QAnon Is Evolving and Staying Alive 1 year after Capitol Riot

• QAnon is still around a year after the Capitol riot of January 6, 2006.
• In the absence “Q,”According to one expert, the power has now shifted to conspiracy theorists.
• Media Matters reported that 49 QAnon supporters announced their candidacy for the 2022 elections.

One of the most memorable viral clipsThe video was taken from the Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021. It showed a man leading an armed mob that chased a Capitol Police officer down a winding staircase. We now know who this man is. Douglas Jensen,Wearing a beanie and dark shirt with the letter embossed “Q.”

Jensen is one of more than 700 Trump-supporting protesters who were arrested in connection to the Capitol attack. He was among many who proudly feigned their loyalty to the conspiracy movement as they stormed Capitol. They were inspired in part by QAnon influences spreading misinformation about 2020 elections.

Jensen’s lawyer declined to comment on the ongoing case of his client.

On December 8, 2020 “Q” — an anonymous user on the fringe platform 8kun whose messages invented QAnon in 2017, falsely alleging that then-President Donald Trump was fighting a “deep state” cabal of child traffickers — shared a link to a Trump compilation video soundtracked by Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

It was just over a month later and there was no more guidance. “Q,”Jensen and other QAnon supporters stormed Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election.

One year after the insurrection at Capitol “Q”The movement hasn’t been back to 8kun. The movement is still active with far-right influencers who continue to promote conspiracy theories that include anti-vaccine rhetoric.

“In the absence of ‘Q’ and of Trump being on television 24/7, a lot of the power has shifted to influencers,”Jared Holt spoke to Insider. He is a resident fellow at Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. This lab studies online conspiracies and disinformation.

Experts including Holt warn that the movement could see a spike in activity around the 2022 midterm elections — with an onslaught of QAnon believers running for office.

In 2021, the movement spread to other ‘free speech’ platforms

After the Capitol riot Twitter removes 70,000 QAnon accounts, YouTube is downOn the movement, and Facebook bans it on all of its platforms.

Believers were forced by their convictions to switch to other social media apps, such as Parler and Gab. These apps have significantly fewer users and minimal moderation and are promoted as being more user-friendly. free-speech hubs.

Telegram, a messenger platform that allows you to communicate with others, has helped conspiracy theorists gain a large following.

This is what it means “the really hardcore shit has a home-field advantage”Holt stated that this is due to the lack of moderation and that it allows users to be further radicalized by violent white supremacist, or antisemitic ideologies.

“I think it’s detrimental that these groups have been sealed off into their own uncensored echo chamber that doesn’t break through to the mainstream,”Jake Rockatansky, host of the podcast “QAnon Anonymous,”Insider.

The attorney is one prominent QAnon-linked celebrity. Lin WoodFormer administrator of 8chan Ron Watkins, and a conspiracy theoryr known as “Ghost Ezra,”Each of them has hundreds of thousands Telegram subscribers.

They all share anti-vaccine conspiracy theories as well as the absurd allegation Trump was cheated of his victory in 2020. Ghost Ezra, Watkins, and Ghost Ezra didn’t respond to requests for comments.

Wood replied via email that he did “not know what the QAnon movement is,”However, he has made reference to the theory’s slogans including “WWG1WGA” (“where we go one, we go all”) online.

Many QAnon influencers have begun to distance themselves from the movement. Some even having their own websites. “purged the actual title of ‘Q’ or ‘QAnon’ from their lexicon even though they’re pushing the exact same theories,” Rockatansky said.

It’s difficult for most of QAnon’s leaders to be found on mainstream platforms. “absolutely has the potential to catch the rest of us by surprise if something like January 6 were to happen again,” Rockatansky said.

Telegram did no immediate respond to a request of comment.

In the absence of the anonymous leader, QAnon influencers have taken over for ‘Q’

Coded codes are not released by any one messiah. “Q drops”Influencers have taken over the role of QAnon stars, who interpret and translate for followers. “Q”As the main attraction of the movement.

“People are looking more to the influencers themselves for direction, less relying on them to translate a medium,”Holt stated. They no longer see QAnon influencers in the same way as fans and ‘Q’. “but the medium itself.”

Some QAnon believers lost faith after Biden was elected to office in January. Others, however, stayed and explored new avenues of conspiracy theories.

Holt claimed that the movement has been successful. “diversified ideologically”As QAnon celebrities realized “they could bring bigger audiences”By posting about other topics.

Michael Protzman, a far-right personality, led hundreds of his followers to a November rally in support of the far-right. Pilgrimage to Dealey PlazaIn Dallas, Texas, he claimed that John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane accident in 1999. He would then reappear and become Trump’s vice president. Vice News reported. Protzman didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Others, such as the influencer “QAnon John,”They have propagated the lie that the Astroworld incident in which 10 people were killed by a crowd crush at Travis Scott’s November concert was actually a satanic ritual.

QAnon could be more visible during the midterm elections

Rockatansky stated that it is likely that more GOP candidates will use QAnon style rhetoric in their upcoming campaigns, because they know there are many supporters of the movement. “are passionate and will get out and vote.”

According to the QAnon, there are 49 QAnon supporters in over 15 states who are running for US Congress in 2022. Media Matters, a left-leaning nonprofit. Two people with histories of sharing baseless conspiracy theories derived from QAnon — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Lauren Boebert — are already in Congress.

“I think other people in the movement who are looking to speed up ‘the Plan’ or speed up ‘the Storm,'” Rockatansky said — referencing the QAnon belief that a day would come where members of the fictional “cabal” would be arrested or executed en masse — “you’re going to see them running for local office.”