The craziest QAnon theories that spread amid the Capitol Hill riots
Over the last handful of years, an assemblage of conspiracy theories collectively known as Q or QAnon (or more recently E) have slowly gained traction within the United States.
The intertwined and countless claims made by Q are often self-contradictory, irrational and bizarre. The central theme to the narrative is that Washington DC is controlled by evil, paedophilic, satanic yet all-powerful cohorts within the worlds of politics, business and Hollywood, collectively referred to as the Deep State. And it is these people that control the United States, and indeed the rest of the world.
The theories go on to state that one man is leading the fight against the Deep State. President Donald Trump. The Q narrative centers itself around the ever evolving power struggle between Trump and the Deep State. So prolific are these conspiracies, its followers also include some high profile celebrities and even a handful of politicians.
The name itself, Q, derives from a 4Chan poster who claimed to be an official embedded inside the US government leaking confidential information to the public.
QAnon has become entangled with a plethora of other conspiracies and claims over the last year, such as “forced vaccinations”, the claim that 5G is causing COVID-19 and the archaic conspiracy that the government is covertly implanting US citizens with mind-controlling tracking chips. But more recently, those peddling the Q narrative have [inevitably] become heavily involved in Trump’s rigged election claims, which the president himself began promoting months before the 2020 presidential election. After all, considering the theme of QAnon content, Trump’s rigged election assertions were a perfect fit.
In January 2021, there was a perilous flashpoint. An intensification of Trump’s rigged election claims, the contentious Georgia Senate run-offs that were won by Democrats, the official certification of Biden’s electoral win and a large, organised Trump rally, all of which occurred within the same 48 hours, resulted in a quick escalation that ultimately boiled over with the Capitol Hill riots on January 6th 2021.
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This flashpoint also resulted an escalation of Q related conspiracies and assertions, and is a revealing demonstration of not only how absurd QAnon themed content is, but also how dangerous it can potentially be. Here is just a small sample of what accounts that have been heavily involved in promoting QAnon were also claiming in the direct aftermath of the Capitol Hill riots.
Trump has enacted the Insurrection Act
The Insurrection Act allows the president to activate the military within the United States to prevent large scale civil disorder and insurrection.
Claims like the one below assert that President Trump had invoked the act after the Capitol Hill riots in order to arrest political opponents “guilty of treason”, and that he would stay on as president indefinitely.
The screenshot above came from social media app Parler, from an account associated with disinformation and QAnon conspiracies. The claim that Trump invoked the Insurrection Act is now demonstrably false, and the claim that Trump would stay on indefinitely would have been false even if he had invoked the act since his term still comes to a close on January 20th. The Insurrection Act does not afford a president the ability to stay on past their presidential term which ends on a specific date as per the US Constitution.
The Parler account @TeamTrumpNews has frequently and falsely claimed to be Trump’s official Parler account. It is not.
There will be an Internet “blackout”
Only a day after the Capitol Hill riots, social media posts and rumours began circulating claiming there would be an imminent Internet blackout and even a power blackout, and during that blackout the military would make many arrests and that Trump would be deemed the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
Many Twitter users even reported friends and family members taken in by QAnon related content messaging them about the claim and warning them to gas up their cars and withdraw money from bank accounts. A British conspiracy blog run by a man called Simon Parkes is one of the blogs driving this claim on social media. (The same blog also promotes “soul readings”, demonic possession services and the infamous 5G “Bioshield” USB key we’ve previously discussed here.)
Many such claims about online and power blackouts also claim that Trump will communicate to people using the Emergency Alert System, or the Space Force Broadcast Satellite Program.
However, despite such rumours spreading for days, neither the UK or US experienced any significant power or Internet outages.
Apple are disabling the Emergency Alert System
This specious claim described Apple’s apparent attempt at disabling the Emergency Alert System (that allows a president to communicate with US citizens) on their devices in an upcoming update, thus to prevent Trump from communicating with the public.
It was started by serial conspiracy theorist Lin Wood, offered entirely without evidence or reason, and despite being posted on Parler some time ago, never turned out to be true. Apple users still have the feature on their phones, even after updating their devices.
Nancy Pelosi has been arrested for treason
Many social media posts and online chatter claimed that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been arrested for treason and taken to a secure location, with many posts claiming this was “just the start” of many high profile arrests.
Despite circulating for many days now, they are demonstrably untrue. Pelosi has been seen publicly a number of times since these claims started to circulate.
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None of the above was true, and time itself has proved sufficient to debunk them all. But just like those who predict a specific date as the “end of days”, only to hastily push back their predictions to a later date when they don’t come to fruition, QAnon has pushed back many of its predictions to later dates, as you can see below.
Mass arrests at the Biden Inauguration?
This account known for posting QAnon theories claimed Biden’s Inauguration would turn into a mass arresting event, and Trump would be posting about it using the Space Force Global Broadcast Satellite. Not only that, but this Twitter user had somehow discovered the truth and felt it prudent to broadcast it on Twitter.
Trump to be re-elected in March 2021
A conspiracy online claims that Trump will be sworn in for a second term on March 4th 2021 (this is the date presidents used to be sworn in prior or 1933.) This is predicated on the spurious claim that the United States hasn’t existed since the 1800s, at which point after the US Civil War, the United States become the America Corporation. As such, this claim promotes the end of the America Corporation and a return to the United States on March 4th with the inauguration of President Trump, with many claiming his vice president will be General Michael Flynn.
Biden ultimately will never become president
Despite Trump conceding in his own manner and Biden’s electoral certification in Congress, those peddling QAnon theories still cling to the assertion that Trump – using many of the methods outlined above including the Insurrection Act and arresting political opponents – will remain in power, and will remain president.
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Looking back at the history of QAnon, it is largely a litany of un-provable accusations and assertions that have failed to come to fruition. It’s a narrative that exploits confirmation bias and attempts to ease cognitive dissonance.
But perhaps most of all is that it offers a simple narrative used by people to explain away the complex nuances of politics, ideology and life. When we believe in a tale that is as two dimensional as good vs. evil, it’s easy to know whose side we are on and consequently who we can point an accusing finger at and exclaim evil, especially when the real world does not always offer us such clear distinctions.
Q will no doubt live on, morphing and mutating to fit with the evolving political climate. As with any cult-like entity, its failings will soon be forgotten and explained away by its most ardent of followers, the predictions will be pushed further into the future to maintain the “it’s just around the corner” cliff hanger, and the central theme about the eternal power struggle between the forces of good and evil will most likely continue unperturbed.
The best the rest of us can do is to continue to provide factual information, point out logical inconsistencies, remind followers of previous failings of the Q narrative and hopefully this conspiracy will make the return journey back from the mainstream to the fringes where it belongs.
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