that same year, larry kremer, one of the founders of two activist groups, a legend himself, published this open letter to dr. fauci in the village voice in which he calls fauci a, quote, incompetent idiot, and quote, a murderer. kremer told the new yorker, as far as i was concerned, he was the central focus of evil in the world. kremer attacked fauci relentlessly in the media. he called him a pill pushing tool of the medical establishment, insulted his wife, even compared him to adolph aikman. now, here s the thing. kremer and fauci would eventually go on to become close friends. with fauci telling the new york times after kremer s death in 2020 that they, quote, loved each other. but nothing changed overnight. in may of 1990, hundreds of activists from act up descended on the national institutes of health again. they launched rainbow colored smoke, wore skelcon masks and wore signs that said red tape kills us.