What You Need To Know About QAnon
QAnon is the umbrella term for a sprawling spiderweb of right-wing internet conspiracy theories with antisemitic and anti-人兽性交 elements that falsely claim the world is run by a secret cabal of pedophiles who worship Satan and are plotting against President Trump. Though some influential individuals are active in the movement, it is not an organized group with defined leadership.
QAnon believers falsely claim the cabal is abducting children to kill them and harvest their blood for a chemical known as adrenochrome, which is used to extend their lives. This belief is a centuries-old antisemitic trope based on the falsehood of Blood Libel, in which a cabal of Jews kidnaps and murders Christian children. QAnon鈥檚 claims of pedophilia and one of its latest campaigns, #SaveTheChildren/#SaveOurChildren, relies on a slogan that has been used for decades as an anti-人兽性交 dog whistle to paint 人兽性交 people as a danger to children, usually through pedophilia.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also created space for the expansion of QAnon beliefs through anti-mask and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. People are spending more time at home on the internet, where social media algorithms can lead them to extremist content, especially with regard to alternative health communities. Videos of anti-mask confrontations, according to NBC News, have become a badge of honor in conspiracy circles, and provide examples of people fighting their shadowy enemy cabal in the real world. QAnon conspiracy theories are able to adapt to a variety of extant conspiracy theories and spread through more networks.
QAnon believers are also getting involved in politics. The 人兽性交 Action Fund counted 聽running for office in 2020 who have shared QAnon messaging or stated their openness to the conspiracy theory. Of those, a few will probably win election. President Trump has also . A May 2019 FBI 聽describes 鈥渃onspiracy theory-driven domestic terrorists鈥� as a growing threat, and specifically mentioned QAnon.
The ideas behind QAnon became more popular after the 鈥淧izzagate鈥� conspiracy theory, which promoted a falsehood that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex-trafficking ring out of the basement of Comet Ping Pong, a pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C. Nevertheless, the rumors spurred at least one believer 鈥� Edgar Maddison Welch 鈥� to go to the restaurant with an AR-15 to look for the non-existent basement, where in December 2016 he fired shots into a door that led to a server closet. He was 聽in prison in 2017.
Cryptic posts by the anonymous 鈥淨鈥� (hence 鈥淨Anon鈥�) then began showing up on message boards such as 4chan, 8chan and 8kun in October 2017. Q claimed to be a high-level government informant nicknamed Q because of their supposed clearance, the Department of Energy鈥檚 equivalent of 鈥渢op secret.鈥�
Q鈥檚 first post claimed that 鈥淗RC鈥� (presumably Hillary Rodham Clinton) was on the run and would be extradited with massive riots resulting 鈥� none of which occurred. Nevertheless, followers continue to mine Q鈥檚 posts, trying to decode them for information about an alleged master plan in which President Trump will take down the cabal (鈥渄eep state鈥�) they believe is working against him.
Just months after Q鈥檚 initial post, the theory started appearing on other social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook. And websites created for Q followers, such as QMap, had over 10 million site visits in July alone. QMap was subsequently 聽when the website鈥檚 owner was identified as New Jersey information security analyst Jason Gelinas, who offered no comment when the site went down. Gelinas was 聽as senior vice president in Citigroup鈥檚 technology department as a result.
Eventually, QAnon ideas spread from message boards into the mainstream, and the movement now includes merchandise that has been sold on Etsy, Amazon and other platforms.
QAnon has spread into other extremist ideologies, including those supported by sovereign citizens, who believe laws don鈥檛 apply to them. A 聽is encouraging parents estranged from their children to kidnap them from Child Protective Services (CPS) and/or the custodial parent or guardian. Some of the people who have tried to do this believe that CPS, like the cabal, is trying to abduct children and harvest their adrenochrome. Some of the abductors also have ties to sovereign citizen movements.
Other ideologies, including some in the antigovernment movement, have also embraced QAnon conspiracies. The United Constitutional Patriots聽(UCP) works along the U.S./Mexico border trying to detain undocumented migrants. They claim that an unchecked 鈥渋nvasion鈥� of immigrants will lead to civil war. UCP鈥檚 YouTube livestreams disseminate Q鈥檚 messages聽while group members praise Q and Trump. QAnon supporters have also shown up at rallies organized by Chris Hill and his III% Security Force militia in Nevada and North Carolina.
鈥淨Anon is an especially dangerous movement because it relies on a series of conspiracy theories that can easily spread via social media algorithms and attract new adherents, pulling them into the existing QAnon network,鈥� said Don Haider-Markel in an email to Hatewatch. Haider-Markel is an expert on domestic terror who is the chair of political science at the University of Kansas. Conspiracies tend to be more popular during times of great uncertainty because they provide a sense of control, according to Haider-Markel, but 鈥渢he conspiracies espoused by QAnon undermine our democratic principles and are easily morphed when challenged by evidence.鈥� Additionally, he said, the theories 鈥渉ave inspired individuals to commit acts of violence, including murder.鈥�
Antisemitism
The underpinnings of QAnon , a centuries-old antisemitic trope that posits a secret cabal of Jews controls the world and traffics in children for their blood. QAnon believers claim that members of the cabal of Democratic officials and celebrities are trafficking children for their blood 鈥� specifically, a chemical within it (adrenochrome) that the cabal believes will extend their lives.
QAnon is, according to Genocide Watch鈥檚 Gregory Stanton, a 鈥�,鈥� perhaps the most influential antisemitic pamphlet of all time, written by Russian anti-Jewish propagandists around the turn of the twentieth century. The pamphlet was a collection of myths about a Jewish plot to take over the world and included a central Blood Libel mythology, which posited that Jews kidnapped and killed Christian children whose blood they would then mix into matzos.
Anti-人兽性交 sentiment
QAnon supporters have linked the conspiracy鈥檚 pedophilia claims to 人兽性交 people, another longstanding trope that falsely paints 人兽性交 people as predators of children, ostensibly to 鈥渞ecruit鈥� them into being 人兽性交.
Recently, California state Sen. Scott Wiener 聽with thousands of threats 鈥� including anti-人兽性交 taunts 鈥� and posts on social media. Wiener became a target because he introduced a bill to end discrimination against 人兽性交 young people on California鈥檚 sex-offender registry, which treated consensual same-sex activity differently than heterosexual sexual activity. The bill, supported by a coalition of law enforcement, civil rights and sexual assault survivor groups, passed, but QAnon supporters made inaccurate claims about it, including the false claim that the bill legalized sex with children.
A brief timeline of criminal charges linked to Q
Several adherents have allegedly engaged in criminal or violent acts or have plotted to do so while thousands of others have threatened and harassed people online and off.
In an attempt to curb the spread of QAnon conspiracy theories and the potential violence they may encourage, major social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook , including bans on accounts affiliated with the movement and blocks on URLs related to QAnon to prevent them from being shared. Other measures include not highlighting materials or recommending Tweets associated with QAnon. However, as QAnon is embraced in mainstream quarters and has spread internationally, these bans may have come too late.
June 15, 2018: Arizona resident 聽blocked a bridge with an armored vehicle near Hoover Dam. In a letter written from jail, Wright claimed he engaged in these actions out of patriotism and to bring hidden truths to light. Wright 聽to making a terroristic threat and two other charges, including aggravated assault and fleeing from law enforcement.
March 13, 2019: Police allege Anthony Comello, 24, of Staten Island, New York, , a boss in the Gambino crime family, because he believed Cali was part of the deep state. Comello 聽weeks before at a federal courthouse trying to make a citizen鈥檚 arrest of several elected officials, including Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Congressman Adam Schiff. In June 2020, Comello was 聽to stand trial.
Sept. 25, 2019: , 41, was arrested for allegedly vandalizing an altar in a chapel in Sedona, Arizona. Larson allegedly shouted that the Catholic church supported human trafficking. Larson used QAnon hashtags on social media and claimed the vandalism was a mission. He was 聽in October 2019 with aggravated criminal damage, disorderly conduct and a hate crime.
Dec. 30, 2019: Colorado woman , 50, was arrested in Kalispell, Montana, for allegedly plotting to kidnap her son through a raid by QAnon believers. She was charged with felony conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Child protective services removed Abcug鈥檚 7-year-old son from her custody because she is suspected of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which a caregiver fabricates an illness of a child for sympathy.
June 11, 2020: , 29, of Boston, led police on a high-speed chase with his five children in the minivan. Slyman appears to have become convinced that the government was going to abduct his children or shoot them in a staged killing. Slyman was 聽three counts of felony reckless conduct and disobeying an officer.
Aug. 12, 2020: , 30, was arrested in Waco, Texas, after she reportedly chased other drivers and repeatedly rammed one鈥檚 vehicle. Fulbright told police that she believed the driver of the car she hit was a pedophile and she was rescuing a young girl from being trafficked. Two of her acquaintances reported that she had become absorbed by the QAnon conspiracy theory. Fulbright 聽with a second-degree felony of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor of driving while intoxicated.
Oct. 1, 2020: 聽was arrested in Oregon after allegedly abducting her 6-year-old son from his father, who has legal custody. Jolley鈥檚 Facebook page was filled with QAnon references. In December, she posted an article that claimed Child Protective Services abducts children and drains them of adrenochrome. Jolley has been 聽with a third-degree felony of custodial interference across state lines.
QAnon terminology and hashtags
Adrenochrome: chemical compound that forms by the oxidation of adrenaline, the stress hormone. QAnon believers claim the sex-trafficking cabal is harvesting this substance from the blood of children.
Breadcrumbs/bakers: the cryptic posts that Q makes are known as 鈥渂readcrumbs鈥� (aka Q drops) and the people who try to figure them out are known as 鈥渂akers.鈥�
Deep state: QAnon adherents believe a secret parallel government that has been in existence for years runs the world and is currently trying to undermine President Trump. According to QAnon lore, former president Reagan was shot by the deep state and every president since with the exception of Trump is a deep state agent.
Enjoy the show: rallying cry and also a favorite phrase used by Q that is a reference to an approaching apocalypse.
Nothing can stop what鈥檚 coming: phrase that references the judgment day soon to come on the deep state.
The Great Awakening/#thegreatawakening: another QAnon slogan referring to when elites will be routed and 鈥渢he truth鈥� about the deep state will be revealed.
#SaveTheChildren/#SaveOurChildren: hashtags that started out as a legitimate campaign against child trafficking that were hijacked by QAnon followers in August 2020. QAnon adherents used the hashtag in recruiting attempts and rallies, calling for people to save children from the pedophile cabal QAnon claims exists.
The storm:聽phrase derived from a comment President Trump made in October 2018 with regard to a military dinner he was having. The comment was 鈥渢he calm before the storm鈥� (CBTS). QAnon followers believe the storm is a coming series of mass arrests 鈥� a judgment day 鈥� that will destroy the deep state (see above).
Trust the plan:聽phrase in which believers are told to trust that everything President Trump does is part of a master plan to destroy the deep state.
White hat/black hat:聽in the QAnon universe, supporters of President Trump in the government are white hats while those who do not support him are black hats.
White rabbit:聽term referencing Lewis Carroll鈥檚 鈥淎lice in Wonderland鈥� used by QAnon adherents to discuss the path of information they are following, including the hidden truths and signals they believe exist related to the pedophile network and Donald Trump鈥檚 role in bringing it down.
WWG1WGA/WWG1WGAWORLDWIDE:聽鈥淲here we go one, we go all.鈥� Rallying cry for QAnon supporters. Although the quote is originally from the 1996 Jeff Bridges sailing adventure movie 鈥淲hite Squall,鈥� adherents wrongly attribute it to President John F. Kennedy. QAnon supporters believe JFK was about to reveal the existence of a secret government when he was assassinated. Many currently believe that John F. Kennedy聽Jr.聽聽in a plane crash and will soon emerge to either become Q or team up with Trump.
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