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QAnon

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Be afraid, be very afraid, when crazy people, such as one Matt Patten,[1] become sheriff's deputies.[2]
Some dare call it
Conspiracy
Icon conspiracy.svg
What THEY don't want
you to know!
Sheeple wakers
"The Storm" redirects here. For the neo-Nazi forum, see Stormfront; for the neo-Nazi "news" media, see The Daily Stormer. For the Christian revival "Great Awakening", see First Great Awakening.
Disinformation is real. Disinformation is necessary.
—An explanation of and by QAnon, on 8chan[3] and 4chan[4]
Public riots are being organized in serious numbers in an effort to prevent the arrest and capture of more senior public officials. On POTUS'[s] order, a state of temporary military control will be actioned and special ops carried out. False leaks have been made to retain several within the confines of the United States to prevent extradition and special operator necessity.
—"Q Clearance Patriot" revealing secret "truths" and predicting chaos[5][6]

QAnon (also known as the Storm or the Great Awakening) is a fascist cult, conspiracy theory, popular meme,[7] howling vortex of madness, and right-wing fantasy about a "deep state" conspiracy against former United States President Donald Trump. It acts as the "grand unified conspiracy theory", and also "fails at every level to stand up to critical examination."[8]:201 Following on the heels of similar bullshit such as Pizzagate (which occupies a small spot on the QAnon map below), QAnon postulates a fantastic web of deceit that wraps up Trumpism, deep state fearmongering, Satanic pedophilia, cannibalism rings controlled by the Democratic Party, investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, and New World Order paranoia into a package easily and wholeheartedly promoted by Internet cesspools and Alex Jones.[9][5] It originated in 2017 from a series of incoherent 4chan posts made by someone calling themselves "Q".[10]

The name "Q" is likely based on the US government's top-secret Q clearance.Wikipedia The theories put forth in the conspiracy mirror antisemitic tropes from centuries past.[11] With that in mind, while they argue their enemies are in a secret Satanic cult, QAnon can ironically be considered such as well.

Q likely wouldn't have become as widespread if it wasn't for social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. Facebook had in fact been warned about the dangers of its active promotion of conspiracies and QAnon in particular as early as 2016 and 2017 by Brooke Binkowski, then a Snopes employee on loan to them. Facebook did nothing about QAnon for as long as possible since promotion of conspiracies was basically part of their business model.[12][8]:154-155

QAnon's followers have been engaged in countless acts of criminal behavior incited by the conspiracy theory, resulting in the filing of criminal charges and one conviction for domestic terrorism.

Before the beginning[edit]

Mike Rothschild traced QAnon's origins to three loosely connected, cultish affinity frauds that preceded it: Omega TrustWikipedia (1994-2001), Dove of OnenessWikipedia (2001-), and the Iraqi Dinar revaluation (c. 2006-).[8]:55-66 The three frauds shared three general features with what became QAnon: secret intelligence from a guru, a massive event that is always about to occur, and a secret battle between good and evil.[8]:55 Shaini Goodwin, the leader of the Dove of Oneness, was possibly the first 9/11 truther, a conspiracy theory that later was folded into QAnon.[8]:60-61

The beginning[edit]

The figure(s) now known as "Q" first appeared on 4chan with this post from October 28, 2017:[1][13]

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.

Another post that followed soon after implied that Hillary would soon be arrested, another failed prediction.[1] Notably, the first post started out with a lie — Hillary Clinton obviously was never extradited — and a prediction that has not come to pass after after 6 years — also, no massive riots in the US.

It's been argued that the genesis of QAnon parallels that of Discordianism.[14]

What???[edit]

Sure, it's a fantasy, but Trump gets to be the hero (for the only time in his life).

The alleged plot[edit]

What is the "storm" the POTUS spoke about? it is the draining of the swamp, a giant global hurricane of veracity.
—A somewhat more… lucid description[15]

QAnon's central premise is that Trump is secretly working to take down a global ring of elite, cannibalistic, Satanic pedophiles.[16] They also believe that the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, led by former FBI director Robert Mueller, is actually an investigation into the so-called "deep state", a cabal of evil, money-grubbing globalists, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, responsible for everything from a global pedophile ring to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.[5] What makes this an anomaly is that it presents an alternate world in which the "good guys" are in control of the entire government. According to University of Miami professor Joseph Uscinski, in most other theories, the shadowy conspiracy in control is malevolent.[17]

QAnon crazies also see hints in Trump's actions. According to the enlightened, when Trump awkwardly took a drink from a bottle of Fiji Water at a press conference in November 2017, it wasn't because he was thirsty; it was actually a secret signal to those in the know that the Storm had begun (or was about to begin). Because as everyone knows, Fiji is a hot spot for child trafficking.[18]

Q believers have a tremendous amount of baggage on the crazy train in the form of crank magnetism: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is actually investigating high-level Democrats, the Illuminati, the Rothschild conspiracy, "Operation Mockingbird" (an alleged 20th century CIA infiltration of the media), fascism, the hidden meaning of Francis Ford Coppola films, and Christian revivalism.[19] Oh, and J.P. Morgan had the Titanic sunk to take out his millionaire rivals,[20] and "John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his death and joined Trump's secret evil-fighting organization, where he writes 4chan posts under the pseudonym 'Q'."[21]

"Q"[edit]

Postings by QAnon need lots of creative "analysis"—and the chans are happy to help.
Q had the ability to survive usually only seen in cockroaches.
—Mike Rothschild[8]:73

A fictional personality (or, to the faithful, an "anonymous patriot") central to the Storm, going by the name of "QAnon" ("Q" supposedly standing for Q Clearance, a mid-level Department of Energy clearance not used by law enforcement or intelligence agencies), began posting a series of messages on 4chan's /pol/ board in a thread called "CBTS" (Calm Before the Storm) on October 28, 2017.[7] In these posts, Q claimed that Trump was being protected by the military because the CIA, FBI, and Secret Service are all corrupt. Q's postings take the form of cryptic questions, each of which is supposedly a hint, clue, or riddle containing some awesome revelation that would make treasure hunter Nicolas Cage facepalm and exclaim, "Of course!" The questions are usually the type of stuff found in grade-Z spy novels and often contain their own obvious irony, such as this knee-slapper:

Has POTUS *ever* made a statement that has not become proven as true/fact?
—"Q Clearance Patriot"[22]

The writing style is likely based on that of Q,Wikipedia a race from Star Trek, and several people who claimed to be "Q" have cited inspiration on the character, specifically the Next Generation version of the character.[23]

Eric Hoffer wrote in The True Believer, his 1951 study of mass movements, that "If a doctrine is not unintelligible, it has to be vague; and if neither unintelligible nor vague, it has to be unverifiable."[24]:77 Messages from Q meet all three of these criteria:[8]:7 argument by gibberish, fallacy of ambiguity and unfalsifiability.

Q's postings are known among enthusiasts as "breadcrumbs", because they're thought to be tidbits of information forming a trail that leads to… well, with a bit of imagination, anywhere.[17] And they're vague enough that they could apply to pretty much anything. Many sound like they were written by Deepak Chopra channeling Alex Jones. The phrase "down the rabbit hole" (a reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in WonderlandWikipedia) is popular among believers who feel they are lucky participants in a great adventure where nothing is random and everything has meaning; to "follow the white rabbit" is to be willingly led on a journey of ridiculous speculations regarding Q's postings.[22] Martin Gardner, who analyzed Carroll's two Alice novels in his book The Annotated Alice, understood how easily Carroll's writings could be (mis)interpreted any way the reader desired.[25] This is similar to how QAnon can be interpreted manifold ways.

We do not need to be told what it means to tumble down a rabbit hole or curl up inside a tiny house with one foot up the chimney. The rub is that any work of nonsense abounds with so many inviting symbols that you can start with any assumption you please about the author and easily build up an impressive case for it.
—Martin Gardner[25]:8

Q who?[edit]

Q is supposedly someone with a high-level military security clearance operating under deep cover, but they curiously prefer sending incoherent messages on a non-secure message board (8chan/8kun) that specialize in doxxing, bigotry, and child porn.[26] Tripcodes, the normal password mechanism for 8chan, have been known to be insecure for a long time, and there have been freely available tripcode crackers since 2016.[26][27] Q's initial passwords are known ("Matlock"[note 1]). One conclusion from this is that Q is "either ignorant about security or he's purposefully misleading, or both."[26] The password insecurity made it easy, at least for a time, for anyone with some technical ability to seize control of the Q account. A machine-learning analysis of Q drops[note 2] by OrphAnalytics strongly suggested that there were two different authors: one on the 4chan drops and another on the 8chan/8kun drops.[29] One can therefore refer to the two Qs as Q4chan and Q8chan.

Like Batman, Q's identity is supposedly a deep, dark secret, and so the kookosphere swirls with speculation. Some name "NSA whistleblower" Thomas Drake, whose anti-Obama posture gained him somewhat of a fanbase on the far-right.[30] DoD official and Trump advisor Ezra Cohen-WatnickWikipedia was also among those that followers once commonly pegged as Q (ironically enough, in 2021, he denied having anything to do with QAnon and stated that the movement should have been squashed by the authorities as soon as it surfaced).[31] Others say it's Steve Bannon. Or Trump himself. Or Donald Trump Jr. Or an artificial intelligence.[32]

Adding to this confusion, many "Q impostors" and fakes have appeared, as well as copycat Anons such as "MegaAnon" and "WH Anon", prompting the faithful to conclude that it's all just part of a "deep state" plot to smear QAnon.[33][34] Coleman Rogers, the co-host of The Patriot's Soapbox livestream, allegedly showed him logging as Q on 8chan, then trying to pretend it didn't happen.[35] One could believe he actually did this, or that he spoofed people to raise his stature and get more donations.

In reality, however, the supposed deep cover agent Q4chan is most likely one or more 4chan trolls, doing it for the shits and giggles. A consensus among journalists is that Q4chan was Paul Furber ("Baruch the Scribe"), possibly with Coleman Rogers ("PamphletAnon") or Tracy Diaz ("Tracy Beanz").[8]:239 At the very least, Russian troll accounts were pushing the QAnon bullshit to idiots on Twitter before being purged.[36] As is always the case, conspiracy theorists who fell for this have never stopped to wonder if "Q" is just fucking with them.

After a month of initially posting on 4chan in 2017, Q posts migrated to 8chan, allegedly due to infiltration.[37]:31 On 8chan, Fredrick Brennan, a former owner of the 8chan domain, believes that Q8chan is Jim Watkins and his son Ron Watkins. The two Watkins were the final owners of 8chan and the current owners of its successor, 8kun.[1] Brennan believes that the Watkinses knew they needed Q to attract users, although they have denied knowing who "Q" is.[1] A series of email logs have shown connections between Jim Watkins and QAnon influencers.[38] Ron Watkins, who describes himself as "one of the top network defense analysts in the world", left the email logs open to the public.[38] Watkins gave away the game in a 2021 interview for the HBO series Q: Into the Storm, effectively admitting but then moments later denying that he is Q8chan:[39]

It was basically three years of intelligence training, teaching normies how to do intelligence work. It was basically what I was doing anonymously before, but never as Q. [then smiling and clearing his throat] Never as Q. I promise. I am not Q.

Nevertheless, Watkins had the motive for creating Q8chan (ownership of 8chan/8kun), and left an evidence trail that even predated the first Q post (on TheGoldwater.com in 2016-2017, a site that Watkins owns).[26]

"The Storm"[edit]

No, not that Storm, er, Stormy.Wikipedia

The term "the Storm" was apparently inspired by a non sequitur mumbled by Trump to the press during a routine photo-op with senior military leaders in October 2017:[40]

TRUMP: "You guys know what this represents? … Maybe it's the calm before the storm."

REPORTER: "What storm, Mr. President?"

TRUMP: "You'll find out."
—Trump, to puzzled reporters[41]

Most people were content to dismiss this exchange as merely one of what would over time become many, many examples of a terminally stupid old man having a brain fart in front of a reporter. However, QAnon believers have interpreted these bizarre remarks to mean he was recruited by military intelligence to lead a "quiet coup" to restore "integrity" to the U.S. government, possibly because he was surrounded by high-ranking military officers at the time; hence, he will impose martial law and unleash a "storm" of retribution against Satanic Clintonites, Democratic evildoers, Deep State dirtbags, and RINO cucks. And according to one believer, this coup will succeed because "deep state corruption has a heavy Jewish influence" and "the military has a very low rate of Jewish people".[42] The fate of all those arrested varies. Some people believe they'll be sent to Gitmo, while others expect executions to happen en-masse.

So while the shit was supposed to hit the fan in November 2017, with mass demonstrations (and the suppression thereof), a military coup, and the arrest of hundreds of public officials, the fact that November came and went without any of these things happening appears to have had no effect on QAnon's overzealous supporters. On the contrary, it's apparently made it even more popular.[43]

Post-Mueller[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Trump-Russia connection
A QAnon sign at a Trump rally

In March 2019, the Russia investigation officially ended, with Robert Mueller turning in his report to the Attorney General Barr.[44] There were no mentions of aliens, pedophile cults, false-flag attacks, cannibalism, or any of the other bullshit beliefs held by QAnon believers.[citation NOT needed] There's now been enough time to show that the QAnon conspiracy is still alive and well, despite having one of its core tenets disproven:[45] Mueller is most certainly not using the Russia investigation as a secret means to destroy Hillary Clinton's supervillain organization. In fact, most QAnon believers hailed the release of the report as just another step towards Trump's endgame. The only thing they seemed to take issue with is the idea that Trump said "I'm fucked", because they can't wrap their heads around the idea of their Dear Leader bending over to take it like a man expressing weakness and doubt.[46]

Unfortunately, this is just how conspiracy theories work, and this one is no different. QAnon had a significant overlap with the conspiracy theory that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg secretly died and had been replaced by a body double. Still, upon seeing the theory disproven, its believers doubled down anyway.[47] In other words, despite being unfathomably stupid, QAnon is going to live in the dark corners of the internet for a long, long time.

Evidence against is evidence for[edit]

After 6 years, none of this has happened yet. (First Q post, 4chan)
See the main articles on this topic: Falsifiability and Escape hatch

A staple characteristic of conspiracy theories is that they're impossible to disprove. After all, what would be the fun in that? QAnon goes a step further: one of Q's posts explains his various false predictions and claims by saying "disinformation is necessary."[48] Of course it is. This explanation makes QAnon into a so-called "self-sealing" conspiracy: every time it's proven false, that's just the evil cabal making it seem that way!

Stephan Lewandowsky, a professor at the University of Bristol who studies conspiracy theories, noted this self-sealing nature:[49]

Conspiracy theories often serve an ironic function of providing a sense of order in chaos. People would rather believe that there are evil masterminds out there that pull strings on cataclysmic events than accept the occurrence of random events.

This also helps explain the unfortunate longevity of QAnon, even with dozens of failed predictions, the most famous of which was that July 2018 would be "the month the world discovered the TRUTH."[50]

Some failed prophecies include:[51]

  • John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his own death and later pretended to be Trump supporter Vincent Fusca, who was supposed to reveal his true identity at a Trump rally on July 4, 2019.[52]
  • Austin Steinbart, whom many believe(d) to be Q, allegedly received messages from his future self using "quantum computing". In real life, he was charged with criminal extortion and jailed for violating the terms of his pre-trial release for cheating on a required drug test.[53]
  • Hillary Clinton was supposed to have been imprisoned in 2017. Escape hatch: the Hillary you see now is a clone and the real one is in prison.[54]
  • Trump actually won the 2020 election and he's going to be the one inaugurated. When January 20th came and went, predictions came in with March 4th.[note 3] When that failed, there were still those who insisted he'd be back any day now.

I want to believe![edit]

A primary driver in the QAnon belief system (as with other conspiracy theories) is that people can connect just about anything that Q posts with all sorts of unrelated trivialities in the real world. The psychological basis for this is known as pareidolia — seeing patterns in random stimuli. This is reinforced with confirmation bias. Some crazy examples of this are QAnon believers saying that following Trump's election loss in 2020 that:[55]

  • "Trump's back-to-back golf outings over the weekend were proof that the president was in control and that all was going according to plan."
  • "Rudolph W. Giuliani's bizarre Saturday news conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, on an industrial block in Philadelphia between a crematorium and an adult-video store, with two Q posts in the past year in which he used the words 'landscape.'"

All aboard the crazy train![edit]

Free the Clinton-Podesta Martian child sex slaves!
Mueller was hired to investigate Clinton, period. If my theory proves to be correct, this will go down as one of the most brilliant sting operations in history.
—Liz Crokin[56]

Train conductors[edit]

Pizzagate promoters such as Liz Crokin and David Seaman took a very active interest in this brand new opportunity to spread batshit insanity. Crokin claimed that Sean Hannity was privately "on board" with the conspiracy theory. Seaman, being an old Pizzagater, has plenty of experience weaving bullshit from out of thin air. On December 24, 2017, Q apparently posted a picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware River. Seaman claimed that the painting showed Washington in the act of "starting the American Revolutionary War" (it doesn't: the war started in Boston more than a year before), and excitedly concluded, "so in other words, the second revolution is upon us and the deep state is being taken out now."[57] (In reality, of course, the painting depicts Washington showing dangerous irresponsibility by standing up in a boat, so it might not be such a poor metaphor for QAnon after all.)

On Twitter in 2018, the main promoters ("gurus") were Dave Hayes ("PrayingMedic"), InTheMatrixxx, and QAnon76.[8]:144 Then of course, there's leading birther and InfoWars esteemed crackpot Jerome Corsi, who was hard at work with the stable geniuses of 8chan to "decipher" Q's crumbs.[58][59] But none can hope to rival professional insanity dispenser Alex Jones, who has enthusiastically endorsed "the Storm" crackpottery[60] (especially the part about a global Clinton-led pedophilia ring, which happens to fit in nicely with his claims that child sex slaves have been kidnapped and shipped to Mars).[61] Or, well, he did, until Qanon and the merchandise around it started cutting into his bottom line and sales of nutritional supplements. Now Jones claims that QAnon is a false flag meant to make conservatives look like a bunch of paranoid schizophrenics (as if they needed the help).[62]

In September 2018, alt-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec claimed on One America News Network that QAnon was gradually developed by two pro-Trump Twitter trolls named "Microchip" and "Dreamcatcher" in fall 2017, drawing inspiration from the 1999 novel Q by four (somewhat Situationist[63]) Italian authors under the pseudonym Luther Blissett,Wikipedia as well as from an anonymous user with the handle "FBIAnon", who proliferated on 4chan at the time of the 2016 election. Posobiec further claimed that at some point, "Microchip" and "Dreamcatcher" left, and the 8chan QAnon posts are now done by people who are in it for the money.[64][65]

Pundit Curt Schilling promoted QAnon on his Breitbart podcast.[66] Michael Salla, ufologist and promoter of the idea that extraterrestrials are involved in Earthly politics (exopolitics), has promoted QAnon in at least three web articles.[67][68][69] Because she didn't look dumb enough already, TV actress Roseanne Barr promoted QAnon on Twitter in 2017 and 2018 to her 900,000 followers.[70]

Sidney Powell[edit]

Sidney Powell in 2023: just another loser fired by Trump.

Sidney PowellWikipedia is a Texas attorney who first obtained prominence for defending Michael Flynn in 2019. Both Powell and Flynn are recognized as major figures within QAnon circles.[71] A year after defending Flynn, Powell joined Donald Trump's legal team, who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election of Joe Biden… only to be fired by Trump's legal team a few weeks after the election.[72] Apparently her multiple baseless lawsuits (filled with embarrassing spelling and formatting errors)[73] and "evidence" that consisted entirely of conspiracy therories and debunked allegations[74] was too unhinged for Trump. Even Tucker Carlson (of all people) pushed back against her claims on one of his shows, asking to see actual evidence.[75][note 4] Powell has retweeted several major QAnon accounts, used rhetoric and imagery associated with QAnon on her social media,[77][78][79] and made a live appearance on a YouTube channel run by "War Drummer",[80] a person who runs a heavily Q-promoting[81] fringe conservative blog that also promotes other conspiracy theories, apocalyptic Christianity, and a similar affection for embarrassing spelling mistakes.[82][83]

In December 2020, Powell, no longer representing Trump, filed an affidavit claiming voter fraud in the already-certified 2020 Georgia presidential election from Ron Watkins,[84] who claimed in the affidavit to "be an information security expert with nine years of experience as a 'network and information defense analyst' and security engineer."[84] The claim was largely based on his experience running the 8chan (8kun) bulletin board, which he could not do particularly well (the board was down for three months in 2019).[84]

In August 2023, Powell and 18 other (including Trump and Giuliani) were charged with felony interference with the 2020 Georgia election.[85] In an October 2023 plea deal, Powell pleaded guilty to 7 misdemeanors in exchange for testifying against the others.[86]

L. Lin Wood, one of Trump's campaign lawyers, was also a QAnon promoter, having put "#WWG1WGA" in his Twitter bio. Along with Powell, he filed several bogus election fraud lawsuits following Trump's loss in the 2020 election.[8]:172-173

Michael Flynn[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Michael Flynn

Flynn was initially a QAnon hero, even pledging a generic oath with his family, followed by the QAnon motto "Where we go one, we go all!" and hashtag "#TakeTheOath" in July 2020.[87] By November 2021, however, Flynn had called QAnon "total nonsense" and a "disinformation campaign".[88][84]

Notable passengers[edit]

  • Jake Angeli, aka the Q Shaman, who became famous after appearing in the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.
  • Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, started to praise the Q when planning his new movie about child trafficking titled Sound of Freedom.[89] The movie has been showing to sold-out (but near-empty) theaters, indicating that the film's popularity is highly inflated and floating on a sea of bullshit.[90]
  • Congressman Louie Gohmert, a late arrival in 2021.[91]
  • Matthew Lusk (1963–)[92] ran as a Republican for Florida's 5th Congressional District in 2020. He stated, "I belong to no secret societies or clubs, Q is one of my issues because it's definitely a leak from high places. I follow Q, but I don’t know who or what Q is."[93] Lusk also subscribes to sub-theories of QAnon, namely "Arkancide"/Clinton body count,[94] deep state, and the antisemitic Federal Reserve conspiracy theory ("Federal Reserve Banksters").[95] Fortunately for the rest of us, he bowed out of the House race before the primary.[96]
  • Markus "Notch" Persson (1979–) tweeted, "Q is legit. Don't trust the media,"[97] and later confirmed that "I might be the most serious I've ever been."[98][99] This was one of the factors leading Microsoft to exclude him from the anniversary event of his creation, the popular video game Minecraft.[100]
  • Cheryl SullengerWikipedia (1955–) of Operation Rescue indicated her belief in QAnon based on the claim that Trump would put an end to Planned Parenthood.[101][102]
  • Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, pushed a QAnon and a Sandy Hook "truther" video to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in an attempt to have him work to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election.[103]

Pro-QAnon politicians[edit]

Information icon.svg The following candidates, successful or not all have had ties to QAnon-related movements in one way or another. It should be noted that candidates may or may not explicitly support Q, and would even go so far as to renounce it. Whether or not they believe it is up to speculation, in spite of ties.

People with political aspirations and their belief in QAnon would sometimes lead to them trying to run for an office, sometimes up to the national stage. The lists below list the Q believers that tried to campaign for the big leagues, most of which, with few exceptions, ended in a dumpster fire.

2020 elections[edit]

There were a plethora of candidates during the 2020 elections that had supported QAnon or had social media posts with relations to Q.[104][105]

U.S. House[edit]

  1. Darren Aquino (R-FL-19) — Lost the primary
  2. Phil Arlinghaus (R-TN-01) — Lost the primary
  3. Josh Barnett (R-AZ-07) — Won the primary by default. Lost the election.
  4. Mykel Barthelemy (R-GA-06) — Lost the primary
  5. Karen Bedonie (R-NM-03) — Lost the primary
  6. Dan Belcher (R-OK-05) — Dropped out
  7. Joyce Bentley (R-NV-01) — Won the primary. Lost the election.
  8. Dion Bergeron (R-IN-01, funded by QAnon Super PAC)[106] — Lost the primary
  9. Michael Bluemling Jr. (R-FL-21) — Dropped out
  10. Lauren Boebert (R-CO-03) — won[107]
  11. Jeremy Brown (R-FL-14) — Dropped out
  12. Jamie Byers (R-CA-04) — Lost the primary
  13. Mike Cargile (R-CA-35) — On general election ballot by default. Lost the election
  14. Erin Cruz (R-CA-36) — Won the primary. Lost the election
  15. Ignacio Cruz (R-CA-16) — Lost the primary
  16. Ron Curtis (R-HI-01) — Won the primary. Lost the election
  17. Vic DeGrammont (R-FL-20) — Lost the primary
  18. Billy Earley (R-CA-44) — Lost the primary
  19. Tim Fazenbaker (R-MD-02) — Lost the primary
  20. Ari Friedman (D-OH-11) — Lost the primary
  21. Rhonda Furin (R-CA-45) — Lost the primary
  22. Ben Gibson (R-LA-04) — Came in last in the primary
  23. Thomas Gilmer (R-CT-02) — Unofficially dropped out
  24. Sammy Ginder (R-NJ-06) — Write-in candidate
  25. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) — Made "racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic remarks" and still won[107]
  26. Alison Hayden (R-CA-15) — Won the primary. Lost the election.
  27. Rich Helms (R-TX-33) — Dropped out
  28. Gary Heyer (I-MN-03) — Dropped out
  29. Bobby Jeffries (R-PA-10) — Dropped out
  30. Patrice Kimbler (R-CA-36) — Lost the primary
  31. Robert Lancia (R-RI-02) — Won the primary. Lost the election.
  32. Tracy Lovvorn (R-MA-02) — Won the primary. Lost the election.
  33. Matthew Lusk (R-FL-05) — Dropped out
  34. Andrew Meehan (R-PA-01) — Lost the primary
  35. Jessi Melton (R-FL-22) — Lost the primary
  36. Karl "K.W." Miller (I-FL-18)[108] — Lost the election
  37. James Mitchell (D-WA-08) — Lost the primary
  38. Michael Moates (L-TX-26) — Dropped out
  39. Buzz Patterson (R-CA-07) — Won the primary. Lost the election.
  40. Billy Prempeh (R-NJ-09) — Won the primary after his opponent, Timothy Walsh, dropped out. Lost the election.
  41. Theresa Raborn (R-IL-02) — Won the primary. Lost the election.
  42. Mindy Robinson (R-NV-03) — Lost the primary
  43. Kristen Alamo Rowin (R-TX-17) — Lost the primary
  44. Christine Scott (I-FL-22) — Dropped out
  45. Dan Severson (R-FL-19) — Lost the primary
  46. Reba Sherrill (R-FL-21) — Lost the primary
  47. Angela Stanton-King (R-GA-05) — Won the primary by default. Lost the election.
  48. Danielle Stella (R-MN-05) — Lost the primary
  49. Darlene Swaffar (R-FL-22) — Came last in the primary
  50. Johnny Teague (R-TX-09) — Won the primary, lost the election.
  51. DeAnna Lorraine Tesoriero (R-CA-12) — Lost the primary
  52. Antoine Tucker (R-NY-14) — Write-in candidate
  53. Steve Von Loor (R-NC-04) — Lost the primary
  54. Joe Walz (R-TX-22) — Lost the primary[109]
  55. Rob Weber (R-OH-09) — Won the primary
  56. Nichole Williams (R-TN-01) — Lost the primary
  57. Samuel Williams Jr. (R-TX-16) — Won the initial primary
  58. Daniel Wood (R-AZ-03) — Won the primary
  59. Joanne Wright (R-CA-34) — Lost the primary

U.S. Senate[edit]

  1. C. Wesley Morgan (R-KY) — Lost the primary
  2. Jo Rae Perkins (R-OR) — Won the primary.[110] Lost the election.
  3. David Schuster (R-TN) — Lost the primary
  4. Lauren Witzke (R-DE) — Won the primary. Lost the election.

2022 elections[edit]

Similar to 2020, several candidates that were alleged to have supported QAnon ran for Congress in 2022, and in some cases attempted to expand with governorship, and even secretaries of state[111]

U.S. House[edit]

  1. Darren Aquino (R-FL-26) — Lost the primary
  2. Josh Barnett (R-AZ-01) — Came last in the primary
  3. Lauren Boebert (R-CO-03) — Very narrowly won reelection,[112] then switched districts.[113]
  4. Mark Cargile (R-CA-35) — Perennial candidate. Lost the election.
  5. Ignacio Cruz (R-CA-19) — Dropped out
  6. Vic DeGrammont (R-FL-20) — Disqualified
  7. Tricia Flanagan (R-NJ-04) — Disqualified
  8. Mayra Flores (R-TX-34) — Won the special election,[114] but failed to defend her seat in November.
  9. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) — Won reelection.[115]
  10. Robert Lancia (R-RI-02) — Dropped out
  11. Carrie Lawlor (R-FL-22) — Came last in the primary
  12. J.R. Majewski (R-OH-09) — Has attended 1/6.[116] Won the primary. Lost the election.
  13. Karl "K.W." Miller (R-FL-28) — Came last the primary
  14. Omar Navarro (R-CA-43) — Perennial candidate. Lost the election.
  15. Sam Peters (R-NV-04) — Won the primary. Lost the election.
  16. Billy Prempeh (R-NJ-09) — Perennial candidate. Has won the primary, and lost the election
  17. Christine Quinn (R-FL-13) — Lost the primary
  18. Anthony Sabatini (R-FL-07) — Lost the primary
  19. Christine Scott (I-FL-22) — Lost the election
  20. Lavern Spicer (R-FL-24) — Lost the primary
  21. Darlene Swaffar (R-FL-23) — Lost the primary
  22. Johnny Teague (R-TX-07) — Won the primary, lost the election
  23. Ron Watkins (R-AZ-02) — Alleged Q mastermind. Came last in the primary
  24. Philanise White (R-IL-01) — Lost the primary
  25. Daniel Wood (R-AZ-07) — Dropped out

U.S. Senate[edit]

  1. Bobby Jeffries (R-PA) — Disqualified
  2. Peter Yuan Liu (R-CA) — Dropped out
  3. Jon McGreevey[note 5] (R-MD) — Lost the primary. He was arrested for filing false child trafficking allegations.[117]
  4. Luis Miguel (R-FL) — Dropped out
  5. Bobby Piton (R-IL) — Lost the primary and cried fraud[118]
  6. Mark Pukita (R-OH) — Lost the primary
  7. Jo Rae Perkins (R-OR) — Won the primary. This is her second time running after losing in 2020. Just like in 2020, she lost.
  8. Antoine Tucker (R-NY) — Dropped out

Secretary of State[edit]

The America First Secretary of State Coalition was a once nameless group funded by millionaire MyPillow huckster Mike Lindell attempted to "control the election system".[119] The plan was to run like-minded individuals for secretaries of state in several states, a position that does in fact supervise and certify elections; additionally, they planned to run a candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, who appoints the secretary of state.[119] The candidates have appeared at conferences sponsored by The Patriot Voice, a grassroots organization funded by two QAnoners.[120] Eventually, out of 17 candidates involved in the coalition, only one managed to win the general election. The known candidates were:[121]

Secretary of State[edit]
  1. Keith Blanford (South Carolina) — Lost the primary
  2. Mark Finchem (Arizona) — Won the primary, lost the election
  3. Rachel Hamm (California) — Lost the primary
  4. Jody Hice (Georgia) — Lost the primary
  5. Kristina Karamo (Michigan) — Won the primary, lost the election
  6. Jim Marchant (Nevada) — Won the primary, lost the election
  7. Dorothy Moon (Idaho) — Lost the primary
  8. Diego Morales (Indiana) — Won the election
  9. Jim Zeigler (Alabama) — Lost the primary
Governor[edit]
  1. Daniel Cox (Maryland) — Won the primary, lost the election
  2. Doug Mastriano (Pennsylvania) — Won the primary, lost the election

2024 elections[edit]

As the 2024 elections approach, given the potential smear campaigns, candidates likely are to keep silent on their stances involving QAnon at this point. This may be the case given it is one of the most crucial election years in recent history.

U.S. House[edit]

  1. Lauren Boebert (R-CO-4) — Switching districts after barely winning last time.
  2. Jacob Chansley (L-AZ-TBD) — The QAnon Shaman, though he claims to renounce QAnon.
  3. Mayra Flores (R-TX-34)
  4. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14)

U.S. Senate[edit]

Further chaos[edit]

A violent ride[edit]

Forrest Gordon Clark, suspected arsonist.
QAnon is batshit crazy. Crazy stuff. Inspiring people to violence. I think it is a platform that plays off people's fears, that compels them to do things they normally wouldn't do. And it's very much a threat.
—Senator Lindsey Graham.[122]

Journalist Mike Rothschild asked Mark Juergensmeyer,Wikipedia an expert in religious-based extremism, whether it was an overreaction to draw a parallel between Al-Qaeda and QAnon — in Juergensmeyer's opinion, it was not.[8]:106 Since inception, QAnon by comparison has radicalized some followers much more rapidly than other religious extremist organizations, e.g. Al-Qaeda and Aum Shinrikyo.[8]:107 For Al-Qaeda, it was more than 10 years; for Aum Shinrikyo, it was 11 years.[8]:107 For QAnon it was October 28, 2017[1] to January 6, 2018: it was 70 days.[123] Rather than acknowledge that QAnon itself is leading people to violence, QAnon followers often use the No True Scotsman fallacy to portray people committing violence in the name of QAnon as government plants.[8]:118

2018[edit]

Matthew Wright's homebrew armored vehicle used to block the Hoover Dam.
  • In January, Buckey Wolfe was accused of "jamming the tang end of a four-foot long sharpened metal-bladed sword-like instrument" through his brother's head.[123] Wolfe had called 911 and stated "Kill me, kill me, I can’t live in this reality" and "God told me he was a lizard."[123] Wolfe was acquitted by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric facility.[124] Wolfe had been a member of the Proud Boys, but also had made QAnon-related postings on Facebook.[125]
  • In March, the Reddit board for QAnon was shut down due to "encouraging or inciting violence and posting personal and confidential information", and its moderators were banned from the site.[35]
  • In May, a charity group in Arizona called Veterans on Patrol was patrolling the state, searching for child sex trafficking operations after having stumbled onto a homeless shelter and coming to the dumbest possible conclusion.[126]
  • In June, Mathew P. Wright of Henderson, Nevada was arrested for allegedly blocking the bridge over the Hoover Dam with his home-made armored vehicle and guns; he held out a sign that was linked to QAnon.[127][128]
  • In July, Pennsylvanian Gardner Boyd was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Trump and was reported to have made several references to QAnon.[129]
  • In August, Forrest Clark was arrested for allegedly igniting a forest fire in Orange County, California; Clark had previously posted about QAnon and other conspiracy theories.[130]
  • In September, QAnoner/Pizzagater/flat Earther William Douglas was charged with planning to massacre people at YouTube headquarters following the delisting of his channel.[131]

2019[edit]

  • In February, in a bizarre incident of QAnon related violence, the man who shot mob boss Francisco Cali, Anthony Commelo, was a believer in QAnon and was motivated by the belief that said mob boss was a member of the deep state and as such attempted to perform a "citizen's arrest" on the man that went badly.[132]
  • In May, QAnon conspiracists insanely misinterpreted a tweet from James Comey and came to the conclusion that the former FBI director was planning to launch a terrorist attack against a charter school; the school canceled a charity event out of fear that "internet vigilantes" would show up to cause trouble.[133] One of the school's event coordinators later said, "We knew the theory itself was not targeting our event and in fact, it appeared that the QAnon [followers] somehow thought they were keeping us safe. But there was concern that the call-outs to the Anon communities to 'protect the children' could entice these people to show up to our event… there was no win for the festival under these circumstances."[134]
  • In May, an FBI memo from the Phoenix Field Office designated several political conspiracy theories (QAnon, Pizzagate, HAARP, New World Order, Sandy Hook massacre) as domestic threats with the potential to incite violence.[135][136] As evidence, the FBI cited arrests for criminal activities associated with the conspiracy theories.[136]
  • In December, QAnon follower Cynthia Abcug was charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping of her own son. She had lost custody of her son because she was suspected of medical child abuse and factitious disorder imposed on another.[137] Abcug had been drawn to a litigious pseudolaw company called E-Clause[note 6] that was Christopher Hallett and Kirk Pendergrass (associates of Timothy Charles Holmseth).[139] E-Clause was founded just before the first QAnon posting,[140] and turned out to be a perfect instrument for grifting QAnon-believing parents who had lost custody of a child, the QAnon parents being ripe for believing that the government (specifically Child Protective Services) was part of a pedophile cabal.[8]:112-116[139]

2020[edit]

  • QAnon supporters are also preying on the mentally ill. In January, a woman was arrested in Colorado for cooperating with QAnon crazies to kidnap her own child from the state's protective custody.[141] According to police records, the mother went "a bit crazy" after Colorado child welfare officials removed her child from her home, and she was subsequently sucked into the QAnon shitshow. She started appearing in numerous YouTube videos alleging that child protective services "has child trafficking rings in certain areas", stopped going to therapy, and allowed a heavily armed QAnon supporter to stay in her home for her "self-defense".[141] The woman was arrested and charged with felony conspiracy to commit kidnapping. According to police, they received a tip-off from the woman's own daughter, alerting them to the planned raid.[142]
  • In March, Neely Petrie-Blanchard kidnapped her twin daughters, who had been assigned full custody to her mother.[138] Petrie-Blanchard was a QAnon follower who got involved with Christopher Hallett of E-Clause to try to gain legal custody back of her children.[138] By November, the tide of Hallett's failed lawsuits was turning against him, as were some of his followers. Petrie-Blanchard had been working on her lawsuits with Hallett from his home when she fatally shot him in November.[138]
  • In May, a QAnon-inspired Jessica Prim was charged with 18 counts of criminal possession of a weapon (knives). She had also threatened President Joe Biden and attempted to board the US Naval Ship Comfort on livestream video with the knives.[8]:117[143]
  • In June, Alpalus Slyman led police on a 100 mph (160 kph) two-state chase with his five children in his van after he binge-watched QAnon videos.[8]:108-109 Slyman had been influenced by journalist-turned QAnon promoter Timothy Charles Holmseth, who claimed to be the sole journalist authorized to represent the (fictitious) "Pentagon Pedophile Task Force".[139]
  • In July, Corey Hurren drove his pickup truck, which contained multiple firearms, through the gates of Rideau Hall,Wikipedia an important government building in Canada where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was living at the time. According to Hurren's plea, Hurren, who was suffering from major depression,[144] wanted to arrest Trudeau over Canada's COVID-19 restrictions and its ban on assault-style firearms.[145] After fleeing his vehicle on foot, Hurren was eventually arrested and charged with threatening to cause death or bodily harm to the prime minister and multiple weapons offenses. Less than an hour earlier, Hurren had posted a meme relating to the "Event 201" COVID-19 conspiracy theory to his Instagram account. He also previously posted in March a QAnon meme referencing Q, the "white rabbit", and several other hashtags linked to QAnon (such as WWG1WGA, PizzaGate, etc.)[146][147] On March 11, 2021, Hurren was sentenced to six years in prison, along with a lifetime ban on possessing any firearms, for the above incident.[145]
  • In August, QAnoner Cecilia Celeste Fulbright was arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated, chasing at least two cars, and intentionally crashing into one car and a barrier, claiming that "was a pedophile and had kidnapped a girl for human trafficking."[148][149]
  • In October, Emily Jolley was charged with second-degree felony obstruction of justice for allegedly kidnapping her son, for whom she did not have legal custody; Jolley was a QAnon supporter and a follower of an E-Clause group on Facebook.[150]
  • Due to the violence associated with QAnon, the penny finally dropped at Twitter Safety, and QAnon activity was banned as of July 21, 2020.[151]
2020 election-related violence[edit]
QAnon hat (foreground) with "WWG1WGA" during the storming of the Capitol

One of the first signs that the QAnon following would turn violent occurred when votes in Pennsylvania started to turn against Trump in the 2020 US elections. Two QAnon morons with AR-15s were arrested near the Philadelphia vote counting center, having apparently been traveling there to "straighten things out".[152]

On January 6, 2021 in Portland, Oregon, a man named Cody Levi Melby was arrested in a "Stop the Steal" rally outside the Oregon State House for firing five shots into the side of Portland's federal courthouse.[153] Melby in July 2020 had previously posted videos on YouTube sympathizing with QAnon conspiracy theories, and also ironically angrily warned Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland that "every single time you attack a government installation, or a federal facility, that is an act of treason, that is an act of sedition, that is an act of insurrection."[154]

Douglas Austin Jensen, who wore a QAnon t-shirt, was charged with impeding the performance of a police officer and violent entry during the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.[155][156]

Joshua Macias, Pennsylvania, founder of "Vets for Trump", and Antonio LaMotta were arrested in Philadelphia for bringing "two handguns, a semiautomatic rifle and a samurai sword" to a ballot-processing center in November 2020; they had driven there in an SUV with a QAnon bumper sticker.[157][158] Macias was also observed at the 2021 Capitol riot, violating the terms of his bail from the Philadelphia arrest.[157]

Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. was charged with making threats against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and with illegally bringing firearms to the 2021 Capitol riot.[155][159]

Two of the people killed at the 2021 riot followed Q: Rosanne Boyland, who was crushed to death by the mob,[160] and Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a Capitol police officer after she broke into the building.[161]

2021[edit]

  • In January, Troy Burke from Michigan shot and killed his wife, Jessica Burke after he was convinced he was receiving messages from people within QAnon telling him to kill her. He believed his wife was a transgender offspring of Joe Biden who trafficked children for sex and had connections to the CIA.[162]
  • In August, in another bizarre and sad incident, a Santa Barbara surfing instructor named Matthew Taylor Coleman was charged with killing his two young children with a spear gun. Reportedly, during an interview with the FBI, Coleman explained that he was "enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories", and the motivation for the murders was his belief that his wife "possessed serpent DNA" and had passed it on to his children, who he feared were now "monsters" as a result.[163][164]

As of February 2021, 56 people had committed QAnon-related crimes, including two Pizzagate-related crimes and 27 QAnon followers involved in the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.[165] More than two-thirds of the offenders had documented mental health issues according to court records.[165] Ten of the offenders had affiliations with other extremist groups: sovereign citizens (6), Oath Keepers (2), Proud Boys (1), and Wolverine Watchmen (1).[165]

2022[edit]

  • In September, a man in Walled Lake, Michigan (Igor Lanis) shot and killed both his wife and the family dog, in addition to shooting one of his daughters in the back and the leg (reportedly leaving her with "super traumatic injuries"). When police officers went to investigate the situation, Lanis then shot at police; police officers returned fire and killed him. Lanis's other daughter, who fortunately was at a friend's house for a birthday, posted in the r/QAnonCasualties Reddit sub shortly after the incident and blamed QAnon entirely for the incident. According to her, before Mr. Lanis snapped, he had become increasingly obsessed with QAnon and other conspiracy theories online (such as the Big Lie of Donald Trump and COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories) after the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Subsequently, as he started spending "all day and night reading stuff on his phone and laptop" immersed in conspiracy bullshit, his personality became increasingly agitated and getting "really pissy over the smallest things". Lanis had no previous criminal record before this incident, and according to his daughter before going down the conspiracy rabbit hole, he was an "extremely loving and happy person", though prone to mental health issues.[166][167]
  • In late October, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, Paul Pelosi, was attacked and severely beaten with a hammer by an assailant who broke into the couple's San Francisco home and reportedly shouted "where is Nancy, where is Nancy?".[168] The alleged assailant was identified as David DePape, who previously was slightly notable as a nudist activist and hemp jewelry maker in the San Francisco Bay area in the early 2010s.[169] However, sometime in the mid 2010s (perhaps, if one of his blogs is to be believed, due to Gamergate), DePape became more radicalized and started posting (both on Facebook and on various small blogs) angry conspiracy theories that aligned with QAnon (particularly the Pizzagate-oriented conspiracies concerning pedophilia, transphobia, COVID-19 conspiracies, and antisemitism). In addition, DePape posted other tangentially related conspiracies, such as Big Lie content promoted by Mike Lindell.[170][171][172]

2023[edit]

QAnoners Bryan Hill and Tracy Jo Remington set tripwires around their house that were connected to flashbangs.[119] Hill and Remington were charged with felony assault and conspiracy following the incident.[173] Remington indicated that she might use a sovereign citizen defense.[119] (Good luck with that.) A tripwire connected to a dangerous device is a mantrap, which is a felony in itself.[174]

In the Trump administration[edit]

Trump gives a shoutout to a Q believer.
I don't know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate. I have heard that it's gaining in popularity. I've heard these are people that love our country.
—Then-President Trump on QAnon believers.[175]

Trump occasionally likes to throw his most insane group of supporters a bone. At one of his rallies, he gestured approvingly towards a man with a "Q" shirt, and this happened because someone on Trump's team thought it appropriate to give the conspiracist a front-row VIP pass.[176] Trump also likes to retweet posts from QAnon accounts, which, while not directly related to the conspiracy, easily lead interested followers back to it. Most recently, he retweeted a post about Jeanine Pirro from an account that had "Q" as its profile picture.[177]

Trump's pastry chef at his Florida retreat is very vocal on Instagram, and revealed that she sought her current job so that she could serve Trump while he takes down the alleged Democratic pedophile conspiracy.[178] Her posts also suggest that she has interacted with the president's security detail regularly and shows that she enjoys baking QAnon-themed pastries for Mar-a-Lago guests.[178]

While some Republicans do distance themselves from QAnon when confronted with the movement's most egregious behavior,[179] other Republicans appeared to be willing to wink and nudge at the movement... or even outright re-tweet QAnon posters. In particular, Donald Trump was very keen on retweeting QAnon accounts (tweeting at least 90 posts from 49 pro-QAnon accounts since the COVID-19 pandemic began according to a July 12, 2020 Politico analysis), knowing that these people are some of his biggest fans.[180] More troublingly, in 2020, the rhetoric of Donald Trump increasingly started to tack closely to the QAnon narrative, even if Trump did not explicitly mention QAnon in his tweets.[181]

Going viral[edit]

These people can read?

All of the dubious claims of this conspiracy theory have been easily debunked, discredited, and immediately recognized as complete and total fabrications, slander, and lies. Despite this, legions of rabid, far-right-wing extremists and conspiracists have embraced and promoted the theory in an increasingly crowded field of loonies inhabiting the cesspools of social media and YouTube.[58] A detailed analysis of the whole fetid affair is documented in a boringly exhaustive copypasta.[6][182]

In April 2019, the Southern Poverty Law Center documented how the conspiracy theory has strangely become a hit with the sovereign citizen movement, in a stunning example of crank magnetism in action.[183] What makes this strange is that QAnon's base premise is that the government and law ultimately work. However, sovereign citizens and other anti-government extremists believe that they know the "true" law, which has been betrayed by the regular institutions of government, and that the military and Trump will help them save this mythological "true" law.[183]

QAnon has become an all-encompassing conspiracy theory. For instance, in late May of 2019, police in small-town California arrested a crazy lady for building homemade pipe bombs, and QAnon thinks that she was connected to a secret plot by James Comey to blow up a school.[184] This demonstrates that just about anything can be linked to QAnon if one happens to be creative enough.

As a show of just how far this insanity has gone, a QAnon book called QAnon: An Invitation to the Great Awakening was written by many anonymous authors and reached number goddamn 2 on Amazon's algorithmically generated “hot new releases” and best-sellers lists.[185][186] Among the book's highlights: claims that Democrats eat children, claims that Hillary Clinton runs a global Satanic cabal, and claims that the government created AIDS and Lyme disease.[187] Needless to say, it's a hot mess.

The hacker group Anonymous has since denounced QAnon and Pizzagate, and accused them of being created by state-backed actors and Trump supporters with knowledge of Anonymous's workings to discredit their operations.[188]

Cult, religion, Russian psyop or LARP?[edit]

See the main articles on this topic: CultReligion, and Role-playing game
Look, it's the official flag of dipshittery!
I look at QAnon as a cult… When you get recruited into a mind control cult, and get indoctrinated into a new belief system… a lot of it is motivated by fear.
Steven HassanWikipedia, who as an ex-Moonie knows a thing or two about cults.[189]

By 2020, QAnon had nearly all of the markings of not just a conspiracy theory, but an outright omniconspiracy cult.[14] Reports have surfaced that some QAnon adherents effectively cut off family and friends to stay with the online QAnon community.[190][191] According to one man who watched his girlfriend become consumed by the conspiracy, the social isolation and obsession displayed by his girlfriend was reminiscent of losing a loved one to drug addiction.[192] Some people describe that QAnon has effectively brainwashed people close to them into people they no longer know. Terms like "deprogramming" people from QAnon have increasingly appeared in the media.[193][189]

Where QAnon possibly fails the cult test is in determining who the charismatic leader is. Is it Trump, who is largely ignorant of the details of QAnon? Is it Q who is an anonymous person or persons, whose charisma would seem to be lacking? If one assumes that there is a leader of QAnon, then the 'leader' does not actually force compliance to rules and dogma.[8]:182-186

QAnon bears some resemblance to a religion with its focus on prophecy, and its ability to attract white Christian evangelicals,[8]:186-191 27% of whom believe in the conspiracy theory.[194]

Russian sockpuppets strongly promoted QAnon on social media. However, cybersecurity experts generally think that it is unlikely that Russia is actively behind QAnon, since Russian psyops have clear objectives unlike QAnon.[8]:192-196

In July 2019, a Reddit group called r/QAnonCasualties[195] was created to help people who have lost loved ones to QAnon share stories and advice, and possibly help drag their loved ones out of the wormhole.[196]

There is an argument to be made that QAnon is just a live-action puzzle-solving game,[8]:196-197 but puzzles have correct answers and QAnon never seems to have a definitive answer to the puzzles, thus making it more of a case of apophenia. Game designer Reed Berkowitz said that QAnon is not a game, but "A game that plays people."[197]

Q Goes To Washington[edit]

Oregon Republican candidate for Senate, Jo Rae Perkins, talks QAnon on Youtube with conspiracy monger Dustin Nemos.[198]

On August 11, 2020, QAnon (the conspiracy theory that likes to complain about the "deep state") made significant progress in becoming part of the deep state itself when Marjorie Taylor Greene defeated John Cowan in the Republican primary for Georgia's 14th Congressional District.[199] On November 3rd, Greene defeated her Democratic opponent Kevin Van Ausdal to win her Congressional seat, becoming the first open supporter of the QAnon conspiracy to win a seat in Congress.[200] Greene had previously praised Q as a "patriot" in a video posted to Facebook on November 2017.[201] Unsurprisingly, Greene had previously made racist ranting videos on Facebook, suggesting Islamic nations routinely commit pedophilia, equating Black Lives Matter activists to Ku Klux Klan members, defending Confederate statues, floating a conspiracy theory that the 2017 Las Vegas shooting was a plot to abolish the Second Amendment, describing the election of Ilhan Omar as an "Islamic invasion", and evoking Godwin's Law by calling George Soros a Nazi collaborator.[202] House Leader Kevin McCarthy could have done more to stop her campaign,[203] but he remained neutral. After she added 9/11 conspiracies[204] to her bat-shit beliefs, Leader McCarthy decided to endorse her fully.[205] To no one's surprise, Donald Trump sent a congratulatory tweet in response to her winning the primary, calling her a "future Republican star".[199][206] Greene earned a key endorsement in May 2020 from white supremacist Chester Doles, who is associated with a variety of skinhead movements, who stated in a post on Russian social media platform VKontakte: "Our friend Marjorie Greene is running for Congress. She’s part of the Q movement. Good friend to have."[207] Greene announced that she would introduce articles to impeach Joe Biden seven days before his presidency even started.[208]

Such was a demonstration of how QAnon was slowly being normalized into Republican populism in 2020. In July 2020, a QAnon mug appeared in the background of a Fox News interview with New York police union head Ed MullinsWikipedia[209] In an interview with Eric TrumpWikipedia on July 25 2020, Fox News host Jesse WattersWikipedia said QAnon had "uncovered a lot of great stuff".[210] Social media retweets, hashtags, and memes were posted by Eric Trump, White House deputy communications director Dan Scavino,Wikipedia Trump's first national security advisor Michael Flynn,[209] and former campaign advisor Roger Stone.[211]

During the 2020 Republican National Convention, a woman named Mary Ann Mendoza (who is an advisory board member for Women for TrumpWikipedia and was also involved with We Build the Wall, at the time indicted for fraud just a few days prior) was scheduled to speak about her son's 2014 death at the hands of a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. Before speaking, however, she tweeted a link to an extremely lengthy thread[212] from a user whose Gab account proudly proclaims it to be affiliated with QAnon.[213] The thread imagined a Hollywood-esque conspiratorial narrative using old Rothschild family and RMS Titanic tropes, implying the age-old conspiracy theory that the Jews run the world. (Among the many gems within this thread[212] are a list of supposed "Original Federal Reserve Board Members", all supposedly linked to the Rothschild family, that didn't even include the first Federal Reserve chairman, Charles Sumner HamlinWikipedia, but did for some stupid fucking reason include the Bank of EnglandWikipedia.) Although Mendoza deleted the tweet and her speech ended up being canceled due to the ensuing uproar, Mendoza had posted other bullshit in the past (such as linking George Soros to the Rothschild family in a conspiratorial manner, to the point where ONE WORLD GOVT! was of course written in ALL CAPS!)[214] that would not be out of place in a QAnon social media thread.[215][216]

Becoming a domestic terror threat[edit]

"QAnon Shaman" Jake Angeli
QAnon believers will confront facts and reality in court.
—U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who is presiding over many of the 2021 Capitol riot cases[217]

In 2019, for the first time, the FBI labeled "conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists" (including QAnon) as a domestic terrorism threat.[218]

In late 2020, QAnon movement adherents started focusing on supporting Donald Trump's dubious claims over the 2020 U.S. presidential election, particularly after Joe Biden won in November and Trump responded by making baseless claims concerning electoral fraud. Due to fears concerning the incidents of real-world violence up to that point, and concerns that this violence will spill into the election itself, several social media sites started cracking down on QAnon. In July 2020, Twitter announced a crackdown on QAnon content.[219] In October 2020, Facebook labeled QAnon a "militarized social movement" and completely banned QAnon across all of their platforms.[220] Also in October 2020, YouTube updated its hate policies to “prohibit content that targets an individual or group with conspiracy theories that have been used to justify real-world violence."[221] EtsyWikipedia banned QAnon merchandise from its marketplace around the same time period.[222] (This "ban", however, was not super-strict; therefore it was often still relatively easy to find QAnon information on these platforms even after the crackdown took place.)[223][224]

FBI report on the domestic criminal threat from conspiracy morons.

Fears about QAnon violence were realized with QAnon's role in the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. On January 6th, 2021 (the day that Congress was voting to certify Biden's Electoral CollegeWikipedia win), Donald Trump organized a "Save America" rally that included inflammatory speeches by Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and others.[225][226] The rally devolved into a violent mob who attempted to siege the Capitol building. Several participants were wearing QAnon apparel, or were known as being strongly associated with the movement;[227] many of the ludicrous claims of QAnon were shouted as the mob tried to take over the Capitol.[228]

One woman who was part of this mob, Ashli Babbitt, attempted to break through a door in order to enter the Speaker's Lobby (where lawmakers were evacuating from at the time), and was subsequently fatally shot by Capitol police. An analysis of her social media shows how her exploration of the darker sentiments circulating in online right-wing circles, including a full embracement of QAnon conspiracy theories, had radicalized her to the point of participating in an attempted insurrection, in only a couple years' time.[229][230][231]

A man named Douglas Jensen, clothed in a Q shirt, was among the first to break into the US Capitol; he later ended up chasing and menacing a Black police officer.[232]

Shortly after the riots, Cleveland Grover Meredith was arrested for texting plans to shoot the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Meredith had put up a billboard saying "#QANON" near his business in 2018, and his social media showed strong interest in far-right disinformation.[233]

A man named Jake Angeli, aka the "QAnon Shaman" (distinguished for wearing a bizarre outfit consisting of fur, a horned helmet, and facepaint, but of course no shirt) entered the Senate floor and demanded to see the person designated to certify the election, Vice President Mike Pence.[234][235]

This was a wake-up call to many social media companies (where, despite previous bans, plenty of baseless QAnon-oriented misinformation still remained on platforms like Facebook[236]) regarding the potential violent dangers of the QAnon movement. This prompted them to finally (we hope) take heavier action and remove QAnon from their platform. Shortly after the attempted coup, Twitter suspended 70,000 QAnon accounts,[237] and AmazonWikipedia and eBayWikipedia removed merchandise related to the QAnon movement.[238] This was also a wake-up call to government intelligence, who issued a bulletin labeling domestic extremists as the "greatest domestic terrorism threats in 2021", and included QAnon conspiracies as part of the possible motivation.[239]

As of May 2021, 79 QAnon believers were charged with crimes; of these, 40 were charged with crimes in connection with the Capitol coup attempt.[240] One of the alleged insurrectionists, Stephen Baker, has a priceless pseudonym: "Stephen Ignoramus". Before the insurrection, Ignoramus had been recorded on YouTube spewing forth on Holocaust denial, anti-women's suffrage and rights, homophobia and racism.[241]

QAnon and Jews[edit]

Despite being inherently antisemitic, the QAnon conspiracy actually has Jewish adherents, particularly orthodox Jews.[242] This occurred because of a QAnon campaign on Telegram called "Save the Children Israel" (which ripped off the charity Save the Children'sWikipedia logo).[242] There is even a Hebrew QAnon channel on Telegram.[242]

QAnon, New Age, and the broader wellness movement[edit]

New Age, wellness, and alternative medicine communities have long been known to have a more conspiracist side, including an anti-science oriented distrust of authority,[note 7] and a rooting in rejected and supposedly "suppressed" knowledge. While the broader part of this loosely defined crowd is more associated with the political left, there's long been parts of it that are strongly into New World Order and shadow government conspiracies, etc., and who overlap with libertarian and sometimes alt-right influences. Perhaps the most iconic example of a New Ager inclined to fully embrace QAnon is the Q Shaman, one of the more notorious participants of the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot, who displayed an eccentric mix of New Age and conspiratorial views.[243]

Long before QAnon, some wellness and New Age oriented platforms were already well known for fully embracing conspiracy theories. For example, Gaia Inc. has long been associated with promoting conspiracy theories.[244] Those on this fringe side also have a long history of supporting anti-vaccination ideology. For instance, in a Chicago TribuneWikipedia article in 1994, Loring Dales, the chief of the California Health Department's immunization branch at the time, described "New Age" groups (and religious groups) as a social factor driving vaccine hesitancy at the time.[245] And despite being polar opposites politically, in 2017, QuartzWikipedia showed that the store of wellness-oriented Goop and conspiratorial-oriented Infowars often sold similar snake oil, just with different branding.[246]

So, naturally, some people in these communities were susceptible to a blending of spiritual and health-related beliefs with the conspiracism of QAnon – in an example of what researchers call "conspirituality" – various conspiracy theories spreading through disinformation, and mixing with the pre-existing spirituality and often bullshit health practices of the New Age movement.[247]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, QAnon integrated the ideology of the anti-vaccination movement into their omniconspiracy cult, and while parts of the New Age world began to overlap with QAnon earlier on, this helped the conspiracy theory advance into the broader and more left-leaning wellness movement in 2020. Shared beliefs, such the notion that "Big Pharma" and other equivalent boogeymen were secretly trying to control the political and social order, helped bridge the gap.[248]

QAnon's surface-level focus in 2020 on sex trafficking, and wellness influencers targeting other like-minded individuals with attractive messaging that hid the racism, bigotry, and ugliness of the movement (a phenomenon that was dubbed as "pastel QAnon"Wikipedia by a researcher named Marc-André Argentino)[249][250] were additional factors furthering the crossover between QAnon and the wellness, New Age, and alternative health communities.[251] This has alarmed other members of the wellness and New Age communities who recognized that QAnon's core racism, antisemitism, and link to violence was incompatible with much of the philosophy that these communities promoted.[252]

Decline and evolution during the Biden administration[edit]

When the sudden mass arrest of their opponents didn't materialize and Joe Biden was sworn in without a hitch on the 20th of January, some of the QAnon faithful appeared to lose hope,[253] with a handful even admitting their mistakes and moving on with their lives.[254] Some of them, however, merely did what they have always done when a Q prediction failed to come true: they moved the goalposts. Despite the days passing uneventfully with Trump sitting in retirement in Florida and Biden doing his job in the White House, the more hardcore believers of QAnon continued insisting that executions, military operations and the dramatic return of Trump was just around the corner. A new date was selected for Trump's victory over his perceived enemies: March 4.

This particular date was arrived at by using sovereign citizen logic. Since (according to them) the United States ceased to be a real country in 1871, every government since then has been illegitimate. QAnon supporters latched onto this theory, using it as evidence that Biden is NOT the President, and that March 4 (the old date for Presidential inaugurations, used until 1933) is the inauguration date of the true Republic.[255] (Of course, by this logic, Trump could never have been a legitimate President either, since he himself was inaugurated on 20 January 2017, on the "false" inauguration date of a "non-existent" country. Not that this seems to bother any of these people...) There is absolutely no credible evidence to support any of these claims[256] but they nonetheless became wildly popular amongst believers desperate for any ray of hope. The social media posts about March 4 being significant even caught the attention of security forces in Washington (who decided to stick around until March 12 partly because of this)[257] and also the Trump International Hotel in DC, which seemed eager to capitalize on the potential influx of Trump fanatics. Prices for rooms at the hotel were more than doubled for the date in preparation.[258]

Predictably, on March 4th... nothing happened.[259] Also predictably, in response to yet another failed prediction, some QAnon followers quickly labeled the March 4 prediction as a "false flag". Moving the goalposts again, a new date was chosen: March 20th, 2021, due to this being the anniversary date of the Republican party's founding.[260] Predictably, apart from QAnon's involvement in a few anti-vaccination and anti-COVID-19 restrictions protests on this date,[261] nothing happened once again.

With no new official "Q drops" for months, even as random dates for the supposed mass arrest continued to be proposed on social media, some people started moving into other conspiracy theories. Others gave up, feeling abandoned by the movement, and started to rehabilitate themselves out of the QAnon cult.[262]

By January 2022, QAnon had devolved into a schismatic group of backstabbers, accusing each other of grifting and fighting for audience share in a declining market.[84]

The return?[edit]

Strangely enough, on June 24th, 2022, Q, or someone with Q's password has been posting again on 8kun.[263]

Greatest crossover event in conspiracy history[edit]

THE TITANIC WAS AN INSIDE JOB.
I don’t like to talk about that stuff [Satanism] because it gives those anti-Q people way too much fuel for the fire.
—In Pursuit of Truth, a QAnon "analysis" YouTube channel.[264][265]

There are some truly glorious examples of QAnon stupidity; appropriately there is no "I" before the "Q". Whoever "Q" is, they've managed to pull elements from just about every conspiracy theory under the sun. Here are some highlights.

RMS Titanic[edit]

See the main article on this topic: RMS Titanic

QAnon followers think J.P. Morgan sank the Titanic to form the Federal Reserve.[266] Oh yeah, we're starting you off in the deep end, folks. So to speak. The story goes that many wealthy businessmen were on the Titanic, all of whom opposed the Federal Reserve, and J.P. Morgan intentionally built the Titanic without safety measures to get them all killed.[267] There's also a version of the story that says the men were opponents of the income tax.[268]

Trump's secret war[edit]

Just about every aspect of the Mueller investigation has been shoehorned by QAnon believers into their narrative about a secret war being fought between Trump and the "deep state". They think that Trump was recruited by military intelligence to fight this deep state because, apparently, we trust the military but not the rest of the government.[67] Key events highlighted by the QAnoners include the raid on Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen (the cabal becomes more aggressive), and Trump's missile strike on Syria (Trump wanted to accommodate the cabal's wishes for some fucking reason).[68]

JFK Jr.[edit]

Q believer with a JFK Jr. cutout

In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a tragic plane crash on his way to a family wedding.[269] Or is that just what he wants you to think? Nah, he's pretty damn dead, but QAnon followers have found a bizarre way to work him into their inane imaginings. Hardcore Q believers think that JFK Jr. is actually still alive, having faked his death to secretly fight the evil cabal.[270] Some of them think JFK Jr. is actually Q, and they hold that he faked his death to escape the same fate as his father, who they think was assassinated by the deep state. If JFK Sr. had not been assassinated in 1963, he would have been 104 at the time of the QAnon gathering. Pretending that QAnoners are right, his lifetime of poor health[271] makes such longevity highly unlikely.

The idea gained prominence thanks to the far-right Pizzagate whackjob Liz Crokin going on about it on YouTube, explaining her belief that Q's references to JFK Jr. must mean that he is JFK Jr. and that any ridicule she receives over this stupid idea proves her right.[272] As further evidence, Q believers tout a fake quote from JFK Jr. saying, "If my dear friend Donald Trump ever decided to sacrifice his fabulous billionaire lifestyle to become president he would be an unstoppable force for ultimate justice that Democrats and Republicans alike would celebrate."[273] The fake quote was debunked, of course, not that any QAnon followers would actually give a shit.

To add the shit cherry on the weird-ass cake, some Q followers also picked out a random guy standing at one of Trump's rallies, identified him as a man named Vincent Fusca, and then decided that he must actually be JFK Jr. in disguise.[52] According to them, JFK Jr. is just biding his time until he thinks it's the right moment to emerge from hiding, confirm QAnon, and then replace Mike Pence as Trump's running mate.[274] That all seems, uh, rather unlikely.

On November 2 2021, in a spontaneous event that surprised even extremism researchers, a significant number of QAnon believers (some waving "Trump / JFK Jr." flags) appeared in downtown Dallas near Dealey PlazaWikipedia, where John F. Kennedy (JFK Jr.'s father) was assassinated in 1963.[275] They were convinced that JFK Jr. would appear at the plaza, perhaps with several other dead celebrities, at precisely 12:29PM, and announce that he would run for office alongside Donald Trump.[276] Many of these people were followers of a man named Michael Brian Protzman (known online as Negative48). Protzman ran a Telegram channel that combined Protzman's Messiah complexWikipedia, deeply antisemitic content, predatory financial scams (often involving cryptocurrency), gematria, QAnon phrases, passages from the Bible, and a strange fantasy world where John F. Kennedy and Jackie KennedyWikipedia were the physical second incarnation of Jesus and Mary Magdalene and Donald Trump was the Holy Spirit.[277][278]

Unfortunately for these QAnon believers, the dead remained deceased and the prediction was yet another dud. Nonetheless, in another sign that QAnon had turned into an outright cult, many of Protzman's most fervent supporters stayed in a local hotel for many days afterwards. There, Protzman continue to preach his nonsense to his devoted believers, such as how the musicians who played at a November 2 2021 Dallas Rolling StonesWikipedia concert were actually dead celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Michael JacksonWikipedia in disguise.[279] Despite his repeated failed predictions, after the November 2021 event, Protzman managed to entice a small core cult to stick with him by making up fresh new conspiracies, such as one where the Russian invasion of Ukraine was somehow part of a plan to uncover Joe Biden's criminality so that he could be replaced with Trump (who, in Protzman's new conspiracy, was now bizarrely Kennedy in disguise).[280] After years of financially ruining his cult members and tearing apart families[281] to the point where child protective services had to get involved in one case,[282] Potzman died due to a dirt bike accident on June 30, 2023.[283]

Deep state puppet masters[edit]

QAnon has also gone with the mandatory George Soros conspiracy theories, but his post "exposing" the leaders of the deep state dusted off some oldies but goodies. Specifically, the Rothschilds,[68] who QAnon sees as significant architects and financial backers, despite their family banking business making less than a percent of what Walmart makes in a year.[37] The family's richest member has a smaller net worth than George Lucas,[37][284] and their assets are spread out across hundreds, maybe thousands of people. They ain't the puppet masters of shit.

Strangest of all, Q also fingers (heh heh) the House of Saud as being backers of the deep state,[68] which doesn't really mesh with the fact that they seem to be among Trump's closest friends on the global stage.[285] Apparently, selling weapons to the deep state against the wishes of Congress[286] is the path to defeating the deep state. Who knew?

Finally, what QAnon sub-conspiracy would be complete without that old classic, Satanism? Q thinks the Rothschilds are the head of a global Satanic cult which includes the Soros family, the Clinton family, and the Sauds.[69] The three main dynasties, Soros, Saud, and Rothschild, form the so-called "Triangle" because why fucking not bring the Illuminati into this bullshit too?[287]

CIA psyops and fake news[edit]

See the main articles on this topic: CIA and Fake news
Q exposes the deep state puppeteers.

A central feature of Trumpism and QAnon is the concept of fake news. Q has taken it a step further with the concept of "Operation Mockingbird". According to Q, the Central Intelligence Agency (check one off the list) is manipulating the media and has been since the JFK assassination (check).[288] QAnon followers call these CIA operatives "Black Hats", and claim that Black Hats spend their days digging around through classified data with the intent of fabricating fake news stories to pass on to the mainstream media.[289] Apparently, the "Black Hats" are paid with CIA black budget money and foreign accounts; Q specifically mentions the Panama Papers (check) as an example of how this works.[289]

Christianity, pedophilia, sex trafficking, and Hollywood[edit]

See the main articles on this topic: Pedophilia and Sex trafficking
Polaris, the charity that operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline, had to issue a statement discouraging people from reporting that children were being sold inside expensive cabinets online because callers were flooding its phones with a Q-adjacent conspiracy. The inundated hotline is one example of a problem each of the anti-trafficking representatives I spoke to raised: Even if QAnon is bringing people’s attention to child trafficking in general, it's focusing that attention specifically on a sensationalized, largely inaccurate picture of what trafficking looks like. And that can pull focus and resources away from the actual problem.
—Kaleigh Rogers, FiveThirtyEight.[290]

QAnon (in a similar fashion to Pizzagate) pays an obsessive amount of attention to conspiracy theories surrounding pedophilia and child-sex trafficking, particularly the notion that there is a global conspiracy involving a ring of Satan-worshiping, child-molesting criminals led by prominent Democrats.[291]

In general, QAnon conspiracy theories can be seen as less a concern about the legitimate issues of child abuse, and more an attack on cosmopolitan culture and social changes in American society – anxieties that can be seen in far older moral panics, such as the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, which also shared a core belief that the wealthy and powerful elite was kidnapping and breeding children for the purposes of pornography, sex trafficking, and Satanic ritual sacrifice.[291][292] QAnon shares the same "us vs. them" mentality with the older "culture wars" of the Moral Majority, codifying mistrust of science, “big government” and celebrity into a black-and-white moral code that dehumanizes perceived cultural enemies with imaginary horrific crimes.[293][294] QAnon also shares elements with end times, rapture, and dispensationalism theologies in that there is a "savior" that will lead them away from what they perceive as troubled times (in the mythos of QAnon, the "savior" is of course Donald Trump), and also shares the same obsession with applying current events into an over-arching (if messy) narrative that these theologies often had.[293][295] QAnon also incorporates Christian phrases like "Great Awakening" and Bible phrases in their rhetoric.[294][295]

Because of these similarities, in 2020, the QAnon conspiracy theory started becoming popular in certain religious circles, particularly denominations that were part of the neo-charismatic movementWikipedia.[296] The slow infusion of a political and dehumanizing conspiracy theory into religion has worried some pastors, particularly in the white evangelical churches where this movement was taking hold.[297]

Won't somebody please think of the children?!

Due to the nature of this conspiracy theory / moral panic, it is no surprise that one of the largest targets of these conspiracy theories is HollywoodWikipedia actors and actresses and other entertainers. Despite it being very easy to debunk with a simple Google search, in 2020, rumors spread online from time to time that celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey,[298] Ellen DeGeneresWikipedia,[299] Tom HanksWikipedia,[300] and others had been arrested for sex trafficking. One QAnon believer spread a list of people who supposedly flew on flights with the financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, that included several (often misspelled) celebrities that in reality had no connection to Epstein. (Of course, the list failed to include Donald Trump, who does have a connection).[301] This led to predictable abusive behavior against some of the celebrities from QAnon followers on social media.[302]

In April 2020, a "documentary" called Out Of Shadows[303] appeared on YouTube. The video accused Hollywood of being run by Satanic pedophilia rings that also "manipulate the multitudes by spreading propaganda" through music videos, various code words, non sequitur connections to legitimate scandals such as MKULTRA and NXIVM, and "connections" to various past government media regulations and agencies, which the film maker clearly had no idea what they were about.[304][note 8] The documentary was created by a Hollywood stuntman named Mike Smith, who had a "spiritual awakening" while recovering from an injury suffered while filming a television show.[305] While avoiding mentioning QAnon directly by name, the film relies on many dubious sources with connections to QAnon or other conspiracy outlets, such as Pizzagate / QAnon promoter Liz Crokin and ex-CIA agent Kevin Shipp (who was originally notable in 2011 for going public with a lawsuit against the CIA for poor working conditions,[306] but in 2020 was more notable for his frequent appearances in NaturalNews columns).[307] It is also notable that Mike Smith's Twitter profile references the "#Qanon" and "#WWG1WGA" hashtags.[308][309] Bizarrely, one of the pieces of "evidence" this film presented (to prove that Hollywood was being run by Satanic pedophilia ring) was actually a portrait of right-wing media: a montage, put together by DeadspinWikipedia,[310] that combined multiple Sinclair media newscasters reading word-for-word a transcript that insinuated that most news outlets (except their own, of course) was fake news.[304] Similar in fashion to how the baseless COVID-19 "documentary" Plandemic spread, the film spread virally via various right-wing influencers.[304]

The obsession QAnon has with pedophilia has often frustrated legitimate organizations dedicated to sex trafficking by clogging anti-trafficking hotlines with false reports, and flooding social media with anti-trafficking hashtags that were often accompanied by baseless conspiracy theories instead of useful information.[311][312]

The reality of sex trafficking is rather different than QAnon proponents would like to have one believe. While it's true that coercive child sex trafficking exists, it is quite rare.[313] First, the legal definition of trafficking is rather different than most people think: it includes situations in which an underage teen has sex with a john in exchange for money, food, drugs, or shelter, even without a pimp being involved. In such cases, the john is considered the trafficker;[313] this is known as 'survival sex'.Wikipedia Second, most of the survival sex involving children is because "the child is homeless, has run away from foster care or has been kicked out by their parents, often due to being queer or transgender. Many of these kids end up trading sex for money, drugs or a place to sleep because it’s their only way to survive."[313] The problem for these homeless teens is often that foster care and other support systems that could keep them off the streets and out of prostitution are often chronically underfunded.[313] So, the problem, then, are the deeply conservative parents that form a pool of people who are likely to reject their LGBTQ or nonconforming kids, who hate taxes and funding social services, and who form a base for QAnon recruitment. This amounts to a form of psychological projection wherein QAnon supporters baselessly accuse liberals (anyone left of center, really) of the most wildly reprehensible actions for which conservatives are in reality at least partly responsible for. Actual pimps with actual locked-up prepubescent sex slaves are exactly as rare as you'd expect any business that appeals to such a niche demographic as pedophile rapists to be.

To underscore this point, one of the centers of QAnon on the Internet (being the place where "authorized" "Q drops" have been posted since around 2017)[314] is 8chan (and its newest incarnation, 8kun). In fact, as noted above, the founder (and current arch-nemesis) of 8chan, Fredrick Brennan, believes (with some credible evidence) that the current owner of 8kun, Jim Watkins, is one of the posters of "Q drops".[315] Ironically, in the past, 8chan has been booted off hosts and was temporarily delisted from Google for being a haven of child pornography.[316][317] Furthermore, on October 2020, Mother JonesWikipedia revealed that NT Technology, a hosting firm owned by Watkins,[318] hosted several domain names suggestive of child pornography, with the domain names containing terms such as "preteen" and "child" alongside graphic terms for genitalia and words like "rape".[319]

In June 2019, the tax collector of Seminole County,Wikipedia Florida at the time, Joel Greenberg, was arrested by federal agents for stalking, due to an alleged incident where he harassed a political opponent working in the Seminole County school system with messages from fake "concerned" students and teachers. The messages allegedly contained false accusations that, among other falsehoods, the opponent engaged in sexual misconduct with a student.[320] Later, in a sign that perhaps these false accusations were merely Greenberg engaging in projection, the alleged charges against Greenberg expanded to (among many other charges) an allegation that Greenberg engaged in sex trafficking of a minor.[321] In late March 2021, it was revealed by the New York Times that the investigation also had expanded to include whether a close associate of Greenberg and heavy Donald Trump supporter, Republican Representative Matt Gaetz,Wikipedia had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him.[322][323] Faced with the prospect of an actual high-profile lawmaker who may have been involved with exploiting a minor (but, inconveniently for the QAnon narrative, not a Democrat), QAnon members... accused the Department of Justice and other members of the "deep state" of attempting to "target" Gaetz, and accused the New York Times of "SMEARING" "MAGA Patriots".[324][325][326] Some QAnon members even mistakenly thought that the allegations were an attempt by Joe Biden to take out a potential threat for the 2024 presidential election... even though the investigation largely took place during the Trump administration.[327]

Deep state bio-engineered viruses and nefarious humanitarianism[edit]

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic added yet another layer to the conspiracy. A prominent QAnon YouTuber named Jordan Sather[328] (apparently not realizing that multiple strains of coronavirus exist for multiple species[citation needed]) claimed that the coronavirus was a “new fad disease”, and opined the virus might have been planned by the "deep state". To prove this, he referenced a "patent for the coronavirus", citing a 2015 patent[329] for a vaccine for avian IBV,Wikipedia a disease that only affects chickens.[330] Sather further tweeted that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was a significant contributor to the group investigating this vaccine (indeed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was a contributor to this research institute, Pirbright Institute,Wikipedia a group that focuses on farm animal infectious disease[331]). Of course, Bill Gates is part of the "deep state" so Sather implied that "something is definitely fishy with this".[332] Naturally, misinformation that Bill Gates actually created the coronavirus spread like wildfire in the conspiracy social media,[333] crossing over even to anti-vaccination sites like NaturalNews with batshit insane intensity (NaturalNews, true to form, implied that Bill Gates owned "the patent on coronavirus", and this is part of his effort to depopulate the planet[334]). Fortunately, Jordan Sather has the perfect bullshit cure for you to drink to wipe out this coronavirus (or in fact every disease known to man): Miracle Mineral Supplement![335]

Other assorted insanity[edit]

Of course, the globalist cabal doesn't stop with just Soros, the Sauds, and the Clintons! No, it goes much deeper than that.

  • Trump himself retweeted two posts in October 2020 claiming that SEAL Team Six actually failed to kill Osama Bin Laden, and that Obama and Biden had them all assassinated to cover it up.[336]
  • One of Q's rambling threads suggests that Angela Merkel is the daughter of German dictator Adolf Hitler[337] (because why the hell not?) Note that Merkel was born nearly TEN years after Adolf Hitler's suicide.
  • Queen Elizabeth II was part of the cabal and had Princess Diana assassinated by MI6, and somehow this is related to Angela Merkel.[338]
  • Kim Jong Un is a puppet ruler placed in charge of North Korea by the CIA in order to start a war if they need one.[339]
  • The Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting was an inside job.[340] (of course)
  • US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz hired MS-13 to assassinate DNC staffer Seth Rich in retaliation for stealing documents.[341][265][342]
  • Online furniture and home goods store WayfairWikipedia is secretly operating a child trafficking ring because... furniture prices are "extremely high" and are "all listed with girls' names"[343][344] This false conspiracy theory itself caused actual harm to children.[345]
  • The elite are kidnapping children, terrorizing them, bleeding their blood out, and drinking it in a Satanic torture dungeon ritual sacrifice in order to achieve immortality and get high on… adrenochrome?[346][note 9] This is highly reminiscent of the blood libel canard, and can be considered a link between QAnon and antisemitism.[8]:52-55 Why the elite would need to kidnap children in order to make something which can easily be synthesized by any educated chemist[349] and which apparently does nothing except give users a severe headache[350] has not been adequately explained.
  • Through the miracle of crank magnetism, somewhere in 2018 (probably simultaneously with getting banned on Reddit) the QAnoners discovered the joys of New gematria.[351] Not a day goes by without a Tweet copying a string of popular Q related hashtags including #Gematria in the chain. At least one QAnon-related site has also claimed that the "deep state" is also using gematria.[352] Ironically the non-Q gematria crowd includes Trump as part of the NWO complex and source of the problem, and the two camps pretty much ignore each other's existence. For a bit of individuality and claim to fame, Q has taken a stance that Trump's penchant to Tweet in all capital letters has a special meaning and they pay extra attention to those missives.
  • Bill Gates created fake snow in order to destroy Texas.[353] This one is so easy to disprove, with the charring being generated by the lighter they use to try to melt it, and the water being absorbed by the ice in the snowball.

International following[edit]

The dipshit flag flies proudly over Camelot Castle hotel in Cornwall.

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, QAnon turned into a global phenomenon due to disaffected people searching for easy answers to their economic and personal problems.[354] QAnon followers can now be found in at least 71 countries, with the largest Q community in Germany.[355]

Alongside the pandemic, the movement also gained visibility due to being promoted by US President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans and the movement's ability to tie in conspiracy beliefs that are prominent in other countries.[356]

UK[edit]

QAnon theories became increasingly popular in the UK in 2020, often linked with COVID-19 skepticism or denialism, and often foregrounding #saveourchildren/#savethechildren. It has been promoted by all-purpose conspiracy theorists such as Piers Corbyn, as well as getting interest from celebrities such as Robbie Williams.[357][358][359] As early as January 2020, John Mappin, a senior figure in Turning Point UK and a supporter of Nigel Farage, flew a QAnon flag over his hotel in Cornwall, England.[360]

Analysis by The Guardian shows that much of the impetus for QAnon's rising popularity there comes from alternative medicine and spirituality websites.[361] Due to the conspiracy theory's versatile set of beliefs, it has proven able to adapt to different environments and thus spread rapidly. In the US, apparently starting in 2020, alt-med promoters also began promoting QAnon alongside their regular fare of bullshit.[362][363]

Germany[edit]

QAnon has gained a tremendous following in Germany thanks to its ability to ride on preexisting conspiracy theories tied to Angela Merkel by the German far-right. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, German conspiracy theorists used a routine NATO exercise to claim that Donald Trump was secretly helping to "liberate" Germany from the Merkel regime.[364] In Germany, it was the far-right that first glommed on to Q and began aggressively pushing it; they were attracted not only by anti-Merkel rhetoric but also by the theory's antisemitic underpinnings. QAnon rallies in Germany tend to accompany far-right symbols like the old German Empire flag.[365] Most Germans subscribing to the theory tend to be under the age of 50, which reflects previous trends of German anti-establishment right.[366]

The theory might be ridiculous, but in Germany it threatens to be a major domestic terrorist threat. Germany is already seeing an uptick in right-wing terrorist incidents, with neo-Nazi and anti-Muslim cells being caught by police.[367] Most disturbing of all was a February 2020 mass shooting that killed 11 people in the city of Hanau, where the perpetrator left behind a manifesto claiming that an evil globalist cabal was controlling the world.[368] The assassination of Walter LübckeWikipedia in June 2019 and the synagogue attack in Halle in October that year have also been linked to rhetoric stemming from QAnon or conspiracy theories related to it.[366]

Some notable Germans promoting the conspiracy theory have included celebrity singer/songwriter Xavier Naidoo, vegan chef and activist Attila Hildmann and former newsreader Eva Herman.[366]

Some Reichsbürger believe in QAnon and a mob of them attempted to storm the Bundestag (German parliament building) in 2020.[369] Notably, American QAnon believers were involved in the 2021 U.S. coup attempt.

In December 2022, German authorities arrested 25 Reichsbürger members for alleged to plotting a coup involving storming the Bundestag (again).[370] Among the arrestees were a minor[note 10] aristocrat, Heinrich XIII (or Prince Heinrich), and a former German MP from the Alternative für Deutschland party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.[370][371] Other arrestees included Reichsbürger members and QAnon believers.[370] [372]

France[edit]

France has one of the biggest QAnon communities outside the USA, with links to the fringes of the Yellow vests protest movement and to COVID denialism.[373]

Glossary[edit]

Much of the terminology of QAnon can be found in the dissected map, below. Here are some of the meta-terminology used by QAnoners to communicate among themselves:

  • ⭐⭐⭐ — used to show support for or to stand in for the name of Lieutenant (i.e. "three-star") General Michael Flynn
  • 17 — stands in for "Q", the 17th letter of the English alphabet
  • 187 — refers to the section of the California Penal Code section for murder; used for people alleged to have been murdered such as Seth Rich[374]
  • 5:5 — used in radio communication to mean "loud and clear", used by QAnon to allege that a special operations mission is taking place[374]
  • Adrenochrome — a naturally-occurring oxidized form of adrenaline, believed by QAnoners to be extracted by nefarious actors from children and used as a drug for life-extention and super-human powers[8]:52-55,248
  • Anons — followers of Q who dissect breadcrumbs[374]
  • Autists — obsessive anons, a reference to "weaponized autism"[374][375]
  • Baker — QAnon forum moderator or clue interpreter,[17] possibly also a PIDOOMA expert who is generating a bullshit stream
  • Black hat — government official who opposes Trump,[17] presumably deep state
  • Booms — revelations about the alleged anti-Trump cabal[374]
  • Breadcrumb — clue
  • Cabal — wealthy people who secretly run the world, globalists/NWO/Illuminati[8]:248
  • Clowns or C_A — CIA[374]
  • Comms — communications, usually referring to the idea that non-8chan communications are fake[374]
  • Datefag(ging) — attaching a specific date to a prediction tied to QAnon lore (has become generally frowned upon, as it makes claims falsifiable)[376]
  • Delta — derivied from the mathematical difference operator (Δ), used by QAnon for the difference in time between a drop and a world event[8]:248
  • Digital soldier — originally used in a speech by Michael Flynn to refer to Trump's online followers, used by QAnon to refer to Q researchers/meme makers[8]:248
  • Drop — any post made by Q on 8chan[374]
  • Fireworks — a major news story is supposedly breaking about the alleged anti-Trump cabal[374]
  • Follow the white rabbit — seek the truth[377]
  • Future proves past — the idea that the future will bear out the QAnon conspiracy and drops[374]
  • GodWins — not to be confused with the law, a hashtag intended as a rallying cry, reassurance, or reinforcement of the idea that anons are on the right side of history
  • The Great Awakening — the belief that Mueller would work with Trump and bring down the cabal that was fighting Trump; no longer so popular since the Mueller report came out[374]
  • Guru/promoter — the key social media personalities doing decoding drops/making videos and books etc.[8]:249
  • Hussein — Barack Hussein Obama[374]
  • Kraken — Indisputable evidence that the 2020 election was rigged that will supposedly be revealed at some point[74]
  • LARP — live action role-playing game, used in conflicting contexts:
    1. the idea that Q is just playing a game with credulous Trumpers.[374] This idea is supported by Travis View (real name: Logan Strain[378]), a conspiracy theory researcher.[379]
    2. the idea that others (particularly on the left) who take up arms are simply doing so to look intimidating and would crumble at the first sign of actual danger or repercussions – shares a lot of context with the alt-right's usage of "soy boy"
  • Med beds – a device that will restore its user to perfect health and/or grant immortality; allegedly the result of alien technology or time travel[380]
  • Mockingbird — the alleged Operation MockingbirdWikipedia by the CIA[374]
  • MSM — Mainstream media, the enemy of QAnon/Trump[8]:249
  • News unlocks map — the idea that actual news will explain the QAnon map (below)[374]
  • No Name — John McCain[374]
  • Pain — something bad happening to the alleged anti-Trump cabal[374]
  • Patriot's Soapbox — a 24-hour/day QAnonn livestream, formerly on YouTube, run two original promoters, Coleman Rogers and Christina Urso[8]:249
  • Pedo-gate — an extension of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory[374]
  • Proofs — evidence that Q is real or that drops are real[374] – possibly derived from the earlier 2014 meme proofster[381]
  • Protzmanian — a relatively recent addition to the QAnon pantheon. It refers to those who follow Michael Protzman ("Negative48") in believing that John F. Kennedy and JFK Jr. will be resurrected.[382][383]
  • Q+ — shorthand for Donald Trump.[183]
  • Q researchers — followers of QAnon who think they are doing actual research[1] rather than, say, being trolled by 'Q'
  • Red pill/Pilled — exposing non-believers to QAnon; the term originated from the 1999 film The Matrix, and spread to other fringe groups, starting with the men's rights movement[374][384] and including the alt-right's red pill usage
  • Sealed indictments — the once popular (pre-Mueller Report) idea that sealed indictments would come out prior to The Great Awakening[374]
  • ShadowPrez — a conspiracy that alleges that Trump is still the president behind the scenes[385][386]
  • Shill — refers to journalists who report favorably on the cabal or government[8]:251
  • StopTheSteal — hashtag used as rallying cry against the results of the 2020 election
  • Silent war — the secret war between good and evil[8]:251
  • The Storm — there have been theories about this within QAnon, including mass arrests of Democrats, sex offenders, various enemies of Trump[374]
  • Tripcode — the code used by Q on 8chan that supposedly confirms authenticity[374]
  • Trust the plan/God wins/Nothing can stop what's coming/Enjoy the show/Dark to light — Thought-terminating clichés of reassurance[8]:252
  • White hat — government official who supports Trump[17]
  • WWG1WGA — an abbreviation for "Where we go one, we go all", alleged by conspiracists to have been said by John F. Kennedy, but is actually attributable to the 1996 action film White Squall[17] ("You told us where we go one we go all, well we believed you, we lived by it, Sir. And now you're saying where you go we can't follow.")[387]

QAnon map dissection[edit]

See the main article on this topic: QAnon map dissection

As the map shows, QAnon functions as a grand unified conspiracy theory because it lumps in just about every imaginable conspiracy theory (together with some historical reference points and almost no context). There are a number of conspiracy theories that are based on bigotry: antisemitism (e.g. concerning George Soros or the illuminati),[388][389] anti-Catholicism (e.g., concerning Jesuits),[390] anti-African American (concerning the Obamas),[391] and anti-Masonic (also, often antisemitic),[392] and these are baked into the map. In that sense, QAnon can be used both as a mirror for one's own bigotry and as a powerful crank magnet that can attract all sorts of shit from this "rabbit hole".

Notably missing from these two maps is CrowdStrike, a security company that was hired by the DNC, but is now part of the QAnon conspiracy and incredibly was part of the GOP defense of Trump in the impeachment inquiry.[393][394]

A harebrained Qanon map, designed by Dylan Louis Monroe at the Deep State Mapping Project, beckoning you to jump down the rabbit hole. Apophenia much?

Having trouble reading 5-point ALL CAPS? Is your mind confused by the non sequitur tornado? View the dissected map here:[note 17] Unhelpfully, the dissection is still full of non sequitur. The dissection roughly follows the map left-to-right and top-to-bottom.

Great Awakening map[edit]

The Great Awakening Map is the quintessential red-pill navigational chart for Escaping the Matrix and Returning to Source.

The map has been spotted on 8chan in accompaniment with the Q-Map, and has served a vital role in The Great Awakening and Full Disclosure Movement across the entire globe.

Over a decade of metaphysical research was collected prior to the map's release in mid-2018.[407]

The map is actually quite similar to the QAnon map above but regurgitated with different spaghetti code.

Great-Awakening-map.jpg

Real world "Q" clearance[edit]

In the Department of Energy, this is a real thing.Wikipedia As a Department of Energy clearance, it relates to nuclear weapons research in the United States. It obviously makes sense that this publicly known and extremely important clearance level would be primarily used to hide everyone's secret pedophilia.[note 18]

Encyclopædia Dramatica's founder Sherrod DeGrippo once also held a Q level clearance while under US government contract. It was not particularly hard to obtain.[408] "L" is actually a higher level of clearance according to the US government careers website.

In 2024, Trump's lawyers reference the clearance level as part of their intended defense strategy in criminal case against Trump's illegal retention of government documents. Even if Trump did still have Q clearance at the time of the FBI raid in 2022, he would not have a need-to-know, which is also required for people with Q clearannce to access such documents.[409]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. "Matlock" is undoubtedly a reference to the American TV series of the same name, Matlock (1986-1995), a mystery legal drama.[28]
  2. This is a sort of stylometryWikipedia — an analysis of a person's writing style.
  3. The date of inaugurations before FDR changed it.
  4. Predictably, many QAnon supporters reacted angrily online to Carlson having the audacity to ask for actual evidence for the claims Powell was making.[76]
  5. His real name is Ryan Dark White.
  6. E-Clause refers to the Emoluments Clauses of the United States Constitution.[138]
  7. This distrust of scientific and other mainstream authorities is usually complemented with a blind trust in chosen alternative authorities.
  8. For those who want an in-depth review of the film, Reddit user lewisje gives a excellent run-down of the entire film's content in a post made on r/Documentaries.
  9. Adrenochrome is a chemical compound that is an oxidation byproduct of adrenaline. While the chemical once was hypothesized to be associated with schizophrenia,[347] this is best known as the super-powerful (fictional) psychedelic in Hunter S. Thompson's book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In the book, the drug comes from a living donor's adrenal gland — take this, add in the Life Drinker fictional trope[348] and adjust for QAnon's fascination with pedo rings, and you get QAnon at its most darkly bizarre level.
  10. Too minor to have a Wikipedia page at the time of his arrest.
  11. See Rothschild family. This and variant quotes have been alleged by conspiracy theorists to be from Mayer Amschel RothschildWikipedia (1744–1812). The earliest known attribution was in 1913, a century after his death.[396]
  12. Maria Orsic is a fictional character in the book The Morning of the Magicians that is often referenced by conspiracy theorists.[397]
  13. IG Farben was a German chemical and pharmaceutical company that committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II.[398]
  14. "A term applied to energy produced by human beings and animals that other entities use to feed from."[404]
  15. "As above, so below"Wikipedia is a hermetic phrase indicating that the heavens influence the Earth.
  16. See transvestigation.
  17. The original author of this section is not-so-secretly an on-and-off DOE employee. Albeit one who specializes in climate science rather than child molestation.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 The Prophecies of Q: American conspiracy theories are entering a dangerous new phase. by Adrienne LaFrance (June 2020) The Atlantic.
  2. BSO sergeant who wore 'QAnon' patch in photo with Pence has been disciplined by Carli Teproff (December 03, 2018 07:26 PM, Updated December 04, 2018 07:24 AM) Miami Herald.
  3. A New Wave Of 'QAnon' Activists Emerge From The Cult Of MAGA by Jared Holt (July 9, 2018 12:51 pm) Right Wing Watch.
  4. Q !ITPb.qbhqo (November 20, 2017). Post #150166936 — in reply to "CBTS #444 ++ Active The Legend of Anon Senpai Edition". 4chan, via the "4plebs" archive and archive.today.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Storm Is the New Pizzagate — Only Worse. by Paris Martineau (19 December 2017) New York Magazine.
  6. 6.0 6.1 The Book of Q (November 20, 2017) aim4truthblog.files.wordpress.com (archived from February 1, 2018).
  7. 7.0 7.1 Qanon's "Calm Before the Storm" KnowYourMeme
  8. 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 8.24 8.25 8.26 8.27 8.28 8.29 8.30 8.31 The Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything by Mike Rothschild (2021) Melville House. ISBN 1612199291.
  9. Conspiracy meta-theory 'The Storm' pushes the 'alternative' envelope yet again. by David Neiwert (17 January 2018) Southern Poverty Law Center.
  10. What is QAnon? Explaining the bizarre rightwing conspiracy theory by Julia Carrie Wong (30 Jul 2018) The Guardian.
  11. "Tony Norman: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion 2.0: The rise of QAnon" by Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2020 August 25
  12. 'They don't care': Facebook factchecking in disarray as journalists push to cut ties by Sam Levin (13 Dec 2018 03.00 EST) The Guardian.
  13. 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. by Anonymous ID:BQ7V3bcW No.147012719 (Sat 28 Oct 2017 13:44:28) 4plebs.org /pol/ (archived from November 17, 2017).
  14. 14.0 14.1 Is QAnon a game gone wrong? produced by Tom Hannen (October 15, 2020) Financial Times.
  15. THE COMING STORM imgur (archived from December 26, 2018).
  16. QAnon Conspiracy: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know by Erin Laviola (Updated Aug 1, 2018 at 11:32am) Heavy.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 What Is QAnon? The Craziest Theory of the Trump Era, Explained by Will Sommer (07.06.18) The Daily Beast.
  18. TO THOSE WHO 🐇#FollowTheWhiteRabbit 🐇 You wanted a sign from @realDonaldTrump You got a sign from @realDonaldTrump 👉 #FIJI is a SOURCE country for Child-Sex Trafficking 👈 by @bocavista2016 (5:24 AM - 16 Nov 2017) Twitter (archived from May 26, 2019).
  19. ‘We are Q’: A deranged conspiracy cult leaps from the Internet to the crowd at Trump's 'MAGA' tour by Isaac Stanley-Becker (August 1, 2018 at 6:43 AM) The Washington Post.
  20. Fact-checking QAnon conspiracy theories: Did J.P. Morgan sink the Titanic? by Erick Trickey (August 4, 2018 at 7:00 AM) The Washington Post.
  21. JFK Jr. didn’t die! He runs QAnon! And he’s No. 1 Trump fan, omg!!! by Avi Selk (August 5, 2018, at 1:37 PM) The Washington Post.
  22. 22.0 22.1 Has POTUS *ever* made a statement that did not become proven as true/fact? #followthewhiterabbit 🐇 by @TH3WH17ERABB17 (2:48 AM - 8 Nov 2017) Twitter (archived from May 26, 2019).
  23. The First Q, Medium
  24. The True Believer by Eric Hoffer (1951) The New American Library.
  25. 25.0 25.1 The Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll & Martin Gardner (1970) New American Library.
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Q Behind Qanon: The Uncomfortable Evidence Github.
  27. Meriken's Tripcode Engine Github.
  28. See the Wikipedia article on Matlock' (TV series).
  29. QAnon Is Two Different People, Shows Machine Learning Analysis from OrphAnalytics: An algorithm-based stylometric approach provides new evidence to identify the authors of QAnon conspiracy theories (Dec 15, 2020, 08:38 ET) Cision PR Newswire.
  30. Wow, QANON's Identity Revealed + Donald Trump's Storm Is Underway (December 24, 2017) Fulcrum.
  31. ‘Are you QAnon?’: One Trump official’s brush with an internet cult gone horribly wrong by Josh Gerstein, Politico, 19 January 2021
  32. Interviewing Liz Crokin on the Storm, Q Anon, Pedogate & Twitter Feuds (Jan 2, 2018) by Destroying the Illusion (Jan 2, 2018) YouTube.
  33. Deep State Attacks Q Anon with Nazi Smear Campaign, Fake Q Postings, And Mega Anon on Q Anon by Justin Deschamps (11/29/2017) Stillness in the Storm (archived from 27 May 2019 06:17:17 UTC).
  34. Q-Tube Updates: The Other Side of the QAnon Phenomenon with Jerome Corsi and Tracy Beanz (January 10, 2018) Starship Earth: The Big Picture (archived from 27 May 2019 06:22:16 UTC).
  35. 35.0 35.1 How three conspiracy theorists took 'Q' and sparked Qanon by Brandy Zadrozny & Ben Collins (Aug. 14, 2018, 4:25 PM GMT) NBC News.
  36. Russian troll accounts purged by Twitter pushed Qanon and other conspiracy theories. The accounts’ tweets featured the hashtag #MAGA, usually in support of Trump, almost 38,000 times — the most of any hashtag. by Ben Collins and Joe Murphy (Feb. 2, 2019, 6:55 AM PST) NBC News.
  37. 37.0 37.1 37.2 Meme way off in claim that the Rothschild family holds '80 percent of the world's wealth'. Politifact.
  38. 38.0 38.1 Exposed Email Logs Show 8kun Owner in Contact With QAnon Influencers and Enthusiasts by Emmi Bevensee & Max Aliapoulios (January 7, 2021) Bellingcat.
  39. A QAnon revelation suggests the truth of Q’s identity was right there all along: The extremist movement’s leader had purported to be a top-secret government operative. But a possible slip-up in a new documentary about QAnon suggests that Q was actually Ron Watkins, the longtime administrator of the 8kun message board. by Drew Harwell & Craig Timberg (April 5, 2021 at 10:08 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
  40. Trump Won't Say Why He Called Military Dinner 'Calm Before the Storm' by Margaret Hartmann (6 October 2017) New York Magazine.
  41. What Did President Trump Mean by 'Calm Before the Storm'? by Mark Landler (October 6, 2017) New York Times.
  42. 4CHAN BREADCRUMBS INSIDER — Was Donald Trump Recruited by U.S. Military Intelligence to be President? by party1981 (11/2/2017 10:33:00 PM) Voat (archived from 3 Nov 2017 04:57:19 UTC).
  43. Failed Prophecies Won't Stop Trump's True Believers by Michael Barkun (Nov 8, 2018) Foreign Policy.
  44. Attorney General Barr's Letter On Mueller Report by Dana Farrington (March 22, 20195:39 PM ET) NPR.
  45. The Mueller investigation is over. QAnon, the conspiracy theory that grew around it, is not. Why a conspiracy theory with an expiration date will endure. by Jane Coaston (Mar 29, 2019, 5:30pm EDT) Vox.
  46. Qanon conspiracy accounts are 'gloating' over Mueller Report, despite internal dissent by Daniel Moritz-Rabson (4/18/19 at 7:07 PM EDT) Newsweek.
  47. Conspiracy Theories Never Die: RBG Edition by Ed Brayton (March 18, 2019) Patheos.
  48. A New Wave Of 'QAnon' Activists Emerge From The Cult Of MAGA by Jared Holt (July 9, 2018, 12:51 pm) Right Wing Watch.
  49. #QAnon, the scarily popular pro-Trump conspiracy theory, explained: How a conspiracy theory that Trump and Robert Mueller are secretly working together got from Reddit to Trump rallies. by Jane Coaston (Updated Aug 2, 2018, 12:31pm EDT) Vox.
  50. Here is every QAnon prediction that’s failed to come true by Mike Rothschild (2018-08-27 06:30 am | Last updated 2018-08-27 11:19 am) Daily Dot'.'
  51. Thanks to the Trump administration, one QAnon theory is panning out by Dana Milbank (September 15, 2020, at 2:06 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
  52. 52.0 52.1 QAnon Followers Think JFK Jr. Is Coming Back on the 4th of July: He’s an avid Trump supporter and has been hiding in Pennsylvania for two decades, according to some people on Twitter who don’t seem to realize he’s actually dead by EJ Dickson (July 3, 2019, 2:17PM ET) Rolling Stone.
  53. Man Known as BabyQ Is in Trouble for Using Synthetic Penis by Will Sommer (Updated Sep. 11, 2020 7:27AM ET; Published Sep. 11, 2020 5:05AM ET) Daily Beast.
  54. Inside the Completely Nutso Universe of QAnon by Will Sommer (Updated Aug. 21, 2020, 9:09AM ET; Published Aug. 21, 2020, 4:28AM ET) Daily Beast.
  55. 'My faith is shaken': The QAnon conspiracy theory faces a post-Trump identity crisis by Drew Harwell & Craig Timberg November 10, 2020, at 5:45 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
  56. How Mueller & President Trump are Pulling the Biggest Sting in History by Liz Crokin (8 Nov 2017) LizCrokin.com (archived from 8 Nov 2017 22:43:24 UTC).
  57. The S.T.O.R.M by Edvard Munch (archived from 27 May 2019 07:26:32 UTC).
  58. 58.0 58.1 Kyle Mantyla, Jerome Corsi Has Uncovered Irrefutable Proof Of The Authenticity Of 'QAnon'. Right Wing Watch, 11 January 2018.
  59. Meet "The Storm," the conspiracy theory taking over the pro-Trump internet by Will Sommer (Jan 12, 2018) Medium.
  60. Exclusive: The Secrets of QAnon, The Storm, and The Deep State Counterstrike by WE ARE Q. (Dec 30, 2017) YouTube.
  61. NASA Denies That It's Running a Child Slave Colony on Mars by Ben Collins (06.29.177:40 PM ET) The Daily Beast.
  62. The far right is struggling to contain Qanon after giving it life. by Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny (10 August 2018) NBC News.

    Infowars founder Alex Jones once promoted the theory, but then told his followers that it had been compromised. "Stick a fork in the avatar of Qanon," Jones declared in May, claiming to have spoken to the person behind the leaks that make up the theory. "It is now an overrun disinformation fount."

  63. Ben Davis (August 8, 2018)."Is the QAnon Conspiracy the Work of Artist-Activist Pranksters? The Evidence for (And Against) a Dangerous Hypothesis". Artnet.
  64. Exposed – Creator of QAnon Speaks for the First Time by Jack Posobiec (UPDATED 7:52 AM PT — Wed. Sept. 5, 2018) One America News Network (archived from September 6, 2018).
  65. From Trolling To Fleecing: Co-Creator Of ‘Q’ Hoax Explains Its Scary Evolution by Georgi Boorman (29 October 2018) The Federalist.
  66. Breitbart's Curt Schilling embraces and amplifies absurd "QAnon" conspiracy theory. Schilling: "It's a group of people that are very Christian-focused group of people, who believe the deep state is real — which I don't think we can deny anymore, that the deep state exists" (June 29, 2018, 11:13 AM EDT) Media Matters for America.
  67. 67.0 67.1 QAnon is US Military Intelligence that recruited Trump for President to prevent Coup D'etat by Michael Salla (April 12, 2018) Expolitics (archived from 17 Apr 2018 17:07:36 UTC).
  68. 68.0 68.1 68.2 68.3 QAnon on the Rothschild, Saudi & Soros Puppet Masters behind the Deep State by Michael Salla (April 21, 2018) Exopolitics (archived from 27 May 2019 02:24:27 UTC).
  69. 69.0 69.1 QAnon on the Rothschilds & Satanism – Trump’s Secret Alliance with Putin by Michael Salla (April 21, 2018) Expolitics (archived from 23 Apr 2018 17:49:49 UTC).
  70. Roseanne Barr is tweeting about QAnon, a new Pizzagate-style conspiracy theory by Will Sommer (Mar 30, 2018) Medium.
  71. To boost voter-fraud claims, Trump advocate Sidney Powell turns to unusual source: The longtime operator of QAnon's Internet home by Drew Harwell (Dec. 1, 2020 at 5:44 p.m. EST) The Washington Post.
  72. "Trump campaign cuts Sidney Powell from president’s legal team" by Kyle Cheney, Politico, 2020 November 22
  73. "Ex-Trump Lawyer Sidney Powell Mocked For Typo-Laden Lawsuits" by Ja'han Jones, Huffington Post, 2020 November 26
  74. 74.0 74.1 "The Kraken: What is it and why has Trump's ex-lawyer released it?" by Reality Check Team and BBC Monitoring, BBC News, 2020 November 28
  75. "Tucker Carlson Dared Question a Trump Lawyer. The Backlash Was Quick." by Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times, 2020 November 20
  76. "QAnon Believers React With Anger as Tucker Carlson Says Trump Lawyer Provided No Evidence of Voter Fraud" by Darragh Roche, Newsweek, 2020 November 20
  77. "Trump's Lawyer Sidney Powell Is Hardcore QAnon" by David Gilbert, Vice News, 2020 November 20
  78. "An attorney leading Trump's attempt to subvert the election results is a longtime QAnon supporter" by Tom Porter, Business Insider, 2020 November 20
  79. "Sidney Powell is a beacon of hope to sad Qanon supporters" by Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Business, 2020 November 24
  80. "SIDNEY POWELL LIVE /// THE DEEP STATE HOAX", Youtube, War Drummer, streamed live on November 19 2019
  81. "Q – The Plan & Textual Time Travel", thewardrummer.com, archived on 2020 December 1
  82. "Pense (sic) lost to Kamala the witch.", thewardrummer.com, archived on 2020 December 1
  83. War Drummer videos, Youtube, archived on 2020 December 1
  84. 84.0 84.1 84.2 84.3 84.4 Since Jan. 6, the pro-Trump Internet has descended into infighting over money and followers: Far-right influencers and QAnon devotees are battling over online audiences in the power vacuum created by Trump’s departure from office by Drew Harwell (January 3, 2022) The Washington Post.
  85. A look at the 19 people charged in the Georgia indictment connected to Trump election scheme by Kate Brumback & Jonathan J. Cooper (August 15, 2023) AP.
  86. Trump co-defendant Sidney Powell pleads guilty in Georgia election-interference case by Holly Bailey & Amy Gardner (October 19, 2023 at 10:12 a.m. EDT) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  87. Michael Flynn posts video featuring QAnon slogans by Marshall Cohen (Updated 8:37 PM ET, Tue July 7, 2020) CNN.
  88. Michael Flynn appears to have called QAnon ‘total nonsense’ despite his links: Trump ally reportedly says conspiracy theory a ‘disinformation campaign’ created by CIA and the left, apparent recording reveals by Victoria Bekiempis (29 Nov 2021 01.00 EST) The Guardian.
  89. How Hollywood’s ‘Jesus’ Jim Caviezel Went Full QAnon The Daily Beast
  90. Sound of Freedom passed the $100m mark. Who’s really watching the movie? The ‘QAnon adjacent’ film, co-opted by the right wing, has a ‘pay it forward’ scheme resulting in sold-out shows but empty theaters by Adam Gabbatt (23 Jul 2023 06.00 EDT) The Guardian.
  91. Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert downplayed the Capitol riot at a major QAnon conference and posed for photos with a conspiracy theorist influencer by Eliza Relman (May 31, 2021, 6:01 PM) Business Insider.
  92. About Matthew Mathew Lusk, Republican, for U.S. Representative from Florida District 5 (archived from April 9, 2019).
  93. Republican QAnon follower mounts 2020 challenge to Al Lawson by A.G. Gancarski (April 8, 2019) Florida Politics.
  94. Just For the Record (March 29, 2019 6:04 PM) Mathew Lusk, Republican, for U.S. Representative from Florida District 5 (archived from April 9, 2019).
  95. Issues Mathew Lusk, Republican, for U.S. Representative from Florida District 5 (archived from April 9, 2019).
  96. Matthew Lusk Ballotpedia.
  97. Q is legit. Don't trust the media. by @notch (2:40 AM - 2 Mar 2019) Twitter (archived from 12 Mar 2019 18:03:38 UTC).
  98. Qanon Conspiracy Endorsed By 'Minecraft' Creator Markus 'notch' Persson by Andrew Whalen (3/4/19 at 4:46 PM EST) Newsweek.
  99. I might be the most serious I've ever been. by @notch (2:41 AM - 2 Mar 2019) Twitter (March 31, 2019).
  100. Microsoft excludes Minecraft’s creator from anniversary event over his ‘comments and opinions’ by Jacob Kastrenakes (Apr 29, 2019, 11:55am EDT) The Verge.
  101. Operation Rescue Hypes QAnon ‘Blockbuster Intel Drop’ About Planned Parenthood by Miranda Blue (March 15, 2018 12:44 pm) Right Wing Watch.
  102. Blockbuster Intel Drop Reveals Trump is Trying to "End" Planned Parenthood – Twitter Attempts Censorship by Cheryl Sullenger (March 13, 2018) Operation Rescue (archived from March 14, 2018).
  103. Virginia Thomas urged White House chief to pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 election, texts show: In messages to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the weeks after Election Day, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called Biden’s victory “the greatest Heist of our History” and told him that President Donald Trump should not concede. by Bob Woodward & Robert Costa (March 24, 2022) The Washington Post.
  104. Here are the QAnon supporters running for Congress in 2020: The QAnon conspiracy theory is rooted in the chan message boards. Here are 40 current or former congressional candidates who embrace it. by Alex Kaplan (01/07/20 11:42 AM EST; Updated 05/06/20 11:30 AM EDT) Media Matters for America.
  105. The congressional candidates who have engaged with the QAnon conspiracy theory by By Em Steck, Nathan McDermott and Christopher Hickey, October 30, 2020, CNN
  106. QAnon Now Has Its Very Own Super PAC: "Disarm the Deep State" was established by the operator of 8chan to "mobilize a community of patriots.” bu David Gilbert (Mar 2 2020, 5:39am) Vice.
  107. 107.0 107.1 QAnon goes to Washington: two supporters win seats in Congress: Believers in Deep State conspiracy enter halls of power by Katherine Tully-McManus (November 5, 2020 at 11:21am) Roll Call.
  108. KW Miller For Congress Fighting The Globalist by Karl Miller and Michael Willis (June 14, 2020) GoFundMe (archived from 5 Jul 2020 19:11:28 UTC).
  109. See the Wikipedia article on 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio § District 11.
  110. Primary Election: Unofficial (May 19, 2020) Oregon Secretary of State.
  111. A Trump-loving insurrectionist and a convicted stalker are among 36 QAnon supporters running for Congress in 2022 by Joshua Zitser and Sophia Ankel (Jun 27, 2021, 7:11 AM) Business Insider
  112. Republican firebrand Boebert wins House re-election after Democrat concedes by By Joseph Ax and Moira Warburton, November 18, 2022, Reuters
  113. Jesse Bedayn (January 21, 2024). "Lauren Boebert switched districts in a bid to stay in Congress. Winning over voters won't be easy". The Associated Press.
  114. Mayra Flores will win Texas special election, helping Republicans flip Democratic House seat, CNN projects by Gregory Krieg, June 15, 2022, CNN
  115. Marjorie Taylor Greene glides to reelection by Mike Ellis, November 8, 2022, The Hill
  116. Toledo native who went viral for Trump-inspired lawn challenging Rep. Kaptur by Sarah McRitchie, April 1, 2021, ABC 13 Action News
  117. GOP Candidate for U.S. Senate Made a False Report About Young Girl Being Abused in Adult Bookstore: Sheriff by Alberto Luperon, July 17, 2022, Law & Crime
  118. Republican Senate Candidate Gets 9 Percent of Vote, Refuses to Concede by Alia Slisco, June 30, 2022 Newsweek
  119. 119.0 119.1 119.2 119.3 Trump-Backed QAnon Candidates Launch Group to ‘Control the Election System’: A Nevada secretary of state candidate, Jim Marchant announced at a QAnon conference he’s launched a new group with support from three Trump-endorsed candidates—and Mike Lindell. by David Gilbert & Cameron Joseph (October 27, 2021, 6:56am) Vice.
  120. A QAnon Power Couple Is Behind the For God & Country Patriot Roundup by Jacob Vaughn (April 6, 2021 4:00AM) Dallas Observer.
  121. America First SOS Canidates America First SOS Coalition
  122. Lindsey Graham says QAnon is 'bats--- crazy' after Trump defended the conspiracy theory's followers. Insider. Aug 27, 2020.
  123. 123.0 123.1 123.2 ‘God told me he was a lizard’: Seattle man accused of killing his brother with a sword by Sara Jean Green (Originally published January 8, 2019 at 6:52 pm Updated January 9, 2019 at 10:32 am) The Seattle Times.
  124. So I think I'm the first one to notice that Buckey Wolfe, the alleged Proud Boy who killed his brother with a sword, was acquitted by reason of insanity. by Emily Gorcenski (16:33 - 27. März 2020) Twitter (archived from May 31, 2021).
  125. Qanon-Believing Proud Boy Accused of Murdering ‘Lizard’ Brother With Sword by Will Sommer (Updated Jan. 09, 2019 3:31PM ET / Published Jan. 09, 2019 3:25PM ET) The Daily Beast.
  126. #QANON Conspiracy Theorists Are Hunting for 'Child Sex Camps' in the Arizona Desert: A veteran’s charity in Arizona is hunting pedophiles in Tucson and asking the internet for help. by Matthew Gault (Jun 7, 2018, 9:54am) Vice.
  127. DPS: Man who blocked Hoover Dam bridge held sign calling for release of Comey report by Nathan J. Fish (Published 1:55 p.m. MT June 15, 2018 | Updated 9:33 p.m. MT June 15, 2018) AZ Central.
  128. 2 Arizona arrests have ties to QAnon conspiracy theory movement by Richard Ruelas (Published 12:04 p.m. MT Aug. 7, 2018 | Updated 3:00 p.m. MT Aug. 7, 2018) AZ Central.
  129. QAnon Referenced by Man Arrested for Threatening to Kill Trump: Jeffrey Boyd told a Pennsylvania woman he had come from Oklahoma with a gun because of CIA mind-control and other Q-related clues. Police say he threatened the first family. by Will Sommer (08.10.18 10:35 PM ET) Daily Beast.
  130. California Wildfire Suspect Posted About QAnon, Other Conspiracies: "This place is going to burn," Forrest Clark allegedly texted a volunteer fire chief two weeks before the fire. by Sebastian Murdock (08/10/2018 03:44 pm ET) HuffPost.
  131. QAnon Fan Arrested for Threatening Massacre at YouTube Headquarters: William Douglas claimed he was being censored, so like another paranoid vlogger he allegedly warned the company to stop—or else. by Kelly Weill (Sep. 27, 2018 5:17AM ET) The Daily Beast.
  132. "Man who shot mob boss Francisco "Franky Boy" Cali believed in QAnon" - ABC News
  133. QAnon conspiracy theory on James Comey shuts school festival (10 May 2019) BBC News.
  134. The inside story of how QAnon derailed a charter school’s annual fundraiser by Mike Rothschild (2019-05-10 08:35 am) Daily Dot.
  135. FBI document warns conspiracy theories are a new domestic terrorism threat by Jana Winter (August 1, 2019) Yahoo News.
  136. 136.0 136.1 (U//LES) Anti-Government, Identity Based, and Fringe Political Conspiracy Theories Very Likely Motivate Some Domestic Extremists to Commit Crminal, Sometimes Violent Activity (30 May 2019) FBI Phoenix Field Office via Scribd.
  137. Colorado woman, inspired by QAnon conspiracy, sought to kidnap her own child, police say: The woman had "gotten into some conspiracy theories and she was 'spiraling down it'" after her child was removed from her custody, her other child told police. by Elisha Fieldstadt (Jan. 7, 2020, 9:08 AM PST) NBC News.
  138. 138.0 138.1 138.2 138.3 How a Custody Fight Plus QAnon Turned Deadly: Christopher Hallett’s unorthodox legal theories gave Neely Petrie-Blanchard hope, and his online community of QAnon believers gave her a way to make sense of her disordered life by Georgia Wells & Justin Scheck (April 2, 2021 11:19 am ET) The Wall Street Journal.
  139. 139.0 139.1 139.2 QAnon Promotes Pedo-Ring Conspiracy Theories. Now They’re Stealing Kids. by Will Sommmer (Updated Aug. 16, 2020 1:57PM ET / Published Aug. 15, 2020 5:04AM ET) The Daily Beast.
  140. E-CLAUSE LLC SunBiz, The Florida Department of State.
  141. 141.0 141.1 A mother teamed up with QAnon followers to kidnap her son from protective custody, police say. Washington Post. 8 January, 2020.
  142. Colorado mom accused of conspiring with QAnon group to kidnap child. The Hill.
  143. A woman inspired by QAnon conspiracy videos was arrested after live-streaming her trip to 'take out' Joe Biden by Margot Harris (May 1, 2020, 11:05 AM) Insider.
  144. "Corey Hurren on Rideau Hall attack: 'I figured as soon as I got on the property, I would get shot down'" by Adrian Humphreys, National Post, 2021 March 3
  145. 145.0 145.1 "Corey Hurren sentenced to 6 years in prison for breaching Rideau Hall gates while armed" by Catharine Tunney, CBC News, 2021 March 10
  146. "Armed Man Who Allegedly Stormed Trudeau's Residence Appears to Have Posted QAnon Content" by Mack Lamoreux, Vice, 2020 July 3
  147. "Armed man who broke into Trudeau residence charged with threatening to kill or injure PM" by Leyland Cecco, Guardian, 2020 Jul 6
  148. Affidavit: Drunk driver who rammed car claimed to be chasing pedophile by Kristin Hoppa (Aug 13, 2020) The Waco Tribune-Herald.
  149. Texas QAnon Supporter Used Car to Attack Strangers She Believed Were ‘Pedophiles’ by Julian Feeld (August 20, 2020 3:33 pm) Right Wing Watch.
  150. Another QAnon Mom Has Allegedly Kidnapped Her Kid: A self-proclaimed psychic has become the latest QAnon supporter to apparently be spurred to action by bizarre child-trafficking conspiracy theories and fringe legal ideas. by Will Sommer (Updated Oct. 01, 2020 12:51PM ET / Published Oct. 01, 2020 4:34AM ET) The Daily Beast.
  151. We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service. by Twitter Safety (5:00 PM - 21 Jul 2020) Twitter (archived from 22 Jul 2020 00:47:57 UTC).
  152. Alleged QAnon Goons With AR-15 Arrested Near Vote Center. The Daily Beast. Nov. 06, 2020
  153. Melby, Cody Levi MCSO Inmate Data.
  154. "Man charged with shooting Portland federal courthouse attended Salem ‘Stop the Steal’ protest" by Conrad Wilson, OPB, 2021 January 11
  155. 155.0 155.1 Investigations regarding violence at the Capitol. United States Department of Justice.
  156. Doug Jensen biography: 13 things about Donald Trump supporter from Des Moines, Iowa by Marky O'Brien (January 9, 2021) CONAN Daily.
  157. 157.0 157.1 Prosecutors cite Capitol siege in bid to revoke bail for Vets for Trump founder caught in Philly with Hummer filled with guns by William Bender & Jeremy Roebuck (Updated Jan 8, 2021) The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  158. Virginia "Trump in heels" candidate says Capitol attack was justified — because of COVID rules: Amanda Chase says Capitol rioters were tired of being told "what we can and cannot do in the form of mandates" by Roger Sollenberger (January 26, 2021 11:55PM UTC) Salon.
  159. Cobb car wash put up billboard linking business to QAnon conspiracy by Ben Brasch (Aug 13, 2018) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  160. Rosanne Boyland, Trump supporter who died, followed QAnon conspiracy, family says by Sudhin Thanawala et al. (Published 12:27 p.m. ET Jan. 9, 2021; Updated 10:52 a.m. ET Jan. 13, 2021) AP via USA Today.
  161. 'She was deep into it': Ashli Babbitt, killed in Capitol riot, was devoted conspiracy theorist: Babbitt, shot by police on Wednesday, saw storming of Capitol as a pivotal moment for the country by Lois Beckett & Vivian Ho (9 Jan 2021 06.00 EST) The Guardian.
  162. "Prosecutors say a Michigan man shot and killed his wife after being convinced by QAnon that she was a child sex trafficker working for the CIA" by Cheryl Teh, Insider, 2022 February 11
  163. "Santa Barbara surfer dad ‘enlightened by QAnon’ to kill his kids, feds say" by Wendy Fry, San Diego Union Tribune, 2021 August 11
  164. "Man says he killed his kids over QAnon conspiracy theories and "serpent DNA," fearing they'd become "monsters", CBS News / Associated Press, 2021 August 12
  165. 165.0 165.1 165.2 QAnon Offenders in the United States by Michael Jensen & Sheehan Kane (February 2021) National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, University of Maryland.
  166. "[TW My Qdad snapped and killed my family this morning."] by u/qanonruinsfamilies, Reddit, r/QAnonCasualties, 2022 September 11, archived on 2022 September 12
  167. "Daughter: Walled Lake man fell into conspiracy rabbit hole before shooting family" by Kara Berg and Hannah Mackay, Detroit News, 2022 September 11
  168. "Intruder attacks Pelosi’s husband, calling, ‘Where is Nancy’" by Colleen Long, Olga R. Rodriguez, Lisa Mascaro and Michael Balsamo, AP News, 2022 October 28
  169. "What we know about David DePape, man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer" by Rachel Swan, Dustin Gardiner, and Sarah Ravani, San Francisco Chronicle, 2022 October 28
  170. "Paul Pelosi’s Alleged Attacker Raged About ‘Pedos,’ Shared QAnon Beliefs" by Miles Klee and Adam Rawnsley, Rolling Stone, 2022, October 28
  171. Frenlyflens.com archive
  172. "Alleged Paul Pelosi attacker posted multiple conspiracy theories" by Casey Tolan, Curt Devine, Daniel A. Medina and Majlie de Puy Kamp, CNN, 2022 October 28
  173. Highlands Ranch residents charged with assault, conspiracy after trip wire injures salesman by Stephanie Butzer (Posted at 3:07 PM, Mar 16, 2023 and last updated 4:01 PM, Mar 17, 2023) Denver 7 ABC.
  174. How Setting a Booby Trap Is Considered a Forcible Felony (October 17, 2019) Law Office of Steve Fine.
  175. Trump again refuses to denounce QAnon. Associated Press.
  176. Trump Team Gives VIP Rally Access To ‘QAnon’ Truther by Jared Holt (June 21, 2018) Right Wing Watch.
  177. Trump retweeted a QAnon supporter during his Twitter bender by David Covucci (2019-03-18 01:24 pm) The Daily Dot.
  178. 178.0 178.1 Trump's Mar-a-Lago Pastry Chef Is a QAnon Believer by Peter Wade (February 23, 2019) Rolling Stone.
  179. "GOP leaders silent on QAnon-believing candidate now distancing themselves" by Colby Itkowitz, The Washington Post, 2020 June 17
  180. "Trump isn't secretly winking at QAnon. He's retweeting its followers" by Tina Nguyen, Politico, 2020 July 12
  181. "How the Trump campaign came to court QAnon, the online conspiracy movement identified by the FBI as a violent threat" by Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Washington Post, 2020 August 2
  182. qanon.pub, an archive of QAnon-related posts (archived from January 2, 2019).
  183. 183.0 183.1 183.2 QAnon Conspiracy Increasingly Popular with Antigovernment Extremists by Brendan Joel Kelley (April 23, 2019) Southern Poverty Law Center.
  184. QAnon believers link small-town arrest to deep state conspiracy without evidence by Mike Rothschild (2019-05-24 01:58 pm) Daily Dot.
  185. How a conspiracy theory about Democrats drinking children's blood topped Amazon’s best-sellers list by Kaitlyn Tiffany (Mar 6, 2019) Vox.
  186. QAnon: An Invitation to the Great Awakening by WWG1WGA (2019) Relentlessly Creative Books. ISBN 1942790139.
  187. 'QAnon' book claiming Democrats eat children is climbing the Amazon charts by Shawn Langlois (Mar 5, 2019, 12:32 p.m. ET) MarketWatch.
  188. Pizzagate was created to discredit #OpDeathEaters, QAnon was created to discredit #Anonymous. Both were creations of prominent Trump supporters / state-backed, familiar with us and our operations. That's how we know that what we are telling you is credible. by Anonymous (12:58 PM · Jul 10, 2019) Twitter (8 Jun 2020 15:38:52 UTC).
  189. 189.0 189.1 "It’s too late to stop QAnon with fact checks and account bans" by Abby Ohlheiser, MIT Technology Review, 2020 July 26
  190. "QAnon: The online cult that is a danger in the real world" by David Aaronovitch, The Australian Times, 2020 July 30
  191. "People Tell Us How QAnon Destroyed Their Relationships" by Mack Lamoureux, Vice, 2019 July 11
  192. "'We Are Your Family Now': What It's Like to Lose a Loved One to QAnon" by Quinn Myers, Mel, July 2020
  193. "QAnon Destroys Lives. Now It’s Coming for Congress." by Justin Ling, Foreign Policy, 2020 August 12
  194. QAnon Conspiracies Sway Faith Groups, Including 1 in 4 White Evangelicals: Survey examines belief in election fraud, the Deep State, and other theories on American politics. by Jack Jenkins (February 11, 2021 10:41 AM) Religion News Service via Christianity Today.
  195. r/QAnonCasualties, Reddit group
  196. "Reddit community QAnon Casualties share stories of conspiracy cult" by Jack Gramenz, News.Com.Au, 2020 August 11
  197. A Game Designer’s Analysis Of QAnon: Playing with reality by Reed Berkowitz (Sep 30, 2020) Medium.
  198. Jo Rae Perkins for Senate (Oregon) - WWG1WGA. Dustin Nemos. YouTube.
  199. 199.0 199.1 "Marjorie Taylor Greene, a QAnon Supporter, Wins House Primary in Georgia" by Matthew Rosenberg, Astead W. Herndon and Nick Corasaniti, The New York Times, 2020 August 11
  200. "Marjorie Taylor Greene, who backs QAnon and has made racist remarks, wins congressional seat" by Andrea Salcedo, Washington Post, 2020 November 4
  201. "Marjorie Taylor Green - Qanon - The Vid She Wants To Forget.. Nov 26 2017", posted by "Glow 4", YouTube, 2020 June 4
  202. "House Republican leaders condemn GOP candidate who made racist videos"by Ally Mutnick and Melanie Zanona, Politico, 2020 June 17
  203. "Republicans called her videos ‘appalling’ and ‘disgusting.’ But they’re doing little to stop her." by Melanie Zanona and Ally Mutnick, Politico, 2020 August 09
  204. "Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican congressional candidate endorsed by Trump, claimed there's 'no evidence' a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11" by Eliza Relman, Business Insider, 2020 August 13
  205. "Trump and top House Republican embrace candidate who promoted QAnon conspiracy theory" by Clare Foran, Manu Raju, and Haley Byrd, CNN, 2020 August 12
  206. "Who is Marjorie Taylor Greene? Trump called QAnon supporter a ‘future Republican star’" by Summer Lin, Miami Herald, 2020 August 12
  207. "Georgia candidates embrace group with extremist ties" by Chris Joyner and Tia Mitchell, The Atlanta Journal–Constitution, 2020 May 19
  208. QAnon-Linked Congresswoman to File Impeachment Articles Against Biden on January 21 Newsweek 13 January 2021
  209. 209.0 209.1 "QAnon’s Fox News Cameo: The Conspiracy Theory’s Latest Breakout Moment" by Jack Brewster, Forbes, 2020 July 18
  210. "Fox News host says far-right conspiracy movement QAnon uncovers 'great stuff'" by Ellen Cranley, The Insider, 2020 July 26
  211. "Former Trump Adviser Roger Stone Says He Hopes QAnon Source is 'Real'" by Jeffery Martin, Newsweek, 2020 July 2
  212. 212.0 212.1 "‘A Gray Marble And A Den Of Vipers.’ In 1773, A Wealthy Goldsmith And Coin Dealer Named Mayer Amschel Bauer Summoned Twelve Wealthy And Influential Men To His Place Of Business In Frankfurt, Germany.", @WarNuse, Twitter, 2020 May 22, archived on 26 Aug 2020
  213. @WarNuse Gab account. Front page. Archived on 26 Aug 2020
  214. 👇👇 "These are the violent types of people that SOROS, the ROTHCHILDS and the UNITED NATIONS have NO problem using as pawns and uprooting them and bringing them to the USA to accomplish their ONE WORLD GOVT! 🇺🇸 TODAY...RIGHT NOW..WE HAVE TO FIGHT", Tweet, @mamendoza480, 2019 June 6, archived on 2020 August 26
  215. "RNC Speaker Cancelled After Boosting QAnon Conspiracy Theory About Jewish Plot to Enslave the World" by Will Sommer, Daily Beast, 2020 August 25
  216. "'Angel Mom' Mary Ann Mendoza posts antisemitic QAnon conspiracy ahead of RNC speech" by Alex Woodward, Independent, 2020 August 25
  217. Capitol riot defendants facing jail have regrets. Judges aren’t buying it. by Rachel Weiner & Spencer S. Hsu (Feb. 26, 2021 at 9:04 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
  218. "FBI Labels Fringe Conspiracy Theories as Domestic Terrorism Threat" by Marianne Dodson, Daily Beast, 2019 August 1
  219. "Twitter unveils plan to limit QAnon activity in new crackdown" by Li Cohen, CBSNews, 2020 July 22
  220. "Facebook completely bans QAnon and labels it a ‘militarized social movement’" by Nick Statt, Verge, 2020 October 6
  221. "YouTube joins Silicon Valley peers in preelection QAnon clampdown" by Elizabeth Dwoskin and Isaac Stanley-Becker, Washington Post, 2020 October 15
  222. "Etsy Latest To Crackdown On QAnon Conspiracy Theory" by Elana Lyn Gross, Forbes, 2020 October 7
  223. "Facebook and Twitter said they would crack down on QAnon, but the delusion seems unstoppable" by Shirin Ghaffary, Vox, 2020 Oct 6
  224. "Facebook Tried to Limit QAnon. It Failed." by Sheera Frenkel and Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 2020 September 18
  225. "This is what Trump told supporters before many stormed Capitol Hill" by Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 2021 January 7
  226. "Rudy Giuliani Speech Transcript at Trump’s Washington, D.C. Rally: Wants ‘Trial by Combat’", Rev.Com, 2021 January 6
  227. "QAnon reshaped Trump’s party and radicalized believers. The Capitol siege may just be the start." by Drew Harwell, Isaac Stanley-Becker, Razzan Nakhlawi and Craig Timberg, Washington Post, 2021 January 13
  228. "Nothing can stop what’s coming: Far-right forums that fomented Capitol riots voice glee in aftermath" by Craig Timberg, Drew Harwell, Razzan Nakhlawi and Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 2021 January 7
  229. "The Journey of Ashli Babbitt", Bellingcat Investigation Team, Bellingcat.com
  230. "Video shows fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol" by Jon Swaine, Jon Swaine, Dalton Bennett, Joyce Sohyun Lee and Meg Kelly, Washington Post, 2021 January 8
  231. "Woman Killed in Capitol Embraced Trump and QAnon" by Ellen Barry, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Dave Philipps, New York Times, 2021 January 7
  232. "QAnon backer from Iowa was among first to breach Capitol" by Ryan J. Foley, Associated Press (posted on The Gazette), 2021 January 12
  233. "The Georgia Dad who Said That He Wanted to Kill Nancy Pelosi" by Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 2021 January 15
  234. "A well-known QAnon influencer dubbed the 'Q Shaman' played a highly visible role in the Capitol siege" by Rachel E. Greenspan, Yahoo News, 2021 January 6
  235. "Longtime Arizona QAnon supporter in horned helmet joins storming of U.S. Capitol" by Richard Ruelas, Arizona Republic, 2021 January 6
  236. "QAnon posts evade Facebook ban before Inauguration Day" by Daniel Funke, Politifact, 2021 January 13
  237. "Twitter suspends 70,000 QAnon accounts in massive purge fter deadly Capitol siege, Trump ban" by Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 2021 January 11
  238. "Amazon says it will remove QAnon products from its store." by Karen Weise, New York Times, 2021 Jan 11
  239. "Intelligence report: Capitol riot has emboldened domestic extremists who now pose 'greatest domestic terrorism threats in 2021'" by Crystal Hill, Yahoo News, 2021 January 13
  240. QAnon Offenders in the United States by Michael Jensen & Sheehan Kane (May 2021) National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.
  241. A horn-wearing ‘shaman.’ A cowboy evangelist. For some, the Capitol attack was a kind of Christian revolt. by Michelle Boorstein (July 6, 2021 at 4:00 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
  242. 242.0 242.1 242.2 Jews of QAnon: How an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory Is Winning Converts in Israel. The theory about a satanic cabal based on one of the world's oldest, most lethal antisemitic libels is localizing itself to make inroads into the Orthodox Jewish community in the U.S. – and now, increasingly, in Israel by Mia Bloom & Yulie Maimon (Jul. 4, 2021 2:18 PM) Haaretz.
  243. "QAnon's Unexpected Roots in New Age Spirituality" by Marisa Meltzer, Washington Post, 2021 March 29
  244. "Gaia was a wildly popular yoga brand. Now it's a publicly traded Netflix rival pushing conspiracy theories while employees fear the CEO is invading their dreams." by Rob Price, Business Insider, 2021 Feb 14
  245. "An emotional debate on child vaccinations" by Jessica Seigel, Chicago Tribune, 1994 May 10
  246. "All the “wellness” products Americans love to buy are sold on both Infowars and Goop" by Nikhil Sonnad, Quartz, 2017 June 29
  247. "‘Conspirituality’ Explains Why the Wellness World Fell for QAnon" by Shayla Love, Vice, 2020 December 16
  248. "Conspirituality: Where New Age wellness meets right wing conspiracy thinking" by Scott Gavura, Science Based Medicine, 2021 February 4
  249. "‘Pastel QAnon’ Is Infiltrating the Natural Parenting Community" by EJ Dickson, Rolling Stone, 2020 December 14
  250. "The Women Making Conspiracy Theories Beautiful" by Kaitlyn Tiffany, Atlantic, 2020 August 18
  251. "The Unlikely Connection Between Wellness Influencers and the Pro-Trump Rioters" by Clio Chang, Cosmopolitan, 2021 January 12
  252. "Wellness Influencers Are Calling Out QAnon Conspiracy Theorists for Spreading Lies" by EJ Dickson, Rolling Stone, 2020 September 15
  253. Here's How QAnon Reacted as They Realized 'The Storm' Isn't Happening Gizmodo 20 January 2021
  254. Checked by reality, some QAnon supporters seek a way out Associated Press News 29 January 2021
  255. QAnon Thinks Trump Will Become President Again on March 4 VICE News 25 January 2021
  256. Fact check: No evidence to support QAnon claims of mass arrests, military takeover, illegitimacy of Biden’s presidency or Trump’s return to power Reuters 22 January 2021
  257. Nearly 5,000 National Guard troops to remain in Washington through mid-March due to concerns about QAnon chatter CNN 17 February 2021
  258. Trump’s DC Hotel Is Jacking Up Rates For QAnon’s Next Special Date Forbes 6 February 2021
  259. "QAnon predicted Trump’s re-inauguration on 4 March. Congress braced for an assault. Neither happened" by Alex Woodward, Independent, 2021 March 5
  260. "QAnon Theorists Switch Date to March 20 After No Trump Inauguration, Call the 4th 'False Flag'" by Emily Czachor, Newsweek, 2021 March 4
  261. "Global March 20 Anti-Vaccine Protests Promoted by QAnon-Linked Groups" by Ewan Palmer, Newsweek, 2021 March 16
  262. "What The Past Three Months Have Been Like For QAnon Believers" by Scaachi Koul, Buzzfeed News, 2021 March 26
  263. QAnon's Q Returns After 18 Months of Silence by Oscar Gonzalez, June 27, 2022, CNET
  264. Q Anon - Alex Jones, the NSA and You! pt.1 - In Pursuit of Truth Presents - 8.15.18 (Aug 15, 2018) YouTube.
  265. 265.0 265.1 Why Thousands Are Obsessed With A Nest Of Conspiracy Theories Called QAnon: QAnon is a conspiracy theory so comprehensive, there is virtually no other conspiracy theory it leaves untouched, from the government hiding the UFOs to JFK Jr. surviving his plane crash. by Georgi Boorman (August 21, 2018) The Federalist.
  266. JP Morgan Sunk the Titanic to Form Federal Reserve, Undeniable Proof by Jeremy E. McDonald (11/07/2017) Stillness in the Storm (archived from 27 May 2019 17:38:52 UTC).
  267. There's a crazy conspiracy theory that the Rothschilds sank the Titanic to set up the Federal Reserve by Mike Bird (Oct. 12, 2015, 6:55 AM) Business Insider.
  268. A Common Sense Look At The Most Popular Titanic Conspiracy Theories — Tax Day And The Federal Reserve In The Spotlight (April 14, 2012) Common Sense Conspiracy.
  269. John F. Kennedy Jr. Biography. Biography.
  270. QAnon, the Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theorists, Now Believe JFK Jr. Faked His Death to Become Their Leader. The Daily Beast. Aug. 02, 2018
  271. See the Wikipedia article on John F. Kennedy § Health.
  272. Liz Crokin: John F. Kennedy Jr. Faked His Death And Is Now QAnon. Right Wing Watch. August 1, 2018.
  273. No, John F. Kennedy Jr. didn't tout a Donald Trump presidency in George magazine. Politifact. April 8, 2019.
  274. QAnon Disappointed to Find JFK Jr. Is, in Fact, Dead—Not Trump’s New Running Mate. The Mary Sue.
  275. "QAnon supporters gather in downtown Dallas expecting JFK Jr. to reappear" by Catherine Marfin and Michael Williams, Dallas Morning News, 2021 November 2
  276. "QAnon Rally Fails to Revive JFK Jr. From the Dead" by Matt Stieb, New York Intelligencer, 2021 November 2
  277. "Meet the Antisemitic QAnon Leader Who Led Followers to Dallas to Meet JFK" by David Gilbert, Vice, 2021 November 5
  278. "The QAnon-JFK Cult Is Pivoting to Crypto" by David Gilbert, Vice, 2022 June 14
  279. "The QAnon Followers Who Went to Dallas to See JFK Refuse to Leave" by David Gilbert, Vice, 2021 November 8
  280. "The JFK QAnon Cult Is Finally Collapsing: ‘Shit’s Falling Apart’" by David Gilbert, Vice, 2022 March 22
  281. "Mom Who Joined the QAnon JFK Cult in Dallas Left Her Family to ‘Follow God’" by David Gilbert, Vice, 2021 December 2
  282. "A Former Member of the JFK QAnon Cult Tried to Kidnap Her Own Children" by David Gilbert, Vice, 2022 September 2
  283. "The Leader of the JFK-QAnon Cult Is Dead. His Followers Think It’s All Part of the Plan." by David Gilbert, Vice, 2023 July 6
  284. George Lucas Net Worth. Celebrity Net Worth.
  285. The House of Trump and the House of Saud: The blossoming relationship with Riyadh symbolizes the decay of the US-led order by Edward Luce (8 November, 2017) Financial Times.
  286. Bypassing Congress, Trump Sells Weapons to Saudi Arabia, Orders Troops to Middle East: Democratic and Republican representatives criticized the move, and one prominent Democrat said the president may have violated the law by Peter Wade (May 25, 2019, 4:40PM ET) Rolling Stone.
  287. A Guide to QAnon, the New King of Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories: George Soros, the Illuminati, and Snow White are all controlling the world according to a 4channer who has spawned a legion of supersleuths. by Justin Caffier (Jun 12, 2018, 2:23pm) Vice.
  288. Operation Mockingbird QAnon Wiki (archived from May 27, 2017).
  289. 289.0 289.1 Operation Mockingbird 2.0 — A Social-Engineered Reality (August 7, 2018 8:16 am) Centipede Nation (archived from may 16, 2019).
  290. QAnon’s Obsession With #SaveTheChildren Is Making It Harder To Save Kids From Traffickers. FiveThirtyEight.
  291. 291.0 291.1 "Why Are Right-Wing Conspiracies so Obsessed With Pedophilia?" by Ali Breland, Mother Jones, 2019 July
  292. "The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About QAnon" by Joe Carter, The Gospel Coalition, 2020 May 20
  293. 293.0 293.1 "Why Are So Many Christians Falling for QAnon?" by Tyler Huckabee, Relevant, 2020 August 3
  294. 294.0 294.1 "QAnon: The alternative religion that’s coming to your church" by Katelyn Beaty, Religious News Service, 2020 August 17
  295. 295.0 295.1 "When the news becomes religion" by Sam Thielman, Columbia Journal Review, 2020 August 11
  296. "The Church of QAnon: Will conspiracy theories form the basis of a new religious movement?" by Beth Daley, Conversation, 2020 May 18
  297. "How QAnon Conspiracy Is Spreading In Christian Communities Across The U.S.", NPR, All Things Considered, Ari Shapiro, transcript
  298. "‘NOT TRUE’: Oprah Winfrey debunks bizarre QAnon conspiracy theory spreading across the Internet" by Antonia Noori Farzan, Washington Post, 2020 March 18
  299. "Fact check: Ellen, Oprah, many others are not under house arrest for child sex trafficking" by McKenzie Sadeghi, USA Today
  300. "Fact check: Tom Hanks is not wearing an ankle monitor, post stems from conspiracy claims", Reuters fact check, 2020 July 28
  301. "Fake Jeffrey Epstein Flight Logs Lead QAnon Crazies to Target Chrissy Teigen and Beyoncé" by Tarpley Hitt, Daily Beast, 2020 August 11
  302. "'Trump haters are paedophiles': inside QAnon, the conspiracy aiming to put Hollywood behind bars" by Maria Pope, The Telegraph, 2020 July 22
  303. "Out of Shadows", IMDB listing, 2020 Apr 11
  304. 304.0 304.1 304.2 "Inside ‘Out of Shadows’: The Bonkers Hollywood-Pedophilia ‘Documentary’ QAnon Loves" by Tarpley Hitt, Daily Beast, 2020 Aug 6
  305. "Mike Smith, the Stuntman, QAnon Follower & Trump Fan Behind ‘Out of Shadows’ Documentary" by Paul Farrell, Heavy.com, 2020 April 17
  306. "Ex-C.I.A. Agent Goes Public With Story of Mistreatment on the Job" by Charlie Savage, New York Times, 2011 February 10
  307. NaturalNews.com search for "Kevin Shipp", performed and archived on 2020 August 13
  308. Mike Smith's Twitter feed (@Crux41507251), archived on 2020 July 15
  309. "Tomorrow 4/14/20 @ 1PM East! Join Mike Smith (@Crux41507251), Brad Martin (@actiondirector1) and a Surprise! #OutOfShadows Documentary!! 4+M Views!", Tweet from @Crux41507251, 2020 April 13, archived on 2020 Aug 13
  310. "Sinclair's Soldiers in Trump's War on Media", Youtube, posted by Deadspin, 2018 April 2
  311. "QAnon Followers Are Hijacking the #SaveTheChildren Movement" by Kevin Roose, New York Times, 2020 August 12
  312. "QAnon, Pizzagate conspiracy theories co-opt #SaveTheChildren" by Daniel Funke, Politifact, 2020 August 12
  313. 313.0 313.1 313.2 313.3 No, The Government Did Not Break Up A Child Sex Trafficking Ring In Georgia: Simple headlines obscure the complex realities of abuse, sex work and the real threats to American children. by Michael Hobbes (09/07/2020 05:45 am ET Updated Sep 10, 2020) Huffington Post.
  314. "New study on QAnon concludes two different people wrote Q's posts" by Matt Binder, Mashable, 2020 December 16
  315. "The men behind QAnon: Experts and researchers said the key to "Q" is hiding in plain sight." by Chris Francescani, ABC News, 2020 September 22
  316. "This is what happens when you create an online community without any rules" by Caitlin Dewey, Washington Post, 2015 Jan 13
  317. "8chan-hosted content disappears from Google searches [Updated"] by Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, 2015 August 17
  318. "The Now-Defunct Firms Behind 8chan, QAnon" by Brian Krebs, KrebsOnSecurity, 2020 Oct 22
  319. "QAnon Is Supposed to Be All About Protecting Kids. Its Primary Enabler Appears to Have Hosted Child Porn Domains." by AJ Vicens and Ali Breland, Mother Jones, 2020 October 29
  320. "Seminole County Tax Collector Indicted For Stalking", press release, United States Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, 2020 June 23
  321. "Gaetz probe started with an associate awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking, stalking charges" by Dareh Gregorian and Tom Winter, NBC News, 2021 March 31
  322. "Matt Gaetz Is Said to Face Justice Dept. Inquiry Over Sex With an Underage Girl" by Michael S. Schmidt, Katie Benner, and Nicholas Fandos, New York Times, 2021 March 30
  323. "Sex trafficking probe of Rep. Matt Gaetz emerges from Joel Greenberg prosecution: report" by Martin E. Comas, Jeff Weinger, and Steven Lemongello, Orlando Sentinel, 2021 March 30
  324. "The Matt Gaetz allegations show how QAnon corrupts its followers" by Bonnie Kristian, The Week, 2021 April 1
  325. "QAnon Thinks Matt Gaetz Being Investigated for Sex Trafficking Is All Part of the Plan" by David Gilbery, Vice, 2021 March 31
  326. "QAnon Community Outraged by Matt Gaetz Sex Trafficking Investigation … Except for the Wrong Reason" by Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone, 2021 March 31
  327. "QAnon fans flock to Matt Gaetz's defense, despite claims of sexual misconduct" by Zachary Petrizzo, Salon.com, 2021 April 1
  328. QAnon-ers’ Magic Cure for Coronavirus: Just Drink Bleach! by Will Sommer (Updated Jan. 28, 2020 12:32PM ET; Published Jan. 28, 2020 4:57AM ET) Daily Beast.
  329. "US Patent for Coronavirus Patent (Patent # 10,130,701)", Patents.Justia.com, 2015 Jul 23
  330. The new fad disease called the "coronavirus" is sweeping headlines. Funny enough, there was a patent for the coronavirus was filed in 2015 and granted in 2018. https://patents.justia.com/patent/10130701 by Jordan Sather (5:35 PM - 21 Jan 2020) Twitter (archived from 24 Jan 2020 04:11:46 UTC).
  331. "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds development of Pirbright's Livestock Antibody Hub supporting animal and human health" (2019 November 15) Pirbright Institute.
  332. I'm not saying, nor have said Pirbright or Gates "made the disease", but something is definitely fishy with this, no? Have bioengineered diseases been made and released in the past? Are vaccines planned for these scenarios? Problem, reaction, solution? by Jordan Sather (11:52 PM · Jan 23, 2020) Twitter (archived from 28 Jan 2020 19:23:32 UTC).
  333. "QAnon Supporters And Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading A Hoax That Bill Gates Created The Coronavirus", Ryan Broderick, Buzzfeed, 2020 January 23
  334. Bill Gates funded the PIRBRIGHT institute, which owns the patent on coronavirus by Ethan Huff (27 January 2020) NaturalNews (archived from 28 Jan 2020 19:23:32 UTC).
  335. Would you look at that. Not only is chlorine dioxide (aka "MMS") an effective cancer cell killer, it can wipe out coronavirus too. No wonder YouTube has been censoring basically every single video where I discuss it over the last year. Big Pharma wants you ignorant. by Jordan Sather (22 Jan 2020) Twitter (archived from 28 Jan 2020 19:29:14 UTC).
  336. QAnon conspiracy about SEAL Team Six raid on Osama bin Laden picks up steam. Military Times.
  337. Q's Latest Posts by Q; Tripcode: !UW.yye1fxo (3.10.18) 8chan (archived from 10 Mar 2018 22:04:27 UTC).
  338. CBTS #68: It's Raining Princes Edition by Anonymous ID:LA/ywYmB (05 Nov 2017) 4chan /pol// archive (archived from 14 Feb 2019 06:24:01 UTC).
  339. Latest Q Posts by Q; Tripcode: !UW.yye1fxo (11.2.18) 8chan (archived from 27 May 2019 17:57:33 UTC).
  340. #54: Get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow by Anonymous ID:+U7U2VOE (05 Nov 2017) 4chan /pol/ archive (archived from 1 Aug 2018 01:40:38 UT).
  341. Qanon Claims Debbie Wasserman Schultz Put Out A Contract To MS-13 Gang Members To Murder Seth Rich by Alex Christoforou (December 31, 2017) Aladins Miracle Lamp[sic] (archived from 27 May 2019 18:03:08 UTC).
  342. QAnon Exposes Dem Conspiracy To Frame Trump, Claims Google’s Schmidt Played Pivotal Role: QAnon also claims Debbie Wasserman Schultz contracted MS-13 gang to kill Seth Rich by Jerome Corsi (December 27, 2017) Infowars (archived from 27 Dec 2017 17:33:46 UTC).
  343. "Wayfair: The false conspiracy about a furniture firm and child trafficking" by Marianna Spring, BBC News, 2020 July 15
  344. "My spidey senses are tingling. What's with these storage cabinets? Extremely high prices, all listed with girls' names & identical units selling for different amounts.", tweet by "Amazing Polly" (@99freemind), 2020 June 15, archived on 2020 August 13
  345. A QAnon con: How the viral Wayfair sex trafficking lie hurt real kids: An Internet mob wanted to rescue a 13-year-old girl. Instead, they terrified her, derailed real trafficking investigations and incited ‘save the children’ violence. by Jessica Contrera (Dec. 16, 2021) The Washington Post.
  346. Slender Man for Boomers: The offshoots of the QAnon conspiracy theory have gone to even darker places by Alex Nichols (2019-26-Jun) The Outline.
  347. Adrenochrome As the Cause of Schizophrenia: Investigation of Some Deductions from this Hypothesis by A. J. Lea (08 February 2018) Cambridge University Press.
  348. Life Drinker TV Tropes.
  349. I read that adrenochrome is harvested from fearful children after killing them, do you know anything about that? Erowid.
  350. Worst Headache Imaginable by Three (2007) Erowid.
  351. Qanon Q Drops Decoded In Gematria How To DO Gematria And How It Works by Jay Pilon (Jan 11, 2019) YouTube.
  352. How the Elite Code Everything on TV with Gematria (January 30, 2019) Op Deep State (archived from June 25, 2019).
  353. Joe Sommerlad, Fake snow? Conspiracy theory claims Texas weather ‘government-generated’, The Independent 22 Feb. 2021
  354. 'It's like a parasite': How a dangerous virtual cult is going global. CNN. October 7, 2020.
  355. How the QAnon Conspiracy Theory Went Global. Voice of America. August 15, 2020.
  356. The dangerous global spread of the QAnon conspiracy theory. The Guardian. 29 Sep 2020.
  357. How QAnon took hold in the UK, Wired UK, Sep 21, 2020
  358. How British grannies are spreading QAnon conspiracy theory memes on Facebook, The Conversation, Sep 25, 2020
  359. 'Quite frankly terrifying': How the QAnon conspiracy theory is taking root in the UK, The Observer, Sep 20, 2020
  360. Fan of Trump and Farage raises far-right ‘Q’ flag at his Cornish castle, The Guardian, Jan 11, 2020
  361. QAnon conspiracy theory gaining ground in UK, analysis shows. The Guardians.
  362. The yoga world is riddled with anti-vaxxers and QAnon believers: In my day job, I monitor the spread of online disinformation and conspiracy theories. I never expected to find them at my yoga class by Cécile Guerin (28 January 2021) Wired.
  363. Redpilled Conspirituality.
  364. QAnon Is Thriving in Germany. The Extreme Right Is Delighted. New York Times.
  365. Like a Virus, QAnon Spreads From the U.S. to Germany. Bloomberg.
  366. 366.0 366.1 366.2 Germany is Germany Is Losing the Fight Against QAnon, Tyson Barker, Foreign Policy, 2 September 2020
  367. Germany and right-wing extremism: The new dimension of terrorism. Deutsche Welle.
  368. Why the QAnon conspiracy theory is gaining popularity. Deutsche Welle.
  369. Reichsbürger: German 'crackpot' movement turns radical and dangerous (7 December 2022) BBC.
  370. 370.0 370.1 370.2 Germany arrests 25 accused of plotting coup by Paul Kirby (December 7, 2022) BBC News.
  371. Reichsbürger: the German conspiracy theorists at heart of alleged coup plot: Despite description of alleged plotters by prosecutors as a ‘motley crew’, the threat was considered very real by Kate Connolly (7 Dec 2022 12.29 EST) The Guardian.
  372. Germany arrests dozens as QAnon-inspired "Reichsbürger" group accused of plotting to overthrow government by Anna Noryskiewicz (December 7, 2022 / 10:13 AM) CBS News.
  373. How QAnon Went Global, Joshua Keating, Slate, Sep 2020
  374. 374.00 374.01 374.02 374.03 374.04 374.05 374.06 374.07 374.08 374.09 374.10 374.11 374.12 374.13 374.14 374.15 374.16 374.17 374.18 374.19 374.20 374.21 374.22 Q Anon jargon, explained: Here’s everything you need to know to understand it. by Mike Rothschild (2018-07-04 06:30 am) Daily Dot.
  375. The Rise of 'Weaponized Autism': What happens when trolls invoke disability in the name of alt-right politics? by Miles Klee (2018) Mel Magazine.
  376. Some of the savvier Q influencers have actually come to notice that making predictions about specific dates (that are always wrong) is bad business when it comes to building a self-sustaining cult, so they caution other Q believers not to post about things like March 4. How do they discourage that kind of behavior? With shaming and insulting names, of course. Specifically, they call making predictions about specific dates “datefagging.” Here's How QAnon Has Been Rationalizing the First Month of the Biden Presidency by Jim Vorel, Paste Magazine, February 18, 2021
  377. QAnon is terrifying. This is why. by Molly Roberts (August 2, 2018) The Washington Post.
  378. One of QAnon’s most widely quoted critics reveals his real name. Hint: It’s not Travis View. QAnon Anonymous co-host, riding a wave of newfound fame, acknowledges he was using a pseudonym all along by Craig Timberg (April 1, 2021 at 7:28 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
  379. I understand the temptation to dismiss QAnon. Here's why we can't. by Alyssa Rosenberg (August 7, 2019 at 5:32 PM) The Washington Post.
  380. Med beds are also a big part of the mythology of conspiracy movements like QAnon (which never mentions them by name, but does hint at secret and suppressed medical marvels) and the Q offshoot Negative 48, where the Telegram channel Whiplash 347 has made dozens of references to them curing “6,000 diseases” while “making hospital equipment obsolete” and removing the need for people to take medication. Why Conspiracy Theorists Think New Suicide Pods are Med Beds by Mike Rothschild, The Daily Dot, December 20, 2021
  381. Proofster, Know Your Meme
  382. The Fringe QAnon ‘Cult’ Is Still Waiting for a JFK Jr. Miracle in Dallas: The group, led by conspiracy theorist Michael Protzman's sub-sect, are trafficking in fascistic ideas that are far more concerning than they are kooky by Steven Monacelli (December 1, 2021 10:54AM ET) Rolling Stone.
  383. They’re Too Extreme for QAnon — and Right at Home at Trump’s Rally: Michael Protzman tells his followers that JFK Jr. and other dead celebrities are helping Trump catch a global cabal of pedophiles. Saturday night, he was seated with the VIPs by Steven Monacelli (January 16, 2022 11:03AM ET) Rolling Stone.
  384. The Matrix (1999): Quotes IMDb. "You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."
  385. Some QAnons Think Donald Trump Is Still In Control, Others Cry As Conspiracy Theory Implodes by Bobins Abraham (Updated on Jan 21, 2021, 14:00 IST) India Times.
  386. Shadowprez anyone? r/insanepeoplefacebook (January 2021) Reddit (archived from 26 Jan 2021 08:07:25 UTC).
  387. White Squall (1996): Quotes IMDb.
  388. Is QAnon, the Latest pro-Trump Conspiracy Theory, anti-Semitic? Many say QAnon, which centers around a mysterious online figure, is an ominous sign of an emerging lunatic fringe by JTA and Charles Dunst (Aug 03, 2018 9:01 PM) Haaretz.
  389. 1000% correct, since the illumnati hijacked the US gov in 1945 there has never been an election in the US, thats why they cant understand how Trump won, the jew maffia going to lose the Fed & the Irs. They see it coming!👌📯🎺💣🌲🌲🌲🌲 #GodBlessAmerica #QAnon #DrainingTheSwamp by Steven19141301 (11:41 PM - 11 Jan 2020) Twitter (archived from 18 Jan 2020 18:36:05 UTC).
  390. @chrisurquhart Have You heard of Q - QAnon or the WWG1WGA Movement? Have you heard of The Great Awakening? Do You know Trump is fighting against the Illuminati - a Cabal of 13 Bloodlines who with the Vatican, the CIA, the Jesuits have controlled Earth for Lucifer. Don't be FAKE by GrantWi89314261 (3:49 PM - 17 Jan 2020) Twitter (archived from 18 Jan 2020 18:41:37 UTC).
  391. Red pilled both my boomer parents and now they’re talking about how Obama is a stupid nigger who should be hanged and ranting about #qanon. Merry Christmas! by Apex_Dexter (1:25 PM - 25 Dec 2017) Twitter (archived from 18 Jan 2020 18:56:17 UTC).
  392. #QAnon loves #5G #MAGA is Israeli PR #jews killed Jesus #zionists are Freemasons are satanic Microwaved goyim on deck. WATCH OUT. by bourdainmurderd (12:53 PM - 13 Apr 2019) Twitter (archived from 18 Jan 2020 18:50:44 UTC).
  393. Here's How Donald Trump Ended Up Referencing A Russian-Promoted 4chan Conspiracy Theory In His Call To The Ukrainian President: From the depths of 4chan, to the president's mouth, and then back to the depths of 4chan. by Ryan Broderick (September 26, 2019, at 4:59 p.m. ET) BuzzFeed News.
  394. This is the pathetic defense Republicans are going with? by Jennifer Rubin (November 12, 2019 at 8:45 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
  395. See the Wikipedia article on St. Peter's Square § Obelisk.
  396. Talk:Conspiracy Wikiquote (archived from 10 Feb 2019 22:59:37 UTC).
  397. See the Wikipedia article on The Morning of the Magicians.
  398. See the Wikipedia article on IG Farben.
  399. Fascist Spectacle: the Aesthetics of Power in Mussolini's Italy by Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi (2000) University of California Press. ISBN 0520226771.
  400. Move over, Roswell. Dulce is home to true UFO believers by Daniel J. Chacón (May 7, 2016) Santa Fe New Mexican.
  401. National Security Study Memorandum: NSSM 200, Implications of Worldwide Population Growth For U.S. Security and Overseas Interests (The Kissinger Report) (December 10, 1974) USAID.
  402. When AIDS Was a Cancer by Matthew Tontonoz (August 08, 2014) Cancer Research Institute.
  403. Alien-Human Battle of 1979 in New Mexico: Alleged Eye-Witness Report: Looking back on the story of Phil Schneider by Tara MacIsaac (April 7, 2014 6:45 pm; Last Updated: May 8, 2016 1:50 pm) Epoch Times (archived from January 6, 2018).
  404. Loosh Ascension Glossary (archived from 22 Mar 2018 18:37:58 UTC).
  405. #1930: Barbara Marciniak (November 28, 2017) Encyclopedia of American Loons.
  406. Fractal Time: The Secret of 2012 and a New World Age by Gregg Braden (2010) Hay House. ISBN 1401920659.
  407. Great Awakening Map (archived from August 19, 2019).
  408. Sherrod DeGrippo Linkedin.
  409. Trump lawyers say document shows he kept ‘Q’ clearance for nuclear secrets: In Florida trial involving classified documents, Donald Trump’s lawyers are seeking more information about a Department of Energy clearance list by Perry Stein (January 17, 2024 at 1:43 p.m. EST) The Washington Post.