'‘Lab-leak’ proponents at Rutgers accused of defaming, intimidating COVID-19 origin researchers'

Fraudsters. Liars. Perjurers. Felons. Grifters. Stooges. Imbeciles. Murderers. When it comes to describing scientists whose peer-reviewed studies suggest the COVID-19 virus made a natural jump from animals to humans, molecular biologist Richard Ebright and microbiologist Bryce Nickels have used some very harsh language. On X (formerly Twitter), where the two scientists from Rutgers University are a constant presence, they have even compared fellow researchers to Nazi war criminals and the genocidal Cambodian dictator Pol Pot.

But now, their targets have had enough. A dozen scientists filed a formal complaint with Rutgers yesterday alleging that the two faculty members have violated the university’s policies on free expression by posting “provably false” comments that are often defamatory, and that some of their actions could even threaten scientists’ safety.

“It’s just a very clear daily harassment campaign directed at people that they disagree with. And I don’t think that’s right,” says letter organizer Kristian Andersen, an evolutionary biologist at Scripps Research who has co-authored papers in Science that link the origin of the pandemic to wildlife sold at a market in Wuhan, China. He and his colleagues also worry Ebright and Nickels are “engaging with the more extreme right,” including one person who has joked about executing some researchers.

In an emailed response to Science, Ebright called the researchers’ complaint “a crude effort to silence their opponents and, thereby, to prop up their collapsing narrative.” Nickels has posted a tweet thread of what he says are 11 “deliberates lies” in the letter. (In the past, the pair has also frequently criticized reporters and editors at Science in social media posts.)

The complaint to Rutgers is the latest volley in the heated debate about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic—and in an equally fiery discussion about the limits of free speech in academia. Ebright and Nickels are proponents of the “lab-leak” theory, which says SARS-CoV-2 came from a virology laboratory in Wuhan and was perhaps even engineered to be more dangerous. Along with other scientists, journalists, and members of the public, they have raised concerns about a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to the EcoHealth Alliance, a New York City nonprofit, that included funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct studies of bat coronaviruses. That work could have created SARS-CoV-2, they argue. Ebright and Nickels are also among the founders of Biosafety Now, a nonprofit pushing for stronger oversight of labs that study dangerous pathogens.

The letter by Andersen and his colleagues, addressed to seven leaders at Rutgers and its Waksman Institute of Microbiology, where Ebright and Nichols work, cites several tweets by the duo and calls their behavior “unacceptable.” (Some of the tweets refer to scientists who did not sign the letter, including former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci and EcoHealth President Peter Daszak.) “To be clear, we welcome good faith criticism of our work,” the letter states. “However, we strongly believe that we, as scientists and academics, together with the institutions we serve, have a responsibility to engage in respectful, informed, and fact-driven debate.”

This month, Ebright and Nickels tweeted out an announcement for an EcoHealth fundraising event in April—although it did not include the time or the venue—and for a scientific conference in Washington, D.C., where Daszak is scheduled to speak. Encouraging their X followers to attend these events “put some of us and our colleagues in physical danger,” the letter states.

“I feel like things have reached a dangerous new low with these guys now egging on their followers, many of whom are unstable and easily influenced, to stalk scientists at meetings and private events,” says co-signer Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona. The letter points to a tweet from former EcoHealth employee Andrew Huff that included an animated image of a public hanging and suggested that’s how Daszak, Fauci, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill virologist Ralph Baric should be executed. Ebright and Nickels have regular exchanges with Huff on X.

The letter calls for “immediate and serious review” by Rutgers, which has guidelines stating that harassment and intimidation are not free expression, and that faculty are barred from harassing colleagues. “The letter has been received and appears to allege violations of Rutgers policy,” a Rutgers spokesperson says. “As is practice it will be forwarded to the appropriate offices for review.”

Andersen says he and his colleagues aren’t yet planning to file a defamation lawsuit against Ebright and Nickels, like the one that recently won climate scientist Michael Mann more than $1 million. “I don’t really want to see it go that way,” Andersen says. “I would much rather that we get back to proper scientific discourse where we can agree and disagree.”

But so far, the letter appears to have had no such impact. “The first, second, third, and fifth signers of the letter provably are fraudsters; the first and third signers provably are perjurers; and all signers provably are coauthors of fraudsters and perjurers,” Ebright tweeted today.

https://www.science.org/content/article/lab-leak-proponents-rutgers-accused-defaming-and-intimidating-covid-19-origin