Law enforcement agencies are strengthening security around the Capitol on Thursday ahead of reports that supporters of QAnon believe Donald Trump will become president that day could turn violent.
US Capitol Police have already reported a possible plot by militias to attack the Capitol on March 4, saying in a statement that they have “taken immediate steps to improve our security position” over several days.
What’s not clear is how many QAnon believers are actually on board with the idea that Trump will return to power that day, or plans to take action himself.
Supporters of QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory that claims Trump is waging a secret war against a nefarious cabal of cannibal Satanists in the Democratic Party and other liberal institutions, were well represented in the January 6 uprising at the Capitol.
Of the more than 250 individuals charged with storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, dozens have posted openly about their belief in QAnon and other conspiracy theories. The fur-covered conspiracy supporter known as the ‘QAnon Shaman’ entered the Senate Chamber and left a threatening note for Vice President Mike Pence, while another QAnon supporter was imprisoned in a ‘Q’ shirt with menacing police officers, who later claimed he aided the assault on the Capitol to make sure that QAnon got credit for the assault.
Many QAnon believers who had been promised Trump’s presidency would instigate some sort of American utopia along with a violent purge of his opponents at a time known as ‘The Storm’ were stunned on January 20 when Joe Biden was sworn in . . In QAnon’s chat rooms, some supporters said that Biden’s successful inauguration made them suspect the bizarre conspiracy theory was bogus, while others described physical disgust at feeling cheated.
But at least some QAnon believers decided that Biden had not actually become president. Instead, they borrowed an elaborate theory from the anti-government sovereign citizen movement citizen movement that argues that since the 1870s, the United States has been a corporation and not a country. In this story, the United States is a company in debt to bankers in London, and no laws have been in effect since then.
A faction of QAnon supporters claimed that, as a result, Trump would return on March 4 – the original inauguration date to 1933 – as the head of the ‘real’ US government.
The March 4 theory is more popular with average QAnon believers than the promoters making up the conspiracy theory, according to Travis View, the co-host of QAnon tracking podcast QAnon Anonymous. While many QAnon leaders claim the March 4 is a trap intended to arrest or blame QAnon believers for violence, ‘Q’ – the anonymous figurehead of the entire movement – hasn’t posted online since December. , meaning there is no force on either embrace the March 4th idea or reject it.
View compared the March 4 beliefs to the idea, controversially even within QAnon, the John F. Kennedy Jr. pretended to be dead to help Trump deal with the “deep state.”
“I think this is another situation where the regular QAnon followers have picked it up, but it seems to be an embarrassment to some of the more established QAnon promoters,” View said.
On Telegram, the messaging app and social media network that many QAnon believers ended up in after being banned from more mainstream platforms in the wake of the riot, top QAnon leaders have urged their followers not to get together on March 4th , claiming that the focus is on the date. is a ruse designed to undermine them. With “Q” silent, others have cited a “clue” from Q citing both the word “trap” and the phrase “March 4” as proof that the date has no meaning in the QAnon canon.
January 6 was widely embraced by both QAnon supporters and other hardcore Trump supporters as a key date as it marked Congress’s count of electoral votes. Plotters openly discussed plans to violently attack the Capitol to disrupt votes, and protesters made plans to carpool to Washington, increasing pro-Trump numbers in the city. In comparison, there has been significantly less open discussion about March 4.
“The main QAnon promoters – they’re not on board, they consider this a false flag,” View said.
No matter what happens on March 4, QAnon has already been tied to three murders. Recently, a QAnon believer allegedly murdered an amateur legal expert who used sovereign civilian tactics in court.
QAnon’s role in the Capitol uprising has also been highlighted in the lawsuits of the alleged rioters.
Jacob Chansley, the self-proclaimed “Q Shaman” who was one of the first to storm the Capitol wearing a spear, megaphone and headdress, claimed to be a “leader” of the violent conspiracy. He even wore the elaborate costume on several arrests in Arizona to raise QAnon’s fame, prosecutors previously claimed.
A Federal Aviation Administration employee who took a selfie in front of House Speak Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office was arrested after claiming to have a “Q-clearance” to enter the Capitol. Prosecutors allege that Kevin Strong reportedly told a witness QAnon that he stated that World War III would take place on January 6 and that he had a “WW1WGA” flag – representing the popular QAnon slogan “where do we go, we all go “- in this house. Strong also told the witness he believed the QAnon “Storm” would cover the cost of a truck he recently purchased, according to a criminal complaint.