Army Reservist Threatened After Conspiracists Say She's 'Patient Zero'

A U.S. Army reservist says she and her husband are getting death threats after conspiracy theorists claimed she is coronavirus patient zero after bringing the virus to China while competing in the military world games in Wuhan. 

"It's like waking up from a bad dream going into a nightmare day after day," Maatje Benassi told CNN Business while emphasizing that she's never tested positive for coronavirus or even had symptoms, let alone spread the disease. 

But still, the "damage is done," Benassi said. "I know it (will) never be the same. Every time you're going to Google my name, it will pop up as patient zero."  

George Webb, one of the main theorists pushing the claims, has posted several videos on YouTube. Benassi's husband, Matt, told CNN that there have been several threats popping up,  reading one comment calling to "execute them by firing squad. We need to be killing these key people. These people will get a bullet to the skull."

Conspiracy theorists started claiming early that the virus is a U.S. biological weapon, and the Chinese government promoted the idea that the military brought it to China. 

The focus shifted to Maatje Benassi after it was learned that she was hospitalized in Wuhan during the Military World Games last October after she suffered an accident in the final lap of the cycling competition. 

Webb, who refers to himself as an investigative reporter, told CNN reporter Donie O'Sullivan that he has an "insider" at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia who has told him Benassi has tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Maatje Benassi is a civilian employee at the U.S. Army's Fort Belvoir and her husband is a civilian employee with the Air Force, working at the Pentagon, but they have not been able to stop the targeting. 

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