Did you know some people believe Democrats, the media, and some government agencies are either inter-dimensional demons or psychic vampires running a child sex trafficking ring?
There normally wouldn’t be any reason to waste time explaining this so-called “QAnon” conspiracy theory, except some of its adherents are now getting dangerously close to infiltrating prominent government sectors.
The conspiracy movement known as “QAnon” began with the “Pizzagate” incident in 2016, when a theory that Hillary Clinton and other high-profile Democrats, like actor Tom Hanks, were surreptitiously involved in a pedophilia trafficking operation out of the basement of Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C.
One individual took it upon himself to do something about it.
December 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch drove up to D.C. from North Carolina with an AR-15 assault rifle and a .38 caliber revolver, entered the pizzeria, fired off multiple rounds, and searched for evidence of hidden rooms and tunnels–anything to prove the perverse theory was true.
As one might expect, he found none.
Fortunately, no one was shot.
Welch was arrested and later sentenced to 48 months in prison.
But the story did not end there, and Welch, as it turns out, is not an anomaly.
Some actually were still convinced Hillary Clinton was trafficking children; Welch just had the wrong pizza place.
When Donald Trump entered the White House a year after “Pizzagate,” a mysterious entity named “Q” began posting cryptic clues on far-right message boards 4chan and 8chan (recently re-branded 8kun) many interpreted as evidence of a “deep-state” cabal of Democrats and media conspiring to take down Trump, who is the only one capable of destroying their pedophilia network.
“Q” is purported to be a government employee working with Donald Trump, secretly leaking documents to the public.
As risible as it sounds, not only are there individuals in our midst who believe this; QAnon acolytes are running for Congress under the “WWG1GWA–Where We Go One, We Go All” banner.
One just won a Republican primary in Georgia last week.
There are in total 20 Republican and Independent candidates appearing on ballots in November.
Marjorie Taylor Greene won a primary runoff for Georgia’s 14th congressional district August 11 against John Cowan a pro-Trump, pro-life, pro-gun Republican.
Greene claimed the first two Muslim women to elected Congress, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, are proof of an “Islamic invasion of our government.”
She promoted the Pizzagate theory, and claimed the deadly 2017 Charlottesville, Va. “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally was an “inside job” to “further the agenda of the elites.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, candidate for congress, also happens to be a QAnon follower. pic.twitter.com/lQzOScwXiy
— Travis View (@travis_view) June 6, 2020
Here are some more QAnon supporters who will appear on ballots all over America.
Josh Barnett is a Republican candidate running for Arizona’s 7th.
Joyce Bentley is a Republican candidate running in Nevada’s 1st.
Lauren Boebert is a Republican running in Colorado’s 3rd.
We can now add Lauren Boebert to the ever-growing list of QAnon supporters who are running for Congress. https://t.co/VJbFGkYKLx pic.twitter.com/m1bklAfikp
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) May 18, 2020
Mike Cargile is a Republican running in California’s 35th.
Erin Cruz is a Republican running in California’s 36th.
Ron Curtis is a Republican running in Hawaii’s 1st.
Derrick Grayson is a Republican running to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate in a special election.
Alison Hayden is a Republican running in California’s 15th.
K.W. Miller is an independent running in Florida’s 18th.
Buzz Patterson is a Republican running in California’s 7th.
Jo Rae Perkins is a Republican running for Senate in Oregon.
Nikka Piterman is a Republican running in California’s 13th.
Billy Prempeh is a Republican running in New Jersey’s 9th.
Theresa Raborn is a Republican running in Illinois’ 2nd.
Angela Stanton-King is a Republican running in Georgia’s 5th.
Johnny Teague is a Republican running in Texas’ 9th.
Antoine Tucker, aka “Tony Montaga” or “Montaga,” is a Republican running as a write-in in New York’s 14th.
Rob Weber is a Republican running in Ohio’s 9th.
Philanise White is a Republican running in Illinois’ 1st.
Daniel Wood is a Republican running in Arizona’s 3rd.
Donald Trump has given full-throated support to many of these candidates, and has for years retweeted pro-QAnon posts.
Last week, a reporter asked Trump about what he thought about “Q” adherents:
“I don’t know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate. These are people that don’t like seeing what’s going on in places like Portland and places like Chicago and New York and other cities and states. And I’ve heard these are people that love our country, and they just don’t like seeing it. So, I don’t know really anything about it, other than they do, supposedly, like me.”
The reporter then explained:
“At the crux of the theory is this belief that you are secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals. Does that sound like something you are behind?”
Trump replied:
“Well, I haven’t—I haven’t heard that, but is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing? I mean, you know, if I can help save the world from problems, I’m willing to do it.”
According to Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, a watch group that monitors right-wing lies circulating around American media, the Texas Republican Party adopted the slogan “We are the storm,” a shout-out to the QAnon conspiracy.
This is yet another reason to show up to the polls in droves this fall.
Do we want people this radicalized to be handed the keys to our legislative branch?
Image credit: thetruthrevolution.net
