of pleased to see that it isn't.

 

[mheslep]

Thanks

 

[Silicon Waffle]

He acted like a crazyyy loser!

 

[SpunkyMonkey]

Durnford made headlines last week in The Japan Times.

Anti-nuclear firebrand’s case heads to Canadian court over death threats against Fukushima environmental scientists

An activist who alleges a global cover-up over the extent of pollution from the Fukushima No. 1 disaster is due in court in Victoria, Canada, on Wednesday over threats he allegedly made against the lives of two environmental scientists. Full story​

No judgement was passed on his court date. The story is that the judge gave him another month to find a lawyer willing to take his case. In the meantime, he https://www.youtube.com/user/BeautifulGirlByDana/videos that all life in the Pacific Ocean has been killed by Fukushima fallout. He's also still talking about hanging specific people, albeit more carefully than before his arrest.

 

[rootone]

He's a loony that's all, there are lots of them. I think it's best to just ignore it.

 

[mheslep]

He's a loony that's all, there are lots of them. I think it's best to just ignore it.

I think that was the original US approach to ISIS. Durnford will not be occupying northern Iraq but the problem with this loony, and some others like him, is that he's not been ignored. He has a sizable following and has been receiving donations. Why?

 

[SpunkyMonkey]

I think that was the original US approach to ISIS. Durnford will not be occupying northern Iraq but the problem with this loony, and some others like him, is that he's not been ignored. He has a sizable following and has been receiving donations. Why?

Right. And he's not some isolated lone nut, but a leader of a group of a few thousand dedicated followers who believe his every word and therefore who believe without a shadow of a doubt that the extinction of life on Earth is occurring due to Fukushima. Leading a group of impressionable mentally impaired adults to believe the greatest atrocity and crime of coverup in history is occurring and that retaliatory murder is the ethically mandated response is a recipe for harm to innocent people. So it is no surprise that some of this followers are also making threats of violence and death based on the tone he is setting.

 

[SpunkyMonkey]

In light of news reports following Durnford's arrest for criminal harassment, this week he received a ringing endorsement from antinuclear activist Libbe HaLevy, a #1 Amazon best-selling author and host of the weekly podcast Nuclear Hotseat. HaLevy is also a TEDx speaker. Her endorsement appears from time 49:22 here:

Durnford Endorsed by Antinuclear Leader​

HaLevy had initially voiced criticism of Durnford after his arrest for death threats. But to save face within the antinuclear movement, this week she apologized for her criticism and extolled Durnford as "a motivated passionate antinuclear activist" and "a highly inspirational leader." She also calls for the "establishment antinuclear movement" to join forces with Durnford's camp. Just wow!

 

[mheslep]

HaLevy is "stressed" she says, which affects her health and is thus the fault of nuclear power. She seeks refuge in delusion. Willfully so. Why? To avoid criticism from fellow sociopaths.

 

[SpunkyMonkey]

HaLevy is "stressed" she says, which affects her health and is thus the fault of nuclear power. She seeks refuge in delusion. Willfully so. Why? To avoid criticism from fellow sociopaths.

We can only speculate. If we take her on her word, she feels that she spoke hastily to criticize him for death threats, but after looking into his activity she was persuaded that he's a genuine and worthy activist. She does not say she now feels he did not make death threats.

Whatever her motivations, this example counters those who see Durnford as a harmless lone nut. This example shows someone, HaLevy, who is not a sociopath, who intends to do good in the world, nevertheless will support someone who most of us easily see as a lunatic longing for blood. And this isn't just true of her but many of his followers who see themselves as Peace & Love hipsters while being devoted followers of madman raving about killing and torture. And many of those people echo his violent sentiments in their words. Durnford influences a community of people in ways that lean toward increased risk of harm to others.

 

[mheslep]

...This example shows someone, HaLevy, who is not a sociopath,

I contend HaLevy's defense of death threats is sociopathic per the standard definition: lacking any sense of moral responsibility. The pair are a cabin-in-the-woods away from Unabomberism - incoherent narratives about how the modern world is doomed and therefore why be concerned about killing some scientists.

who intends to do good in the world,

We know what she's said, not what she intends. Left to a guess, from her statements/actions its more likely she seeks faux glory and self-indulgence.

...And this isn't just true of her but many of his followers who see themselves as Peace & Love hipsters while being devoted followers of madman raving about killing and torture. And many of those people echo his violent sentiments in their words.

All the worse then that the HaLevey/Durnford crowd adopt a "Peace & Love" pose, as it is provably false.