How a shadowy group linked to UK Army intelligence tried to ruin the lives of COVID skeptics

(LifeSiteNews) — Of the many revelations of the COVID-19 regime, one disturbing aspect is the use of online psychological warfare techniques to identify, isolate, and even destroy critics of the lockdowns and the so-called “vaccines.”

Recent reports from the United Kingdom have revealed the existence of an online influence operation dating back to 2011. Partnered with British Army intelligence, and with an alleged financial interest in profiting from the “COVID-19” regime, a group called the “Mutton Crew” has been seeking to ruin the lives of COVID-skeptic British doctors and even a member of Parliament.

In May 2024, former MP Andrew Bridgen announced he had been targeted by a member of the “Mutton Crew.” Bridgen has been an outspoken critic of mRNA “vaccines” and of the “COVID-19” regime generally.

EYES NEEDED: A few days ago I asked an X user who goes by the handle @sharky_vs_evil to disclose their identity to me as I was advised their frequent replies to my tweets may infringe section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, being “grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene… pic.twitter.com/AcwLpvRCJR

— Andrew Bridgen (@ABridgen) May 14, 2024

In response the “grassroots civil liberty” group U.K. Freedom Campaign posted links to other suspected members – mentioning a possible connection to the U.K. Army intelligence’s covert 77th Brigade.

@ABridgen – Search: The Mutton Crew.
Many other users have had similar experiences (myself included). They’re clearly coordinated but whether they’re 77th is unclear.

Sharky’s posted 84K times yet has just 3600 followers – Which is telling right? Those numbers are not organic.…

— UK Freedom Campaign (@UKFreedomCamp) May 15, 2024

Yet the actions of the Mutton Crew date back several years, and their connection to British Army intelligence is well established.

Role-playing games

A U.S. medical doctor publishing under a pseudonym called “Arkmedic” wrote a 2022 report on the Mutton Crew and their connection with British military intelligence.

Under a pen name of Dr. Ah Kahn Syed (“I can say it”), the anonymous medic produced a rundown on Substack of the methods, membership, and means of identification used by the psychological warfare group of 77th Brigade British Army intelligence.

Arkmedic, as he or she is known, noted the strange publication of a paper in the scientific journal Nature.

Authored by Viki Male PhD, noted for “her rampant push of the COVID vaccines in pregnancy,” the inclusion of Male’s work in the journal was noteworthy for her “having a very sparse research background at the time” in her field of flow cytometry – the detection and measurement of cells. Yet Arkmedic could offer an explanation for her work appearing in the prestigious Nature:

“[H]er intricate links (which I will now show) to the 77th brigade’s propaganda arm on twitter…” [sic]

This propaganda arm is the Mutton Crew, which, as Arkmedic explained, identifies itself online with the following:

(1) Stone head emojis
(2) Chinese 77 characters (that look like this: 七七)
(3) “Sarcastic” bios saying “77th apparently” or similar
(4) Recently – mouse emojis …
(5) Most importantly – having Swaledale Mutton Co as your top follows/followers

The Mutton Crew is headed by another flow cytometrist, Graham Bottley PhD, known as “Swaledale Mutton” on X (formerly Twitter). He also runs a live action role-playing game business called Arion Games and has authored “Fighting Fantasy” choose-your-own-adventure books.

As Arkmedic explains:

“Having been a recipient of the treatment that the “Mutton Crew” (aka Dr Bottley’s followers) dish out to people who disagree them (or with the government’s propaganda on COVID or the COVID vaccines), I can safely attest that the mutton swarm invariably descends on anybody that does not toe the party line.”

Professor Norman Fenton was another high-profile victim of the Mutton Crew, as he announced on X in September 2022:

This thread gives an indication of the tactics of the ‘mutton crew’ who try to deligitimize & silence me and anybody else challenging the ‘official covid narrative. https://t.co/Koqbmm2rQu pic.twitter.com/OWDKQ45VGl

— Prof Norman Fenton (@profnfenton) September 17, 2022

The crew’s harassment and psyops were not confined to critics of the “COVID-19” regime, but have included dissidents more generally. Big Brother Watch in the U.K. reported in early 2023 that the Army’s 77th Brigade had been engaged in monitoring “online disinformation” in the U.K. Their January 2023 report “The UK’s Ministry of Truth” documented the extensive operations of “the secretive government units spying on your speech.”

Independent reporters like Arkmedic explained the Mutton Crew’s mode of operation  – stating it is simply an arm of the British Deep State.

“In nearly all instances the accounts which are responsible for mass-reporting (in order to get your account removed from twitter) have account identifiers described above and every one has Swaledale Mutton as a follow/follower. Hence we call them the ‘mutton crew’. They are more specifically part of the disinformation arm of the British Army…”

Arkmedic’s pseudonym appears in a roll of honour of doctors suggested for the Nobel Peace Prize, for their fearless recommendation of ivermectin treatments for “COVID-19” infections. The list was published by France-Soir in June 2021, with mask, “vaccine,” and lockdown mandates still variously in force worldwide.

A brief history of online psyops

His or her work shows a pattern demonstrated in a piece by the anonymous journalist “John,” who writes as The Sentiment Inspector on Substack.

Explaining his or her need for anonymity, John said in a report on the 77th Brigade, “I’ve been asked many times about my identity and authenticity – questions I cannot answer right now due to ongoing criminal investigations.”

Whilst the anonymity of this account is understandable, the value of the material John covers speaks for itself. So far, this Substack is a comprehensive account of the methods used by the British Deep State to monitor and manipulate the public as unwitting players in a game.

John is not the only observer to see the COVID regime in this light. Dr. Daniel Armstrong, a U.K. consultant psychiatrist, was struck off the medical register in December 2024. In his hearing, a video was cited against him as evidence, in which he said the COVID regime was a “massive deception,” presenting the kind of gamified “fake reality” in whose production the Mutton Crew specialize.

READ: British doctor has medical license revoked over warning of COVID shot dangers

John’s first post, from December 6, 2024, was titled “Inside the Dark World of Digital Manipulation and Harassment.” It situated the creation of the Mutton Crew in the broader context of the development of mass digital media.

Tracing the beginnings of digital manipulation technique, John goes back to the 2011 innovation of “interactive … choose your own adventure TV.”

“This interactive storytelling concept would give viewers the chance to ‘try life’ before settling on any given path, transforming traditional film viewing into a more participatory experience.”

Pioneered by John Irwin’s film production company TryLife, it gave rise to the popular U.K. TV series Black Mirror, whose dystopian visions of a digital world was rendered interactive in a 2018 episode called “Bandersnatch … offering viewers the power to control the actions of the protagonist.”

As John says, “Then came 2019, and with it, the global pandemic of COVID-19.”

READ: COVID was just the beginning of a total war against civilization

John documents how social media “disruptors,” YouTubers, bloggers, and others such as “social capital behavior change ninja” Kirsty O’Callaghan were recruited by a team called Social Kind – to police and promote the state narrative of “COVID-19.”

Of course, there were ties to big business: “Emmy Coffey McCarthy, a social justice warrior and employee at META, helped align Social Kind’s operations with corporate interests.”

As John argues, “Together, they began to craft campaigns that manipulated public opinion, pushing narratives designed to serve corporate and political interests.”

Psychological war games

Using game-based models of human behavior, the team coordinated efforts to produce a next generation method of propaganda.

“Through platforms like Hootsuite, the team gamified social media, creating fake accounts and recruiting influencers to amplify specific messages. Their goal was clear: to control narratives, discredit opposition, and promote agendas that benefited their backers.”

The group recruited famous ambassadors for this agenda, as John reports:

“They even paid celebrities to promote their causes, such as Carole Baskin from Tiger King to promote mask-wearing, and Jamie Oliver to push TryLife’s interactive media in America.”

Yet there was a darker dimension to the manufacture of public appeal.

“Behind the scenes, they were waging psychological warfare, using tactics that blurred the line between manipulation and outright harassment.”

This was the work of the group that would become known as the Mutton Crew. It is led by a man with an interest in role-playing games. He would become a leader of a group specializing in “competitive intelligence” – the next generation of online psychological warfare, which John explained in a fresh report of January 3. Its leader was a man who loved to play games.

Described by Wikispooks as a “pharmaceutical propagandist,” their report says Dr. Graham Bottley directs “a network … notorious for trolling the accounts of activists, dissidents and government critics, especially over COVID-19.”

“Graham Bottley, a key member … became infamous for his abusive online behavior. His actions led to the group being dubbed the ‘Mutton Crew’, named after Bottley, a sheep farmer, and his aggressive tactics.”

Bottley is also a “flow cytometrist” who used his academic credentials in the promotion of PCR testing – and to attack “anti-vaxxers.” Yet his scientific knowledge has been repeatedly questioned, by investigative journalist Steve Kirsch here, and by “virus denier” Mike Stone here:

Is Graham Bottley, an “Immunologist” and Flow Cytometrist for 25 years, an intentionally dishonest person, or does he not have the necessary learning skills required to obtain new information and correct his mistakes?

Or is it both? 🤔https://t.co/xonbGfvOh0 pic.twitter.com/bJLRFetksy

— ViroLIEgy (@ViroLIEgy) April 17, 2024

The invasive and repressive measure of PCR testing defended and promoted by the Mutton Crew was adopted at enormous expense to the public, with the NHS “test and trace” priced at £37 billion alone. The U.K. government has refused in the past to reveal to taxpayers the cost of a scheme to administer tests which its inventor Kary Mullis described as “inappropriate to detect a viral infection” and by others as “scientifically meaningless.” The report was censored by Facebook for being “fake news.”

Yet the tests defended and promoted by Bottley’s Swaledale Mutton Crew were used to enforce a lucrative regime of social control by mandate – under a ritualized veneer of scientific rigor. This was one aspect of the interactive dimension of mass media control. 

In 2023, the BBC’s “fact checker” Marianna Spring decided to “investigate the UK conspiracy movement.” As The Expose reported, the head “fact checker” of BBC Verify succeeded only in revealing the BBC’s own links to a conspiracy against the public spearheaded by the Mutton Crew.

What does the Mutton Crew do?

John goes on to explain the methods of the Mutton Crew:

“The crew’s core tactics involved emotional manipulation – they would provoke, antagonize, and bait people into making aggressive responses. These responses were then reported as ‘hate speech’ to social media platforms, enabling the Mutton Crew to suppress dissent while continuing to push their own messages.”

The reach of this “crew” expanded enormously. Via partnerships with international operations such as “Team Halo and Shots Heard Around the World,” John reported:

“By 2019, they were running thousands of fake social media accounts across platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and Reddit. The crew’s tactics were sophisticated, using well-coordinated campaigns of harassment, misinformation, and threats. They didn’t just attack individuals – they aimed to destroy careers, reputations, and lives.”

John then documents the harrowing treatment of Dr. David Cartland, often framed by the sock puppet accounts of the Mutton Crew as a lunatic who has imagined their years-long operation to destroy him.

Cartland has been a consistent critic of the so-called “COVID-19 mRNA vaccines” and faces a potentially career-ending review by the General Medical Council. Legal cases have been brought against him, and the consistent online and allegedly offline harassment he has faced as a result of his declared mission to protect patients from “vaccine” harm has led him “to the brink,” as he told LifeSiteNews.

As recently as December, the Mutton Crew were denounced by a senior British medic as “a vile gang of online bullies and harassers who attack their victims and attempt to destroy anyone who dares to question the government’s narrative.”

In remarks referencing the treatment of Dr Cartland and others, consultant surgeon Ian McDermott warned, “They are using the GMC [General Medical Council] as a weapon against good honest doctors!” 

Please read: ‘The Mutton Crew’ – a vile gang of online bullies and harassers who attack their victims and attempt to destroy anyone who dares to question the government’s narrative.
They are using the GMC as a weapon against good honest doctors!!@gmcuk !!https://t.co/NEwFk4u7gm

— Ian McDermott (@ianmcdermottLSO) December 10, 2024

The crew jumps ship

Yet as John notes, the exposure of the Mutton Crew by Bridgen in May has seen them “go quiet” – with former members disavowing the group and even moving abroad.

“As more information surfaced, it became clear that Simon Harris and Ian Robinson had been involved in a global operation designed to manipulate public opinion and suppress dissent.”

John alleges that the criminal activity of the Mutton Crew was not confined to harassment of dissidents and COVID skeptics.

“Payments were traced to Robinson in Thailand, specifically for trolling and psychological warfare against individuals in the UK and around the world. This operation was not just a rogue social media campaign – it was a carefully orchestrated criminal enterprise.”

Though the Mutton Crew have “gone quiet,” John reports that “their legacy lives on.” On the Sentiment Inspector Substack, he explained, “They pioneered tactics of social media manipulation, harassment, and psychological warfare that blurred the line between truth and fiction. As new investigations continue, more details will emerge about their criminal activities, the people involved, and the far-reaching consequences of their digital manipulation.”

This is the story of the development of a technique of next-generation warfare which gamified methods of psychological manipulation – to produce profit and preserve power for a corrupt elite.

As John reminds his readers, this is a legacy we all inhabit now. He asks, “Who else is involved behind the scenes of these manipulative campaigns? How bad will the fallout be for those organizations supporting these narrative twisters?”

The question remains open as to how this game plays out. So far, we are all still waiting for justice to be served over the nightmare scenario played out under “COVID-19.”