Refused to work for Jews - now claims 5G is scrambling his brain
Austin Franco, 19, who refused to work for a company because its founders are Jewish, claimed that radiation from a 5G facility near his new apartment is causing him severe headaches. After his parents evicted him due to his antisemitic views, he launched a fundraiser and has already raised over $10,000.
Austin Franco, a 19-year-old student at Cornell University who previously declared that he is "not interested in working for a Jew," claims that a 5G cellular facility near his new apartment in Ithaca, New York, is causing him headaches. This was reported on Saturday by the New York Post.
In a post published on X on August 2, Franco claimed that a 5G box located outside his window is transmitting harmful radiation directly into his head:
"My head has been ringing for an hour, and I have a very severe headache. The measurement here is already 10 times the normal limit, and at one point it reached almost 500 times."
The third-year student asked if anyone in the area could offer him a room, as he does not intend to "stay like this for much longer."
"I'll just have to absorb the cost and in the meantime find another solution. I guess that's what happens when you don't check these places in advance," he added.
The post was published a few days after Franco was kicked out of his parents' home, a $1.75 million estate in Virginia, following their opposition to the views he expressed.
On July 29, Franco opened a fundraising page. So far, he has reportedly raised more than $10,000 from supporters, in addition to about $26,000 raised in a separate campaign launched by English far-right YouTuber Miles Routledge.
"Now our oppression ends, as free white men and women who dare to call things as they are. His parents are just too stupid to understand that he is right. We are being attacked," claimed one donor who transferred $100 to Franco.
Lee Whitnum, the 2018 Democratic candidate for governor of Connecticut, also donated $100. Whitnum, a vocal opponent of Zionism, said she identifies with Franco after previously being accused of antisemitism herself: "A person has every right to choose who they want to work for."
Franco began cultivating his image after sending an antisemitic message via a job search site in June to Gabe and Aidan Einhorn, the Jewish founders of the company VryfID.
Franco's parents, who disavow his views, previously told the New York Post that their son fell victim to "extremist content on the internet" and that his radical beliefs are his alone.
Experts agree that online content can have a significant impact on radicalization:
"The internet can definitely accelerate radicalization processes. If you are surrounded by people who tell you that your anger is justified and that your enemies deserve contempt, your perception of what is normal begins to change and distort," said therapist Jonathan Alpert.
"One of the ugliest features of the internet is that almost anything can become a source of income, including hate. When people send money to someone after they have expressed extremist views, they are doing more than helping them financially - they are rewarding bad behavior," he added.
