One Vigilante, 22 Cell Tower Fires, and a World of Conspiracies
September 19, 2025 at 04:04AMWe’ve all heard the fearmongering about 5G cell-phone technology. But while many of us dismiss it as paranoia or crackpottery, others take it deadly seriously. Sean Aaron Smith may have started out in the former camp, but in the early days of the COVID pandemic, he ended up in the latter—and in an effort to be part of the solution, he began setting fire to cell phone towers around San Antonio. A hell of a read (as always) from Brendan I. Koerner.
During one of his attacks, Smith snagged a souvenir that caught his eye: a warning sign that read, “Radio frequency fields near some antennas may exceed the FCC occupational rules for human exposure.” The Federal Communications Commission mandates the posting of these signs for the benefit of maintenance workers who must occasionally climb to the peaks of towers. But Smith mistakenly thought this language amounted to a government confession that civilians within a wide radius of a tower are in constant danger. He delighted in showing off the sign when evangelizing to fellow miscreants about 5G’s role in transforming the US into a repressive dystopia. He could only hope his audiences were listening more intently to his lectures than he’d listened to his prison friend back in 2014.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/09/18/one-vigilante-22-cell-tower-fires-and-a-world-of-conspiracies/
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