Trump's Encouraging QAnon May Result in Violence--Just ask the FBI
On Thursday, Yahoo! News published an exclusive story detailing a May 2019 FBI assessment that online conspiracy theories “very likely” result in domestic extremists committing violent crimes. The report notes that it is “the first FBI product examining the threat from conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists and provides a baseline for future intelligence products,” and predicts an increased risk of violent outcomes as the United States enters “major election cycles such as the 2020 presidential election.”
If that happens, it may be in no small part due to President Donald Trump’s endorsement and amplification of conspiracy theories and theorists such as QAnon. A few hours after the FBI assessment leaked, the President held a campaign rally in Cincinnati, where the pre-rally speaker Brandon Straka called out the phrase, “Where we go one, we go all,” a rallying cry of QAnon believers. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
I. QAnon and Its Effects
One of the conspiracy theories specifically described in the report, the QAnon narrative posits that “an anonymous government official known as ‘Q’ posts classified information online to reveal a covert effort, led by President Trump, to dismantle a conspiracy involving ‘deep state’ actors and global elites allegedly engaged in an international child sex trafficking ring,” according to the FBI. Researchers at Media Matters have tracked multiple violent incidents and threats of violence linked to QAnon adherents, including:
● A Washington man who murdered his brother with a sword;
● An Oregon man who threatened to kill YouTube employees over what he believed were acts of censorship;
● A man accused of murdering an alleged crime boss;
● An armed Nevada man who blocked the Hoover Dam with an armored vehicle;
● An Oklahoma man who threatened to assassinate Trump.
II. Trump’s Support for QAnon
More:https://www.justsecurity.org/65659/trumps-encouraging-qanon-may-result-in-violence-just-ask-the-fbi/?fbclid=IwAR1ldgejEKS5EHXJVXaFFRsng4SPajKKEmWjrN9WJquro7ivZxane2tLlZc