It’s a trap (it’s not a deliberate trap, it emerges organically, but it still is one). Don’t engage with debates on things that should not be debates, even to observe that one side is nuts and/or toxic and this issue isn’t worth debating, because when you do that it’s a debate.
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My view is we expose it and hit back very hard: as you say public opinion is massively behind us here
The main distinction here is that it is them trying to reopen a settled point, they're running at a wall.
The problem is as people start to react others join in. the social media pile-on brings in journalists and then it becomes News!
Fundamentally ignoring attention seekers involves collective action!
... obviously you need to be a strict headteacher but often the best approach for dealing with attention seeking delinquents is to ignore them!