QAnon

US Vice-President with members of the team on November 30, 2018; the man at the left of the image is displaying a red and black "Q" patch, symbol of QAnon. Detail from photo showing the QAnon patch. The black-and white patch to the left has been reported to be that of the SWAT team. Regulations forbid the wearing of either patch, and the deputy was disciplined as a result.QAnon () is a detailing a supposed secret plot by an alleged "" against U.S. President and his supporters. The theory began with an October 2017 post on the anonymous by someone using the name Q, a presumably American individual, but probably later a group of people, claiming to have access to classified information involving the and its opponents in the United States. Q has many liberal Hollywood actors, politicians, and high-ranking officials of engaging in an international , and has claimed that Donald Trump feigned with Russians in order to enlist to join him in exposing the ring and preventing a by , , and . "Q" is a reference to the used by the . QAnon believers commonly tag their social media posts with the hashtag #WWG1WGA, signifying the motto "where we go one, we go all."

The conspiracy theory, mainly disseminated by supporters of President Trump under the names The Storm and The Great Awakening —QAnon's precepts and vocabulary are closely related to the religious concepts of and , leading it to be sometimes construed as an emerging religious movement—has been widely characterized as "baseless", "unhinged", and "evidence-free". Its proponents have been called "a deranged conspiracy cult" and "some of the Internet's most outré Trump fans".

According to Travis View, who has studied the QAnon phenomenon and written about it extensively for , the essence of the conspiracy theory is that

> there is a worldwide cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who rule the world, essentially, and they control everything. They control politicians, and they control the media. They control Hollywood, and they cover up their existence, essentially. And they would have continued ruling the world, were it not for the election of President Donald Trump,

who was elected to put a stop to the cabal, and whose struggles behind the scenes are being revealed by "Q". "The Storm" is an anticipated event in which thousands of people, members of the cabal, will be arrested, possibly sent to or face military tribunals, and the U.S. military will brutally take over the country. The result will be salvation and a utopia on earth.

QAnon adherents began appearing at during the summer of 2018. TV and radio personality , a promoter of the theory, was granted a with President Trump in the on August 24, 2018. Bill Mitchell, a broadcaster who promotes the QAnon conspiracy theory, attended a White House "social media summit" in July 2019. Hours after a published report in August 2019 that the FBI determined QAnon to be a potential source of —the first time a fringe conspiracy theory had been so rated by the agency—a man warming up the crowd before Trump spoke at a rally used the QAnon motto, "where we go one, we go all", later denying it was a QAnon reference.

Contents History Background Pizzagate Main article: Media outlets have described QAnon as an "offshoot" of the discredited Pizzagate conspiracy theory.

> David Goldberg @DavidGoldbergNY Rumors stirring in the NYPD that Huma's emails point to a pedophila ring and @HillaryClinton is at the center. #GoHillary #PodestaEmails23

October 30, 2016

On October 30, 2016, a account that posted material and presented itself as run by a New York lawyer claimed that the (NYPD) had discovered a ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through 's emails. Throughout October and November 2016, had published . Proponents of the theory read the emails and alleged they contained code words for pedophilia and . Proponents also claimed that was a meeting ground for .

The story was later posted on , beginning with , which cited a post from earlier that year. The Your News Wire article was subsequently spread by pro-Trump websites, including SubjectPolitics.com, which added the claim that the NYPD had raided 's property. The Conservative Daily Post ran a headline claiming the had confirmed the theory.

Anons In its most basic sense, an "" refers to any anonymous or pseudonymous internet poster.

The concept of anons "doing research" and claiming to disclose otherwise classified information, while a key component of the QAnon conspiracy theory, is by no means exclusive to it. Before Q, a number of so-called anons also claimed to have special government access.

On July 2, 2016, an anonymous poster known as "FBI Anon", a self-described "high-level analyst and strategist" who claimed to have "intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Clinton case", began offering bogus intel about the into the and claimed that would be imprisoned if Trump became president. Around that time, another figure known as "HLI Anon", standing for "High Level Insider Anon", hosted long question and answer sessions, dispensing various dubious conspiracy theories, including one that claimed was murdered after trying to stop the .

Soon after the , two anonymous posters known only as "CIA Anon" and "CIA Intern" falsely claimed to be high-ranking officers, and in late August 2017, an account called "WH Insider Anon" offered a supposed preview that something that was "going to go down" regarding leaks that would supposedly affect the .

Origin A person identifying as "Q Clearance Patriot" first appeared on the board of on October 28, 2017, posting messages in a thread titled "Calm Before the Storm", which was a reference to Trump's description of a gathering of United States military leaders he attended as "the calm before the storm". “The Storm” is QAnon parlance for an imminent event when thousands of alleged suspects will be arrested, imprisoned and executed. Q later moved to , citing concerns that the 4chan board had been "infiltrated".

The poster's handle implied that the anonymous poster holds , a required for access to Top Secret information about nuclear weapons and materials. This claim cannot be substantiated due to a lack of reliable evidence.

False claims and beliefs See also: HRC extradition already in motion effective yesterday with several countries in case of cross border run. Passport approved to be flagged effective 10/30 @ 12:01am. Expect massive riots organized in defiance and others fleeing the US to occur. US M's will conduct the operation while NG activated. Proof check: Locate a NG member and ask if activated for duty 10/30 across most major cities.—QAnon's first post on the message board of , on October 28, 2017

QAnon's posting campaign has a history of false, baseless, and unsubstantiated claims. Beginning with the first posts incorrectly predicting Hillary Clinton's imminent arrest and followed by more false allegations, such as claiming that is a installed by the , QAnon's posts have become more cryptic and vague allowing followers to map their own beliefs onto them. By generating a keyboard heatmap of QAnon's supposedly coded messages, researcher Mark Burnett concluded that they "are not actual codes, just random typing by someone who might play an instrument and uses a keyboard", adding that "almost all the characters" in the codes alternate between the left and right hands, or the characters are close to each other on the keyboard.

Some of QAnon's other allegations include his February 16, 2018 false claim that and former chairwoman hired gang to murder DNC staffer , and their March 1, 2018 apparent suggestion that is the of . A July 7, 2018 article published in also noted that QAnon falsely claimed that "each is a attack organized by the cabal". Other beliefs held by QAnon adherents include that , Hillary Clinton, , and others are planning a coup while simultaneously involved as members of an international child sex trafficking ring. According to this idea, the is actually a countercoup led by Donald Trump, who pretended to collude with Russia in order to hire to secretly investigate the Democrats. Another recurring theme is that certain Hollywood stars are pedophiles, and that the are the leaders of a . By interpreting the information fed to them by Q, QAnon adherents come to these conclusions.

On multiple occasions, QAnon has dismissed his false claims and incorrect predictions as wilful misinformation, claiming that "disinformation is necessary". This has led Australian psychologist to emphasize the "self-sealing" quality of the conspiracy theory, highlighting its anonymous purveyor's use of and noting that evidence against the theory "can become evidence of [its] validity in the minds of believers". Author has described QAnon as an innovator among conspiracy theorists in his approach of enthralling his readers with 'clues' rather than directly presenting his claims: "The audience for internet narratives doesn’t want to read, it wants to write. It doesn’t want answers provided, it wants to search for them."

Identity of "Q" There has been much speculation regarding the motive and the identity of the poster, with theories ranging from the poster being a military intelligence officer, to Donald Trump himself, to the posting campaign being an by . Because is anonymous and does not allow registration by users, any number of individuals may post using the same handle. The poster uses a frequently changing to authenticate themself on .

The Italian leftist foundation has speculated that QAnon has been inspired by the persona, which was used by and to organize pranks, media stunts, and hoaxes in the 1990s. "Blissett" also published the novel in 1999.

Analysis QAnon may best be understood as an example of what historian called in 1954 "", related to and . The vocabulary of QAnon echoes tropes – for instance "The Storm" (the or ), and "The Great Awakening", which evokes the historical religious from the early 18th century to the late 20th century. According to one QAnon video, the battle between Trump and "the cabal" is of "biblical proportions", a "fight for earth, of good versus evil." The forthcoming reckoning is said by some QAnon supporters to be a "" which means not only the end of the world as it is now known, but a new beginning as well, with salvation and a utopia on earth for the survivors.

According to a March 2020 survey, 76% of Americans said they had never heard of the QAnon movement. One in five people had heard "a little about it while 3% said they heard "a lot."

Appeal and disillusionment Within less than a year of existence, QAnon became significantly recognized by the general population. According to an August 2018 poll for , 58% of Floridians are familiar enough with QAnon to have an opinion about it. Among those who did have an opinion, most were unfavorable toward the QAnon movement. The average score on the feeling thermometer was just above 20. This is a very negative rating, and about half of what […] other political figures […] enjoy. Positive feelings toward QAnon were found to be strongly correlated with being susceptible to conspiracy thinking.

Experts have classified the appeal of QAnon as similar to that of religious cults. According to expert in online conspiracy Renee DiResta, the QAnon pattern is similar to enticement into cults in the pre-Internet era, where as the targeted person was led deeper and deeper into the group's secrets, they become more and more isolated from friends and family outside of the cult. In the Internet age, QAnon virtual communities have little "real world" connection with each other, but online, they can number in the tens of thousands. Rachel Bernstein, an expert on cults who specializes in recovery therapy, says that "What a movement such as QAnon has going for it, and why it will catch on like wildfire, is that it makes people feel connected to something important that other people don't yet know about. ... All cults will provide this feeling of being special." There is no self-correction process within the group, since the self-reinforcing true believers are immune to correction, fact-checking, or counter-speech, which is drowned out in the of the cult. The cultish quality of QAnon has led some to characterize it as a possible emerging religious movement.

QAnon is an example of what historian called in 1954 "", in which history and political trends are seen in apocalyptic terms:

> The paranoid spokesman ... traffics in the birth and death of whole worlds, whole political orders, whole systems of human values. He is always manning the barricades of civilization. He constantly lives at a turning point. Like he expresses the anxiety of those who are living through the last days and he is sometimes disposed to set a date for the apocalypse... Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish. Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated – if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention.

Travis View, a researcher who studies QAnon, says of it that it is as addictive as a video game, and offers the "player" the appealing possibility of being involved in something of world-historical importance. According to View, "You can sit at your computer and search for information and then post about what you find, and Q basically promises that through this process, you are going to radically change the country, institute this incredible, almost bloodless revolution, and then be part of this historical movement that will be written about for generations." View compares this to mundane political involvement in which one's efforts might help to get a state legislator elected. QAnon, says View, competes not in the marketplace of ideas, but in the marketplace of realities.

Nonetheless, some QAnon believers have eventually started to realize that they have been isolated from family and loved ones, and suffer loneliness because of it. For some, this is a pathway to slowly beginning the process of divesting themselves of their cultish beliefs, while for others, the isolation reinforces the benefits they get from belonging to the cult. View says that,

> People in the QAnon community often talk about alienation from family and friends. ... Though they typically talk about how Q frayed their relationships on private Facebook groups. But they think these issues are temporary and primarily the fault of others. They often comfort themselves by imagining that there will be a moment of vindication sometime in the near future which will prove their beliefs right. They imagine that after this happens, not only will their relationships be restored, but people will turn to them as leaders who understand what's going on better than the rest of us.

Some Q followers break away when they recognize the content of the theories is not self-consistent, or they see that some of the content is directly aimed at getting donations from a specific audience, such as evangelical or conservative Christians. This then "breaks the spell" the conspiracies had over them. Others start watching Q-debunking videos; one former believer says that the videos "saved" her.

Disillusionment can also come from the failure of the theories' predictions. Q had predicted Republican success in the , and claimed that was involved in secret work for Trump, with apparent tensions between them a cover. When Democrats made significant gains and Trump fired Sessions, there was disillusionment among many in the Q community. Further disillusionment came when the predicted December 5 mass arrest and imprisonment in of enemies of Donald Trump did not occur, nor did the dismissal of charges against Trump's former National Security Advisor, . For some these failures began the process of separation from the QAnon cult, while others urged in the form of an insurrection against the government. Such a response to a failed prophecy is not unusual: apocalyptic cults such as , the , the , and resorted to or when their expectations for revelations or the fulfillment of their prophecies did not come about. Psychologist calls it "forcing the end". This phenomenon is being seen among some QAnon believers. Travis View echoes the concern that disillusioned QAnon believers might take matters into their own hands, as Pizzagate believer did in 2016, did at in 2018, and did in 2019 when he murdered boss , believing himself to be under the protection of President Trump.

Prominent QAnon follower , who in 2018 asserted that faked and is now Q, stated in February 2019 that she was losing patience in Trump to arrest the supposed members of the child sex ring, suggesting that the time was approaching for "vigilante justice." Other QAnon followers have adopted the Kennedy theory, asserting that a Pittsburgh man named Vincent Fusca is Kennedy in disguise and would be Trump's 2020 running mate. Some attended 2019 celebrations in Washington expecting Kennedy to appear.

QAnon theorists have touted drinking (known as MMS, or ) as a "miracle cure".

Influence Reactions On November 26, 2017, President Donald Trump a tweet from account @MAGAPILL, a self-styled "official President Donald Trump accomplishment list" and a major proponent of the conspiracy theory, less than a month after QAnon first started posting.

On December 28, 2017, the -funded television network aired a segment discussing "QAnon revelations", referring to the anonymous poster as a "secret intelligence operative inside the Trump administration known by QAnon".

On January 9, 2018, commentator shared QAnon-related material on his Twitter account.

On March 13, 2018, vice president and anti- activist referred to QAnon as a "small group of insiders close to President Donald J. Trump" and called his internet postings the "highest level of intelligence to ever be dropped publicly in our known history".

On March 15, 2018, -based , the official newspaper of the , published an article calling QAnon a "military intelligence group".

On March 31, 2018, U.S. actress appeared to promote the conspiracy theory, which was subsequently covered by , , and .

While the conspiracy theory was initially promoted by and , it was reported by that they had both ceased to support QAnon by May 2018, declaring the source to now be "completely compromised". However, in August 2018, Corsi reversed course and stated that he "will comment on and follow QAnon when QAnon is bringing forth news", adding that "in the last few days, QAnon has been particularly good".

On June 26, 2018, publicly accused QAnon of "leading anti-establishment Trump voters to embrace and ". Two days later, the whistleblower organization shared an analysis by president Suzie Dawson, claiming that QAnon's posting campaign is an "intelligence agency-backed " aiming to "round up people that are otherwise dangerous to the Deep State (because they are genuinely opposed to it) usurp time & attention, & trick them into serving its aims".

On June 28, 2018, a magazine article listed the anonymous "Q" among the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet in 2018. Counting more than 130,000 related discussion videos on YouTube, Time cited the wide range of this conspiracy theory and its more prominent followers and spreading news coverage.

On July 4, 2018, the shared on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts a YouTube video on QAnon, calling QAnon a "mysterious anonymous inside leaker of deep state activities and counter activities by President Trump". The posts were then deleted.

On August 1, 2018, following the en masse presence of QAnon supporters at the July 31 in , , news anchors , , and dedicated a portion of their respective television programs to the conspiracy theory. also ran a segment dedicated to the conspiracy theory the following day.

On August 2, 2018, Washington Post editorial writer Molly Roberts stated: "The storm QAnon truthers predict will never strike because the conspiracy that obsesses them doesn’t exist. But while they wait for it, they’ll try to whip up the winds, and the rest of us will struggle to find shelter."

On August 4, 2018, former was asked to comment on the conspiracy theory in his "" session on the . In response to the question "is Q legit?", Spicer answered "no".

On August 24, 2018, President Donald Trump hosted , a leading promoter of the QAnon conspiracy, in the for a .

Incidents Publishing of personal information On March 14, 2018, banned one of its discussing QAnon, /r/CBTS_Stream, for "encouraging or inciting violence and posting personal and confidential information". Following this, some followers moved to . Several other communities were formed for discussion of QAnon, leading to further bans on September 12, 2018 in response to these communities "inciting violence, harassment, and the dissemination of personal information", which led to thousands of adherents regrouping on , a -based Reddit clone that has been described as a hub for the alt-right.

Tucson cement plant incident In May 2018, Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer livestreamed a Facebook video from the site of a cement plant, asserting, "This is a child sex trafficking camp that no one wants to talk about, that no one wants to do nothing about." The video was viewed 650,000 times over the ensuing week. Tucson police inspected the plant without finding evidence of criminal activity. Meyer then occupied a tower on the property for nine days, until reaching agreement with police to leave. He later returned to the tower in July, whereupon he was arrested for trespassing. Meyer referenced QAnon and the #WWG1WGA hashtag on his Facebook page.

Hoover Dam incident On June 15, 2018, Matthew Phillip Wright of , , was arrested on terrorism and other charges for driving an armored truck, containing an and handgun, to the and blocking traffic for 90 minutes. He said he was on a mission involving QAnon: to demand that the "release the report" on the conduct of FBI agents during the investigation into . Since a copy of the OIG report had been released the day prior, the man had been motivated by a Q "drop" which claimed the released version of the OIG report had been heavily modified and that Trump possessed a more damning version but had declined to release it. In video recorded inside his armored truck, Wright expressed disappointment that Trump had not honored a "duty" to "lock certain people up," asking him to "uphold your oath."

QDrops app An app called "QDrops" which promoted the conspiracy theory was published on the and . It became the most popular paid app in the "entertainment" section of Apple's online store in April 2018, and the tenth most popular paid app overall. On July 15, 2018, Apple pulled the app after an inquiry from .

Targeting of Michael Avenatti > Michael Avenatti @MichaelAvenatti We are trying to identify the man in this picture, which was taken outside my office yesterday (Sun) afternoon. Please contact @NewportBeachPD if you have any details or observed him. We will NOT be intimidated into stopping or changing our course. #Basta

Jul 30, 2018

On July 29, 2018, Q posted a link to ' attorney 's website and photos of his , , office building, along with the message, "Buckle up!". The anonymous poster then shared the picture of an as-of-yet unidentified man, appearing to be holding a cellphone in one hand, and a long, thin object in the other, standing in the street near Avenatti's office, adding that a message "had been sent". This sparked an investigation by the . On July 30, Avenatti asked his Twitter followers to contact the Newport Beach Police Department if they "have any details or observed" the man in the picture.

Harassment of Jim Acosta At a in on July 31, 2018, Trump supporters exhibited hostile behavior toward chief . Exponents of QAnon-related theories were at the rally.

The next day, of asked whether the White House encouraged the support of "QAnon fringe groups". Sanders denounced "any group that would incite violence against another individual", without specifically responding to the QAnon mention. Sanders added that President Trump "certainly doesn't support groups that would support that type of behavior".

Accusations of antisemitism The conspiracy theory's targeting of and the has led as well as to accuse it of containing "striking elements" and "garden-variety nonsense with racist and anti-Semitic undertones". However, this was contested by the , which reported that "the vast majority of QAnon-inspired conspiracy theories have nothing to do with anti-Semitism".

A article published in on August 3, 2018 stated that "although not specifically, some of QAnon's archetypical elements—including secret elites and kidnapped children, among others—are reflective of historical and ongoing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories".

Grass Valley Charter School fundraiser The Blue Marble Jubilee fundraising event at in scheduled for May 11, 2019, was canceled as a precaution after a tweet by former FBI head on April 27 using the hashtag #FiveJobsIveHad, in which the first letters of the jobs were GVCSF, was interpreted by QAnon followers as a veiled reference to the Grass Valley Charter School Foundation, suggesting that Comey planned to stage a "" terror attack at the event; the hashtag was also interpreted by QAnon adherents as an anagram of "five ", and the time stamp on the post was related to the . The police and the FBI received warnings, in addition to the school, which decided not to take the risk of internet vigilantes attending "to guard the place", as a police sergeant put it.

Murder of Frank Cali Anthony Comello of , was charged with the March 2019 murder of . According to his defense attorney, Comello had become obsessed with QAnon theories, believing Cali was a member of a "deep state," and was convinced he "was enjoying the protection of President Trump himself" to place Cali under . Confronting Cali outside his Staten Island home, Comello allegedly shot Cali ten times. At his first court appearance, Comello displayed QAnon symbols and phrases and " forever" scrawled on his hand in pen. Comello had also posted material on Instagram praising Fox News personalities such as , and .

Congressional candidates Two individuals who declared themselves as Republican congressional candidates in 2019 expressed interest in QAnon theories. Matthew Lusk, a Florida candidate, told he was not a "brainwashed cult member," although he said QAnon theories are a "legitimate something" and constitute a "very articulate screening of past events, a very articulate screening of present conditions, and a somewhat prophetic divination of where the political and geopolitical ball will be bouncing next." Danielle Stella, running as a Republican to unseat in Minnesota, wore a "Q" necklace in a photo she tweeted and twice used the hashtag #WWG1WGA, a reference to the QAnon motto "where we go one, we go all." Her Twitter account "liked" responses from QAnon believers who acknowledged the necklace, and the account follows some prominent QAnon believers. A former campaign aide asserted that Stella was merely posing as a QAnon believer to attract voter support.

FBI domestic terrorism assessment An FBI "Intelligence Bulletin" memo from the Field Office dated May 30, 2019 identified QAnon-driven extremists as a threat, the first time a fringe conspiracy theory had been labelled as such. The memo cited a number of arrests related to QAnon, some of which had not been publicized before. The memo says that "The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts." According to testimony before Congress in May by the assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism director, Michael G. McGarrity, the Bureau divides domestic terrorism threats into four primary categories, "racially motivated violent extremism, anti-government/anti-authority extremism, animal rights/environmental extremism, and abortion extremism," which includes both pro-choice and anti-abortion extremists. The fringe conspiracy theory threat is closely related to the anti-government/anti-authority subject area.

According to the May memo, "This is the first FBI product examining the threat from conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists and provides a baseline for future intelligence products. ... The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts..."

An under-reported QAnon-related incident was mentioned in the memo: the arrest of a California man on December 19, 2018 with bomb-making materials in his car, which he intended to use to "blow up a satanic temple monument" in the Capitol rotunda in order to "make Americans aware of Pizzagate and the , who were dismantling society."

Reactions from QAnon followers ranged from suggesting that the memo was a fake, calling for the firing of for working against Trump, to the idea that the memo was actually a "wink-and-a-nod" way of attracting attention to the conspiracy theory, and tricking the media into asking Trump about it. At a Trump re-election rally some hours after the existence of the memo was revealed, , a gay man who claims to have been a liberal Democrat but is now a Trump supporter, in a warm-up speech before Trump addressed the crowd, used one of QAnon's primary rallying cries, "Where we go one, we go all" (WWG1WGA). A videographer found numerous QAnon supporters in the crowd, identified by their QAnon shirts showing large "Q"'s or "WWG1WGA".

Trump campaign video In August 2019, a video posted online by "Women for Trump" late in July was reported to include "Q"s on two campaign signs. The first sign, which said "", had a "Q" taped to it in the corner. The other side, "Women for Trump" had the "O"s in "Women" and "for" pasted over with "Q"s. The images which included the altered signs were clearly taken at a Trump campaign rally, which have increasingly attracted adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, so it is unknown if those particular signs were selected for inclusion deliberately or not. The video has since been taken down.

Digital Soldiers Conference In August 2019, a "Digital Soldiers Conference" was announced for the following month in Atlanta. The stated purpose was to prepare "patriotic social media warriors" for a coming "digital civil war." The announcement for the event prominently displayed a Q spelled in stars on the blue field of an , and the host of the event had numerous references to QAnon on their Twitter account. Scheduled speakers for the event included former Trump aides and , as well as , a Trump friend and member of his campaign media advisory board, and Bill Mitchell, a radio host and ardent Trump supporter. The conference host is CEO of a firm that markets a search engine they assert is free of alleged censorship of conservative views, characterizing it as an "intelligence enterprise" with high-level White House connections, telling a reporter, "you don’t know who you’re fucking with" and denying the Q flag was a reference to QAnon.

Hiding the "Q" at Trump campaign rally Man wearing "We Are Q" shirt at Trump rally in New HampshireQAnon supporters claim that they were asked to cover up their "Q" identifiers and other QAnon-related symbols at a Trump campaign rally in on August 15, 2019. Although one person who was asked to turn his "Q" shirt inside-out when he entered the rally identified the person who asked him to do so as a agent, the agency denied this was the case, saying in an e-mail to "The U.S. Secret Service did not request, or require, attendees to change their clothing at an event in New Hampshire." QAnon supporters also claim that their visibility at Trump rallies has been suppressed for months.

Trump retweets of QAnon followers On September 9, 2019, United States President retweeted a video from the QAnon-promoting account "The Dirty Truth". The video criticized former director . Shortly after Christmas 2019, Trump retweeted over one dozen Qanon followers.

Tintagel flag In January 2020, John Mappin (also affiliated with ), began to fly a Q flag at the Camelot Castle hotel near to in . Advocacy group said, "Mappin is an figure, considered even by his fringe rightwing peers. This childish ploy is a weak attempt at getting attention for himself and his marginal Turning Point UK organisation, and is better off being ignored."

Jessica Prim arrest In April 2020, Jessica Prim was arrested carrying several knives after live-streaming her attempt to "take out" presidential nominee . Prim was arrested in New York City on a pier where she appeared to have been trying to get to the . There were QAnon conspiracies revolving around the ship believing it to be used by a cabal of pedophiles. During her arrest, Prim was shown reportedly crying and asked police "Have you guys heard about the kids?".

Prior to the arrest, Prim created a Facebook post stating that Hillary Clinton and Biden “need to be taken out.” and that "Hillary Clinton and her assistant, Joe Biden and need to be taken out in the name of Babylon!" Prim wrote. "I can’t be set free without them gone. Wake me up!!!!!"

Prim’s Facebook page was filled with references to QAnon. She encouraged her Facebook followers to check out QAnon "clues". In a video posted just hours before her arrest, Prim ranted about a video that she believed depicted Hillary Clinton and an aide murdering a child.

Airan Berry arrest See also: On 3–4 May 2020, a -based , Silvercorp USA, attempted to infiltrate with the support of local Venezuelan dissidents. The goal of the operation was to overthrow the . The plot was infiltrated and foiled by the . Two American citizens were detained over the incident.

On May 5, 2020, reported that Airan Berry, a former and one of the detained American mercenaries, was affiliated with the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Facebook removal of QAnon-related content On May 5, 2020, Facebook announced its removal of 5 pages, 20 accounts, and 6 groups linked to "individuals associated with the QAnon network" as part of an investigation into "suspected coordinated inauthentic behavior" ahead of the .

Republican Oregon Senate campaign On May 19, 2020, , the winner of the Republican Senate primary for Oregon, posted a tweet with a video on the night of her primary victory that shows her holding up a WWG1WGA sticker, reciting its meaning, and thanking Q and the Anons.

See also Notes References Citations

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What is QAnon? The one conspiracy theory to rule them all ...

Editions Africa Australia Canada Canada (français) España France Global Perspectives Indonesia New Zealand United Kingdom United States Sections Search Services Information United Kingdom QAnon, which fans the flames of wild and dangerous conspiracy theories, is being incorporated into some fringe religious movements. Photo Illustration/The Conversation Author Disclosure statement Marc-André Argentino receives funding from Concordia University. Marc-André Argentino is affiliated with the Global Network on Extremism & Technology

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Followers of the QAnon movement believe in wild and dangerous conspiracy theories about U.S. President Donald Trump. Now a faction within the movement has been interpreting the Bible through QAnon conspiracies.

I have been studying as part of my research into how extremist religious and political organizations create propaganda and recruit new members to ideological causes.

On Feb. 23, I logged onto Zoom to observe the first public service of what is essentially a QAnon church operating out of the Omega Kingdom Ministry (OKM). I’ve spent 12 weeks attending this two-hour Sunday morning service.

What I’ve witnessed is an existing model of neo-charismatic home churches — is an offshoot of evangelical Protestant Christianity and is made up of thousands of independent organizations — where QAnon conspiracy theories are reinterpreted through the Bible. In turn, QAnon conspiracy theories serve as a lens to interpret the Bible itself.

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Trump vs. the ‘deep state’ The QAnon movement began in 2017 after someone known only as Q posted a series of conspiracy theories about Trump on the internet forum 4chan. QAnon followers believe global elites are seeking to bring down Trump, whom they see as the world’s only hope to defeat the “deep state.”

OKM is part of a network of independent congregations () called Home Congregations Worldwide (HCW). The organization’s spiritual adviser is Mark Taylor, and QAnon influencer with a large social media following on Twitter and YouTube.

The website of Omega Kingdom Ministries mixes QAnon theories and biblical references. The resource page of the HCW website only links to QAnon propaganda — including the documentary Fall Cabal by Dutch conspiracy theorist Janet Ossebaard, which is used to formally indoctrinate e-congregants into QAnon. This 10-part YouTube series was the core material for the weekly Bible study during QAnon church sessions I observed.

The Sunday service is led by Russ Wagner, leader of the Indiana-based OKM, and Kevin Bushey, .

Bible and QAnon narratives The service begins with an opening prayer from Wagner that he says will protect the Zoom room from Satan. This is followed by an hour-long Bible study where Wagner might explain the Fall Cabal video that attendees had just watched or offer his observations on socio-political events from the previous week.

Everything is explained though the lens of the Bible and QAnon narratives. Bushey then does 45 minutes of decoding items that have appeared recently on the app called QMap that is used to share conspiracy theories. The last 15 minutes are dedicated to communion and prayer.

At a service held on April 26, Wagner and Bushey spoke about a QAnon theory, , that the U.S. military has secretly developed a form of time-travel technology. Wagner suggested to e-congregants that time travel can be explained by certain passages in the Bible.

On May 3, the theme of the QAnon portion of the service was about COVID-19. Bushey spoke about a popular QAnon theory that the pandemic was planned. (There is no evidence of this.) And when , the video was shared on the HCW websites as a way for e-congregants to consume the latest in a series of .

Leveraging authority What is clear is that Wagner and Bushey are leveraging religious beliefs and their “authority” as a pastor and ex-military officer to indoctrinate attendees into the QAnon church. Their objective is to train congregants to form their own home congregations in the future and grow the movement.

Followers of the QAnon movement regularly show their support for Donald Trump at his political rallies, including this one held in Pennsylvania in 2018. (Shutterstock) OKM’s ministry is rooted in Taylor’s prophecies. Wagner regularly mentions that if it wasn’t for Taylor, he would have never started this ministry.

On its website, OKM references the . Seven Mountains utilizes — a theology that believes countries, including the United States, should be governed by Christian biblical law. Its goal is to attain sociopolitical and economic transformation through the gospel of Jesus in what it calls the seven mountains or spheres of society: religion, family, education, government, media, entertainment and business. This blends QAnon’s apocalyptic desire to destroy society “controlled” by the deep state with the need for .

Wagner and Bushey have taught their congregation to stop listening to any media —even Fox News — because they’re are all “Luciferian.” What they provide instead is a road map to QAnon radicalization comprised of QAnon YouTube channels for the congregation’s daily media diet, the Qmap website that lists new QAnon conspiracy theories and Twitter influencers.

‘Deep state church’ They further insist that as Trump continues to “drain the swamp” in Washington, it’s “our” responsibility to drain the deep state church swamp. They believe the same deep state that controls the world has also infiltrated traditional churches. As Wagner stated in his April 12 service: “I am here to focus on the deep state church. This goes beyond our church and involves our culture and our politics. Kevin is here to talk about QAnon and the military operation to save the world.”

Like any church, they also run outreach ministries. OKM is currently raising funds for something called Reclamation Ranch, which Wagner describes as a safe place for children rescued after being held underground by the deep state. Children at risk is an ongoing theme in many QAnon conspiracy theories, .

As of May, OKM moved from Zoom to YouTube to accommodate the growth in attendees. At last count, approximately 300 accounts participated in the recent services.

While that’s not a lot of followers, we should be concerned about these latest developments. OKM provides formalized religious indoctrination into QAnon, a conspiracy movement that is both a threat by spreading false information about the coronavirus pandemic and a concern.

Events What Is QAnon: Explaining the Internet Conspiracy Theory That ...

What Is QAnon: Explaining the Internet Conspiracy Theory That ...

Editions Africa Australia Canada Canada (français) España France Global Perspectives Indonesia New Zealand United Kingdom United States Sections Search Services Information United Kingdom Followers of the QAnon movement, shown here at a 2018 rally in Pennsylvania for President Donald Trump, use social platforms to spread conspiracy theories. False information from the QAnon community about the coronavirus pandemic is a public health hazard. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Author Disclosure statement Marc-André Argentino receives funding from Concordia University.

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First there was the pandemic, — a term the head of the World Health Organization defines as the spread of false information about COVID-19.

The most dangerous conspiracy theories about the coronavirus are now part of the . For months now, actors in QAnon have downplayed the severity of the crisis, amplified medical disinformation and have been originators of hoaxes.

The QAnon movement started in 2017 after someone using an anonymous account known only as Q posted wild conspiracy theories about U.S. President Donald Trump on the internet forum 4chan.

conspiracy theorists believe a deep state cabal of global elites is responsible for all the evil in the world. They also believe those same elites are seeking to bring down Trump, whom they see as the world’s only hope to defeat the deep state. QAnon has now brought the same conspiracy mentality to the coronavirus crisis.

As a researcher of online movements like QAnon, I use a combination of data science and digital ethnography to research how extremist movements use technology to create propaganda, recruit members to ideological causes, inspire acts of violence or impact democratic institutions.

Bottom-up approach A central component of QAnon is the crowdsourcing of narratives. This bottom-up approach provides a fluid and ever changing ideology. My analysis of Twitter shows from January to March, there was a 21 per cent increase (a total of 7,683,414 posts) in hashtags used by the QAnon community. This means the misinformation they spread has the capacity to reach a wider audience.

For instance, as a way of preventing COVID-19. The toxic product was sold by the Texas-based Genesis II Church of Health and Healing for US$45. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the dangerous and potentially life threatening side effects of the supplement.

In , QAnon was amplifying narratives on 8kun (), Facebook and Telegram (an encrypted instant messaging plaform) about a false theory that Asians were more susceptible to the coronavirus and that white people were immune to COVID-19. Not only are there racist undertones associated with this disinformation, it minimizes the threat posed by the virus.

Downplayed threat From February until the second week of March, QAnon followed the lead of Trump in downplaying the threat of the virus and calling it a hoax. They believed the virus was a deep state plot to damage the president’s chance at re-election. The QAnon community said those warning about the pandemic threat were trying to detract from U.S. domestic politics, stop Trump rallies and remove all the economic gains they contended had occurred during the Trump presidency.

After Trump initially said COVID-19 posed no threat to the United States, the QAnon community reinforced that message by spreading disinformation about the disease. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) After the WHO upgraded COVID-19 to pandemic status and the U.S. announced it was closing its borders to , QAnon changed the narrative again. Suddenly, QAnon thought the pandemic was something to celebrate because it was a cover for the Trump administration’s secret plan .

Evangelicals within the the QAnon movement viewed the pandemic as the promised coming of the Kingdom of God on Earth. David Hayes, and an influencer in the QAnon community with 300,000 YouTube subscribers, said in a March 14 livestream that there was no reason to be concerned about COVID-19. Hayes reassured his viewers that they may not be affected by the disease because this was “spiritual warfare” — only those who have not been chosen by God will be affected by the disease.

The person known as Q, who spawned the QAnon movement, didn’t post anything online about COVID-19 until March 23. Up until then, all of the medical disinformation, hoaxes and downplaying of the pandemic had been sourced from QAnon influencers and community.

Public health threat In his first post on the topic of COVID-19, Q pushed a conspiracy theory with racial undertones about COVID-19 being and that the virus release was a joint venture between China and the Democrats to stop Trump’s re-election by destroying the economy.

The QAnon conspiracies have created an environment of complacency among its followers who aren’t taking the risks posed by the virus seriously.

Rodney Howard-Browne, pastor of The River Church in Florida , was charged on March 30 with violating a safer-at-home order intended to limit the spread of the coronavirus. His megachurch held two Sunday services with hundreds of people after the order was issued. (Hernando County Jail via AP) Florida pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, who has and has preached that the coronavirus was planned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, after holding Sunday services and disregarding federal, state and county orders to limit gatherings to less than 10 people. His conspiratorial beliefs led to his negligent actions, which put hundreds of people from his congregation at risk.

In another instance, right-wing media figures were spreading an “empty hospital” conspiracy, downplaying the pandemic and its death toll.

. This was amplified by QAnon influencers such as former California congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine Tesoriero and QAnon influencer . This hoax was then picked up by mainstream right-wing media figures promoting COVID trutherism to a wider audience.

The FBI once called conspiracy theories spread by QAnon and others a “potential domestic terrorism threat.” It’s time to call the infodemic a public health threat.

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