Irish Fright of 1688

Many English people were thus primed to believe that the Irish were predisposed to savagery and capable of any atrocity. Against that backdrop, rumors began circulating in December of 1688 that the Catholic Irish forces quartered in England were readying themselves to fall upon the English to massacre, rape, and loot, to avenge the ouster of the Catholic king James. The Irish Fright began in earnest on the night of December 13th, 1688, when news arrived at Westminster that the ravening Irish were marching on London.

Fake news of preparations for atrocities were quickly followed by fake news of actual atrocities, as false reports that the Irish were putting English towns to the torch and massacring the inhabitants spread. The panicked English in London and surrounding shires rushed to arm themselves and form militias, erect fortifications, and patrol the countryside to guard against the imminent arrival of imaginary hordes of bloodthirsty Irish.

The Irish Fright subsided after a few days, and in hindsight, it seems that the rumors were begun, or at least spread, as part of an organized propaganda campaign by opponents of James II to further discredit his cause and to buttress that of William of Orange. When the latter landed in England at the head of a mostly foreign army, he was greeted not as an invader, but with raptures as a savior not only of the Protestant faith, but of the Protestants themselves from the feared depredations of the Irish.

https://historycollection.com/12-historys-baffling-mass-hysteria-outbreaks/6/

1. Salem Witch Trials (1692–93)

This is one of the best-known incidents of mass hysteria. It began when two young girls of the small town of Salem Village began to experience seizures that were not explained by contemporary medical science. After their seizures, the girls proclaimed that they were being assaulted by supernatural entities conjured up by local women.

Soon more girls were being afflicted and more townspeople (mostly females) were being accused. Trials were promptly enacted and those women who did not confess were sentenced to death. Ironically, those who falsely confessed did not face execution.

More than 20 people were executed and more than 100 were jailed before common sense was restored. The girls' seizures ended and the trials ceased. Later medical scientists would lay the blame on everything from stress caused by ongoing warfare with American Indians to fungus on bread products.

https://www.treehugger.com/strange-cases-mass-hysteria-4864276

Feds: Staten Island Man Angry Over Trump’s Loss Called for ‘Extermination’ of Democrats


A Staten Island man was taken into custody Tuesday after prosecutors say he called for “carnage” against Democrats and urged violence against those celebrating Joe Biden’s election win. Brian Maiorana, 54, repeatedly posted on social media about his desire for violence after he said the election had been “fraudulently stolen from us,” federal prosecutors said in a criminal complaint. “The carnage needs to come in the form of extermination of anyone that claims to be a democrat,” Maiorana wrote two days after the vote, according to the complaint. Then, as thousands took to the streets to celebrate when Biden was declared president-elect, he allegedly wrote, “All right thinking people need to hit the streets while these scumbags are celebrating and start blowing them away.” Prosecutors say he also referenced “the Jew Senator from Jew York” while apparently threatening Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat.

“The Department of Justice will not stand idly by when people like the defendant allegedly threaten to kill elected officials, lawful protesters and law enforcement simply because of animus towards the outcome of an election,” Seth DuCharme, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/brian-maiorana-staten-island-man-angry-over-trumps-loss-called-for-extermination-of-democrats-feds-say