Brooklyn witchcraft group hexes Martin Shkreli because 'the justice system is not going to do anything'

Besides facing a House investigation and national scorn, former Turing Pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli has now incurred enough disdain for a group of witchcraft enthusiasts to place a hex on him, the Daily Dot reported.

"If I do go to this extreme, it's to ensure that someone who is doing wrong is held accountable and pays for their wrongdoing, rather than because I just don’t like someone," said one of the women behind the hex, who identified herself as Howl. "Like, this person will get away with doing so much harm. And I can't do anything in a financial way, the systems of capitalism alienate the poor from any measure of justice or assertion of voice and power, so what can I do? And this is one method."

Hex said she performed the hex with the help of what she described as her queer witches collective during Ash Wednesday last month. The ceremony, she explained, involved the use of a wax effigy of the former hedge fund manager.

"We sent the effigy around the circle and each person anointed a different part of the effigy and expressed their desire for the type of hex they’d like to enact," she said. "For example, someone anoints the head and says they hope the ego dies, that Martin Shkreli gets over his ego and realizes the damage that he’s done and makes amends. Or they’d hex where you’d keep your wallet and says they hope he pays financially for the financial damage he’s done to other people."

She said she was prompted into doing something to affect Shkreli after seeing his demeanor during his Feb. 6 appearance before the House Commitee on Oversight and Government reform.

"He was smirking, laughing, being a child through the whole trial, and pleading the Fifth [Amendment] to every question," Hex recalled. "That was the moment where I realized clearly the justice system is not going to do anything, and even if they do, it's going to be a minor slap on the wrist for someone of his affluence. So let's send a broader message."

Besides his affluence shielding him from repercussions, she said, his decision to raise the price of the HIV treatment drug Daraphim to $750 per pill hit close to home.

"Some folks I know live with AIDS, and others rely on the medication, so that price tag is absolutely uncalled for and ridiculous," Hex said. "I know systemically it's not only him. But he is a very visible part of this."

While she has no "direct line" to Shkreli, she said, he reported losing $15 million over a Kanye West album not long after the hex was cast.

[h/t Queerty]