Hate group members used the instant messaging application Telegram to urge each other to weaponize the virus and target law enforcement officers and “nonwhite” communities. There was no evidence members of hate groups took any of those actions. On March 6, police in Portland, received a report of the theft of 20 to 25 cases of N95 respirator masks, each case containing 400 masks. The next day, the theft victim discovered someone selling what seemed to be the same masks on Craigslist. A 22-year-old man was arrested on theft charges, eventually 13 boxes of the masks were recovered, and the theft victim donated all the masks to local hospitals for dealing with the coronavirus, police said.

Source: New York Times March 22, 2020 23:46 UTC