Far-Right Extremists Are Threatening to ‘Execute’ Doctors at a Children’s Hospital
By: David Gilbert
Not original photo. This is the best match I could find. (shutterstock)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Boston Children’s Hospital said on Tuesday that its staff has faced a flood of violent threats and harassment sparked by a false claim made by the viral LibsofTikTok Twitter account.
The account, run by Brooklyn real estate agent Chaya Raichik, tweeted on August 11 that “Boston Children's Hospital is now offering ‘gender-affirming hysterectomies’ for young girls.” The claim has been widely debunked by fact-checking groups —but as is typical in anti-trans rhetoric, facts rarely matter, and the claims were shared widely on right-wing social media accounts.
As a result, the hospital and its staff have faced a torrent of abuse.
“In response to commentary last week critical of our Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS) Program, Boston Children's Hospital has been the target of a large volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails, including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff,” the hospital said in a statement posted to Twitter .
The hospital did not specify where the threats were coming from, but VICE News has uncovered some violent threats posted on far-right and extremist platforms targeting the doctors.
“Long past time to start executing these ‘doctors,’” a member of a pro-Trump message board formerly known as TheDonald, wrote under a copy of a video featuring a doctor from the hospital. This message board is the same one whose members last week doxed and made violent threats against the judge who signed the search warrant that allowed the FBI to search the home of former President Donald Trump.
The forum’s members encouraged one another to post negative remarks on the hospital’s YouTube videos which were ultimately removed as a result of the influx of comments. Another member posted the phone number of the hospital and encouraged others to “CALL THEM ON THE PHONE.”
There were similar reactions to the claims in far-right and conspiracy-minded Telegram groups.
“Demons like this do not deserve to breathe! Crimes against humanity=DEATH,” one Telegram user wrote under a link to one of the articles repeating the false claims. “These people are physcopaths [sic] and should be locked up,” another wrote. On both platforms, the doctors and hospital staff were referred to as “pedophiles” and “groomers,” attacks that have become a mainstay of Republican orthodoxy in recent months .
Raichik’s account, which has over 1 million followers, has been at the forefront of the right’s anti-LGBTQ campaign , which has also targeted schools and libraries in recent months. It’s the same tactic that has been deployed for years by anti-abortion groups and is still being used in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade .
Twitter did not immediately respond to VICE News’ request for comment on whether Raichik’s latest tweet broke its rules.
The claim was instantly picked up and amplified by a slew of right-wing influencers and media personalities.
“This is monstrous,” Stephen Miller, a former Trump administration official, tweeted in response to Raichik. “How does anyone involved in this still have a medical license?”
Others who boosted the false claim included The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh and conservative websites such as The Post Millennial, the Gateway Pundit, and the Daily Caller.
“We are deeply concerned by these attacks on our clinicians and staff fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community,” the hospital said, “The article and the online attention that followed was based on the incorrect statement that Boston Children’s performs hysterectomies on minors in connection with transgender care.”
As has been pointed out in several fact-checks about the claims, in order for a hysterectomy to be performed as part of gender-affirming care, Boston Children's Hospital requires a patient to be capable of consenting for themselves.
“Boston Children’s does not—and will not—perform a hysterectomy as part of gender-affirming care on a patient under the age of 18,” the hospital said in its statement.
Despite the outrage about the targeted harassment campaign against Boston Children’s Hospital and its staff, Raichik on Tuesday posted a similarly incendiary tweet targeting Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
“How many more children’s hospitals and their providers need to be threatened before you actually do something?” Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic an LGBTQ+ advocate who has been at the forefront of calling out Raichik’s campaign, tweeted on Tuesday.
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So just make up lies and put people in danger...
now the only plank in the republican party platform...
ironic huh? You push a fake story and she receives death threats.
like that's exclusive to non-trumpsters...
What is sad is you cannot grasp the truth of the situation and try to place blame elsewhere.
funny how those that are so fond of mentioning their defense of the constitution have so much trouble buying into the entire document...
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Boston Children's Hospital is now offering ‘gender-affirming hysterectomies’ for young giirls..
There own website said they do....
There "debunking" is based on the Hospital changing it's policy AFTER it was publicized.
From your own source: "A previous version of the resource stated that a vaginoplasty for gender-affirming care could be offered to a patient who was at least 17 years old, but as shown above, that rule has been updated."
Libsoftiktok has been getting deaththreats for months. Is that okay?
Deflection. Is it ok for this woman to send out lies?
It's not a lie. Your own source admits it.
How or where does my own source admit it?
They changed the policy after it was publicized by libsoftiktok.
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What do you have other than twitter? The twitter link you say is proof talks about a study...
hat do you have other than twitter
What do you have other than a website? It's a link to the hospital proving the libsoftiktok claim correct.
Beyond that, read your source. The internet wayback machine proves it.
The Hospital changed their website and policy when its contents were publicly criticized.
So we are going by this?
In conclusion....building such a center.....
Seems to me this was a study about what and how it impacts people. Also to determine whether or not to do it.
This was current when the story was published. They changed the policy to 18 this week.
Oh gee. They changed it from 17 to 18. Boo fucking hoo.
Saying that all kids were able to get an operation is a lie.
Lol... Move that goal post.
I didn't move shit. You are still only deflecting away from assholes giving death threats to a hospital staff.
If you cannot recognize this and insist it is all because of a one year age difference....What can I say.
Some just cannot accept what is happening in real time.
You claimed she was lying. she was not.
ome just cannot accept what is happening in real time.
You've been defending a lie. Seems like you should be mad the people who manipulated you. But some prefer to be lied to than face reality I guess.
So you are going to dismiss everything, death threats and all. Did this woman clarify any age when she was posting? Do you really think her supporters are going to believe only people 17 and above would ever have the surgery?
You have done nothing but defend this vile woman tooth and nail. She is making people hate a place of healing for God sake, and you are going to call the people reporting on this the liars.
Bullshit. The one year age difference is nothing but a scapegoat for you.
Hell I don't blame them for making it 18 with all the sycophants running around...
no. theocrats that put religious dogma before the constitution deserve a bullet.
Amazes me. She is actually causing people to get death threats and the response is about poor her....
You believe objecting to mutilating minors is "religious dogma"
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So you think reporters deserve death threats for publishing facts?
What facts? That you posted some study?
there's a centuries old reason that mackerel snapping madrasas are brick and mortar.
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The hospital changed its policy.
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Where does it show that?
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That equals “young girls?” This equates to “pedophiles” and “groomers?”
We're sitting here pretending one brand of lunatic is somehow better than another brand of lunatic and that we've just now mysteriously crossed some moral threshold as if that didn't really happen decades ago.
But don't let that stop you.
Yep. Ho hum and all that.
Very much so.
Its all fun and games until someone really kills healthcare workers.
The sanctity of life except when you disagree with the MAGAs.
Good point. It's "MAGA" who is constantly fantasizing about killing people on this site. Lol.
It is also the MAGA that is threatening FBI agents and federal judges and have actually tried to kill them.
The Middle East has nothing on us. The people who write this stuff would be perfect for Al Qaeda, ISIS, the Taliban, etc.
Sadly that is a true statement.