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A grim rumor is circulating online among the followers of Andreas Noack, a German chemist who has garnered tens of thousands of followers on YouTube and Telegram while spreading conspiracy theories about the pandemic. The rumor falsely says that Noack was assassinated after he purportedly revealed that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine contains a potentially dangerous material called graphene. Andreas (Noack) assassinated just hours after publishing the secret of the (vaccine) by government operatives just like many others before him, said a recent Facebook post shared in the public group Our World Is Changing. Another post in the same group claimed that the German chemist had been killed for exposing the truth about the graphene hydroxide. Yet another post said that Noack had been murdered by the police. These posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook .) PolitiFact and other fact-checking websites have already reported that the Pfizer vaccine does not contain any form of graphene. And Noack’s partner said he died of a heart attack. The false claims about an assassination have been tough to dislodge, because they allude to real events: German special forces did once raid Noack’s apartment. And he did die unexpectedly. But those events occurred a year apart, in different countries. A raid in Germany Before the pandemic, Noack focused his YouTube channel on topics related to alternative medicine and nutrition supplements. But over the past two years, he transitioned to allegations about COVID-19, including that it is part of a plot to destroy humanity. In November 2020, he gained visibility after security officials raided his apartment in Germany. The operation happened during one of Noack’s livestreams and was broadcast to his followers , who later claimed he was being targeted for violating German lockdown rules or for supporting anti-lockdown protests. German police told PolitiFact that the raid near Nuremberg was not aimed at Noack or related to the pandemic, and that it was carried out as part of a larger operation initiated by prosecutors in Berlin. Lead Stories reported at the time that the security officers had a warrant for Noack’s entire building and that someone in Noack’s apartment tried to resist their entry. According to Lead Stories, Noack later contributed to rumors about the event, describing it as psychological warfare meant to intimidate him. An attack in Austria Noack later moved to Austria and continued sharing COVID-19 misinformation online. A year after the raid, in November 2021, he published a video on his largest Telegram channel alleging that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine contains graphene. He based that false claim on a flawed paper written by a discredited researcher in Spain . The post got almost 380,000 views. Days later, Noack’s partner published a video on his Telegram channel saying in German that he had been heavily attacked, according to a translation rendered by Lead Stories. She claimed that the attack had been sneaky and unexpected and that he later died. Within a day, Noack’s video about the Pfizer vaccine was posted on BitChute — a video platform that researchers say hosts large amounts of hate speech and misinformation — with the title, MURDER! JUST HOURS AFTER PUBLISHING THE RESEARCH ON THE VAX, DR NOACK IS DEAD. The description alleged that the forces that be decided that he hit the mark so hard with uncovering their plans, that they decided to take him out. The video got more than 340,000 views. A day later, Noack’s partner published a second video on Telegram clarifying that Noack had died from a heart attack. She explained that he had collapsed at home and was taken to a hospital in Wolfsberg, in southern Austria. Austrian police told a regional newspaper that Noack died of natural causes. The website of a funeral home in Wolfsberg said he was 57. But the rumors persisted. Noack’s followers focused on the reference to an attack and ignored the subsequent clarification. They also confused details of the November 2020 raid and Noack’s November 2021 death to falsely claim that Noack was assassinated by security officers, even though the two events happened in different years and countries. We tried to contact Noack’s partner on Telegram but did not receive a response. Posts in several languages on social media are now falsely claiming that Noack, a doctor, scientist, or whistleblower, was arrested, beaten, or murdered by the German police, government operatives, or the German government, after publicizing his discovery about Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. CrowdTangle data shows that interactions with content related to Noack on Facebook have now surpassed the previous peak registered when his apartment was raided. On Nov. 30, someone shared the BitChute video about his murder on his official Telegram channel. The post has now been seen more than 100,000 times. Our ruling A Facebook post claimed that government agents murdered German chemist Andreas Noack after he revealed that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine contains graphene. Pfizer’s vaccine doesn’t contain graphene. Noack’s partner said that he died from a heart attack, and Austrian police said that he died from natural causes. And the claim alludes to a raid by government agents, but that raid occurred a year before Noack died. We rate the post False.
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