Belmar, NJ gets trolled by yard signs supporting 5G towers

🚫 Belmar is buzzing against 5G towers plan

💻 Fake support lawn signs spark social frenzy

📱 Monmouth County has voiced concern on tower plans

BELMAR — Plans by Verizon to install 5G towers around town already had residents upset — even before a social media creator’s fake lawn signs boosted emotions.

5G, or fifth generation, is the latest wireless mobile phone technology, first appearing in 2019.

However, concerns about potential health impact and misinformation about the way 5G operates have led to strong resistance among local communities.

A crop of lawn signs against any new 5G towers have sprouted up in yards across Belmar — and drew the attention of a well-known social media creator based in New Jersey.

MonmouthCountyMemez started in 2019, the same year that 5G first arrived in the world.

It has now grown to over 250,000 followers on all social media platforms, and changed its name to one with profanity in it — “JustJerseySh*t.”

The account’s creator posted a video Sunday saying that after failing to be able to get his own lawn signs against the project, he decided to create a few that appeared to support 5G.

He said local social media groups for Belmar lost their collective mind — and gave start to a new conspiracy theory that Verizon was paying summer tenants to post the signs.

The same 5G monopole installation issue was addressed last week during a regular meeting of the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners.

The board passed a resolution for local and county government to review the Telecommunication Act of 1996, “to explore the legalities of the placement of electronic data Collection Systems.”

“Additionally, the County will be initiating a Request For Proposal (RFP) for the creation of a Master Plan related to the limitation on the placement of 5G monopoles," Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas Arnone said in a written statement.

“This is a strong statement of support for all of our towns, especially Belmar, where residents and their borough council have raised concerns related to the health and environmental impacts of 5G monopoles,” Arnone continued.

A lot of public concern around 5G stems from electromagnetic radiation, according to global research organizations.

According to Forbes Health, 5G uses higher radio frequency than previous generations 4G and 3G — while all three work by producing electromagnetic waves to send and receive data.

Sobrano said that he found the response to his fake signs hilarious — and he jokingly said in his video that if Verizon did want to pay him in the meantime for the publicity, he wouldn't pass it up.

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