Downing Street condemns 'appalling' video of Leyland anti-vax protester accusing Jonathan Van-Tam of 'genocide'

Downing Street has condemned the actions of an anti-vax blogger from Leyland who accused the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of being a "traitor".
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Geza Tarjanyi, 60, of Leyland, filmed himself targeting Mr Van-Tam as he walked into the Ministry of Defence building in Westminster on Tuesday (June 22).

Tarjanyi can be heard calling England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer a "traitor" in the footage, which circulated widely online, adding he would end up in prison for "genocide".

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He also asked Mr Van-Tam: "What was really in that needle that you put into Matt Hancock?" referring to the Health Secretary receiving his first Covid-19 vaccination in April.

Commenting on the video, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "People working to fight the pandemic and save lives, which is what Professor Van-Tam is doing every single day, should never face that kind of appalling behaviour for doing their job.

"The right to free speech is fundamental to our democracy, but violence, threats or intimidation is absolutely never acceptable."

The incident came three weeks after Mr Tarjanyi targeted Chris Whitty, England's Chief Medical Officer, in a street in Oxford.

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Mr Tarjanyi was heard accusing Prof Whitty of "lying to the public again", alongside claims that Microsoft founder Bill Gates helped fund the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

The video showed an antivax protester following Professor Jonathan Van-Tam into the Ministry of Defence building in Westminster.The video showed an antivax protester following Professor Jonathan Van-Tam into the Ministry of Defence building in Westminster.
The video showed an antivax protester following Professor Jonathan Van-Tam into the Ministry of Defence building in Westminster.
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