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A series of events linked to QAnon supporters includes:

• The capture of nearly 300 migrants at gunpoint on the U.S.-Mexico border
• The firebombing of a Minnesota mosque and attempted firebombing of a Champaign, Illinois women鈥檚 health center by an Illinois militia
• An armed Nevada man鈥檚 blocking of traffic with an armored vehicle on a bridge near Hoover Dam
• The arson by a California man of the Washington, D.C., restaurant Comet Ping Pong, which is at the center of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory

Sovereign citizens, border militias and antigovernment Three Percenter groups have latched on to Q as well.

QAnon followers posit that Q, an anonymous user of the internet forum 8chan (and previously 4chan), is a government agent with a top security clearance and the shadowy cabal which really runs the government 颅颅鈥� including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and James Comey 鈥� on behalf of President Trump.

The QAnon faithful await 鈥�,鈥� a coming purge of deep state operatives, who will be shipped off to Guantanamo Bay.

鈥淭he interesting thing about QAnon is it actually has an extraordinary amount of faith in the government and legal processes,鈥� Travis View, a QAnon researcher and co-host of the , told Hatewatch. 鈥淚t sounds incompatible with the sovereigns or the antigovernment stuff, but they imagine that there鈥檚 going to be a perfectly clean and legal process to have an extraordinary revolution. I think that鈥檚 where the overlap is 颅鈥� a deep distrust in the normal institutions of the federal government, obviously the alphabet agencies and all that. They think that the military 鈥� and they think Q is military intelligence 鈥� is going to enforce the true law of the land to get rid of the deep state.鈥�

QAnon-related violence

Three members of the 鈥淲hite Rabbit Three Percent Illinois Patriot Freedom Fighters Militia鈥� for firebombing the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, on August 5, 2017, and the attempted firebombing of the Women鈥檚 Health Practice in Champaign, Illinois on November 7, 2017.

Q first appeared online in October 2017, but the charged militia members 颅颅鈥� Michael Hari, Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris 颅鈥� appear to have adopted the militia鈥檚 鈥渨hite rabbit鈥� name in homage to Q. QAnon followers encourage one another to 鈥渇ollow the white rabbit,鈥� and the same month that Q appeared, Hari, the militia鈥檚 ringleader, published a document called 鈥淭he White Rabbit Handbook鈥� on Amazon.

In January, McWhorter and Morris to the charges; Hari鈥檚 trial is set for fall 2019.

In July 2018, Matthew P. Wright, an unemployed Marine veteran, used a homemade armored vehicle to block traffic for 90 minutes on the Mike O鈥機allaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge leading to the Hoover Dam, resulting in a 90-minute standoff with law enforcement before Wright was apprehended. Wright was armed with an AR-15 rifle, a handgun, multiple magazines of ammunition and a flash-bang device.

From the Mohave County (Ariz.) jail, Wright sent letters to President Trump and other elected officials that sign off with 鈥渨here we go one, we go all鈥� 颅鈥� (hashtagged #WWG1WGA on social media). The letter to Trump also references the 鈥淕reat Awakening,鈥� another name for 鈥淭he Storm鈥� that Q followers believe will bring down the deep state. On both letters, Wright affixed his fingerprint over his signature, a method frequently used by sovereign citizens.

Wright鈥檚 trial on terrorism and weapons charges is pending.

And in January of this year, 22-year-old Californian Ryan Jaselkis reposted a QAnon video on his parents鈥� YouTube account 鈥� pushing the theory that the world is run by a Satanic pedophile ring under the control of Hillary Clinton and other celebrities 鈥� , the pizzeria at the center of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.

Sovereigns and other antigovernment groups

鈥淭here is plenty of sovereign citizen/QAnon crossover,鈥� QAnon researcher View told Hatewatch, citing that show QAnon followers alleging information from Q means admiralty law, which sovereigns are against, as opposed to common law, which is supported by sovereigns, will soon end.

鈥淭he interesting thing about sovereign citizens is they always imagine they know about certain legal loopholes, they know about the deeper law or something,鈥� View said. 鈥淵ou see that a lot in QAnon, too. They think they understand the law on a level that most people don鈥檛 or most experts don鈥檛 understand, and when the true law is followed, that will lead to the purge or the new government that they imagine should happen.鈥�

At least one sovereign citizen guru, self-proclaimed 鈥淛udge鈥� Anna von Reitz, has recently peppered her online missives with QAnon references, likely because of QAnon鈥檚 popularity and ability to attract viewers.

鈥淭he people that follow Q have a lot of free time, they鈥檙e super online, they鈥檙e willing to watch and read and engage a whole lot,鈥� said View. 鈥淚 think a lot of people, the leaders of these kinds of movements, realized that there鈥檚 an audience here.鈥�

Veterans on Patrol (VOP), a group originally run by longtime antigovernment advocate Michael Lewis Arthur Meyers, became full-fledged conspiracists in 2018 when members stumbled upon a skull, a tree with straps attached to it, and other items they believed were used for immigrant child sex trafficking in the Arizona desert.

Meyers later claimed that the trafficking was part of a conspiracy perpetrated by the Cemex company, Hillary Clinton, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the local FBI and others. Law enforcement investigated and deduced that the skull and the other items , but before their claims were thoroughly debunked, VOP put out a call to action, inviting individuals to join them in the desert.

Among those who were members of the antigovernment extremist group Oath Keepers and a number of Q supporters, who also supported their efforts online. VOP and its successor group AZ Desert Guardians harnessed Q鈥檚 appeal, using similar speech and hashtagging their social media posts with the Q salutation WWG1WGA.

United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) is an armed group situated along the U.S./Mexico border, detaining undocumented migrants and claiming that the unchecked invasion of immigrants will lead to an impending civil war in the U.S.

The group is led by Johnny Horton Jr., aka Larry Hopkins, whose includes impersonating a police officer. Hopkins was following UCP鈥檚 latest migrant roundup for being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

The group regularly disseminates Q鈥檚 messages on UCP鈥檚 official YouTube livestream. Members toss off remarks like 鈥渢hank God for Q and Q+, that鈥檚 Trump,鈥� actively look for Q messages and claim that real news is based those messages.

Q recently played a prominent role in another antigovernment livestream from American Patriots III% leader Scot Seddon. During the Facebook Live video on April 6, 2018, Seddon had member Shana Veillette from Washington State on the show, who identified herself as a QAnon follower. Seddon is not, but his response, rather than denouncing it, was to say, 鈥淚 know lots of smart people that believe in Q.鈥�

Q supporters also appeared at rallies organized by Chris Hill and his III% Security Force militia, in Nevada and North Carolina.

While QAnon seems, for now, to be a commonality rather than a motivating cause for antigovernment extremists, the online community of QAnon supporters is fertile recruiting ground. 鈥淭he thing about QAnon is it鈥檚 very attractive to people who are isolated, and I think that鈥檚 a trend you鈥檙e going to continue to see,鈥� said View.

Photo credit听PAUL RATJE/AFP/Getty Images

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