Kay Allison "Kate" Shemirani (born 1965) is a British conspiracy theorist, anti-vaccine activist and former nurse who lost her licence to practise in 2020 for misconduct. She is best known for promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19, vaccinations and 5G technology. Shemirani has been described by The Jewish Chronicle as a leading figure of a movement that includes conspiracy theorists as well as far-left and far-right activists.
Shemirani describes herself as a "Natural Nurse in a Toxic World". She was suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in July 2020, in response to complaints that she was spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and about vaccines, and struck off (with a right to appeal after five years) in May 2021.
Biography
Shemirani is known for her promotion of conspiracy theories on topics related to vaccines and 5G telephone networks, in particular in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has presented her views at events alongside other conspiracy theorists such as David Icke, Piers Corbyn and Mark Steele.
Shemirani has described nurses who raised concerns about her conduct as "overweight" and "envious" of her "decent looks" and success.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
COVID-19 denialism
Shemirani describes the COVID-19 pandemic as a "plandemic" and a "scamdemic", and said in December 2020 that there was "no evidence that I can see that a pandemic exists". She characterises the pandemic as a conspiracy to control the masses, with any vaccine for COVID-19 being a "political tool to change people's DNA".
In a video published in Spring of 2020, she said "Just before Christmas we had [been told] … we're all going to die of measles… Now we're suddenly all going to die of coronavirus. I'm not buying any of it… I think it's really important that we don't just believe what the media tell us."
Shemirani has been suspended from Facebook several times for promoting harmful misinformation to her 54,000 followers, including linking the 5G mobile network to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Hope Not Hate, who monitor online racism and conspiracy theories, her Facebook page describes the 9/11 attacks as a false flag, Satanic messages in music videos and the organised destruction of the nuclear family. By September 2020, her Facebook page had been removed. She was suspended from Twitter in late October 2020.
Shemirani has been the subject of complaints for likening measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic to Nazi war crimes and the Holocaust. She has referred to hospital deaths as "genocide" and the National Health Service (NHS) as "the new Auschwitz". She asked in one post, "When are people going to wake up? On the cattle truck? Or in the showers?" She has described the government as behaving like the Nazis in their attempts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. She defended her statements by saying:
An editorial in The Nursing Standard, stated that Shemirani is "openly propagating her unfounded opinions in her capacity as a nurse – and in doing so, casting doubt over the integrity of her nursing and medical colleagues."
The Jewish Chronicle investigated Shemirani and found that online she made references to Hitler and the Nazis when describing the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the NHS.
Shemirani was a host and speaker at Resist and Act for Freedom, a protest event held at Trafalgar Square on 19 September 2020. The event gathered together protestors with a wide range of grievances relating to face masks, vaccinations, and a host of conspiracy theories, although David Icke and Piers Corbyn distanced themselves from the event, Corbyn accusing its organisers of "fake news used to divide Our Movement".
During her speech, she said that a vaccine for COVID-19 will mean that the government "will be able to look at every aspect of what's going on in our brains" and "not only can they pick it up, they can download into us". She also claimed, "They want you all wearing a mask, there's no science behind that mask. That mask is going to make you sick".
Whilst she was observing police officers amassing at the North West corner of the square, she urged members of the audience to confront the police. Protestors chanting "choose your side" formed a human blockade in order to prevent police actions and initially forced officers to retreat. Thirty protestors were arrested and the police dispersed the protest at approximately 3pm. A split in the campaign, with Steele and Shemirani on one side, and Icke and Corbyn on the other side, has been reported, with supporters of Icke describing Shemirani as "controlled opposition".