“Why are you publicly supporting QAnon,” two callers asked this week during the monthly “Coffee with the Mayor,” the Mayor’s municipal radio broadcast.
“What does the Punisher symbol mean to you?” another caller asked, referring to the comic book antihero icon adopted by QAnon followers. “Are you concerned that the publicity you receive as a result of your position on QAnon will damage our reputation?”
Mayor William Armacost answered every question on his radio show calmly, patiently and with little apology for his growing Internet attention as mayor calling conspiracy theory a “truth movement.”
“I have never publicly stated that I support it,” Armacost said, referring to QAnon. ‘I’m looking for information. I should have kept my personal feelings to myself. I’m here to talk about our beautiful town of Sequim. ‘
But a significant number of Sequim residents have petitioned to reinstate the city manager, who stepped down earlier this month. They call the mayor a dangerous threat after a number of suspected QAnon followers have been arrested for their alleged role in the January 6 uprising of the US Capitol.
“The people who led the uprising in the Capitol were Q leaders,” said Shenna Younger, a Sequim resident who leads the Sequim Good Governance League, a grassroots movement hoping to sack the mayor. This is not just any conspiracy theory. This is serious. ‘
‘QAnon is a truth movement’
Sequim City Council revolves around a paid city manager who acts as the general manager. That means that Armacost does not have the power assigned to most US mayors.
Most of Sequim’s residents paid little attention to Armacost until last August, when he released a stunning statement during “Coffee with the Mayor.”
When asked about QAnon, the mayor replied, “QAnon is a truth movement that encourages you to think for yourself. If you remove Q from that equation, they are patriots from all over the world fighting for humanity, truth, freedom and children. and save others from human trafficking. “
Armacost then encouraged his listeners to watch a QAnon video full of conspiracy theories about a cabal of Satan-worshiping, child sex trafficking group formed as part of a “deep state” seeking to destroy Donald Trump.
The video reflects the baseless claims promoted by QAnon. Since its inception, QAnon has moved from the darkest corners of the internet as a single conspiracy theory to baseless theories of elections, global financial systems and human trafficking.
Earlier this month, City Council approved Bush’s sudden resignation following a surprise motion by Armacost. The resignation of the popular city administrator worried the residents of Sequin, who believe that the public confrontation over QAnon led to Bush’s departure.
Bush told CNN he would not comment on his departure.
On Thursday’s “Coffee with the Mayor” broadcast, residents like Karen Hogan called to demand an explanation.
“We have philosophical differences between the city council and the city administrator,” said Armacost.
“What are those differences?” Hogan fired back on the call.
“I’m not free to divulge it,” said Armacost. “We have big differences, and we’ll leave it at that.”
Two callers from the Mayor’s broadcast then asked, “Why are you publicly supporting QAnon?”
“I have never publicly stated that I support it,” said Armacost. “I’m looking for information and I should have kept my personal feelings to myself.”
Residents who formed the Sequim Good Governance League dispute the mayor’s defense.
Armacost’s opponents point to the mayor’s personal Facebook page, where Armacost has shared multiple posts of disinformation, and the phrase “WWG1WGA,” a rallying cry QAnon supporters have adopted, meaning, “Where we go, go we all. “
They also say the mayor wore a lapel pin at the virtual city council meetings this year. The pin, clearly visible at the taped city council meetings, is a skull that matches the Punisher symbol favored by QAnon believers. The mayor says the pin supports law enforcement.
Younger says 500 people have joined the Sequim Good Governance League in just two weeks. They fear that the departure of the city administrator could further influence the mayor.
“People are awake now,” Younger said. “They want to participate, and they want to be involved.”
Rick Perdue, who recently moved to Sequim from the East Coast, said he was shocked to learn about the mayor of his new town, who he described as moderate and hospitable.
“I didn’t think we would have this kind of madman here. He should represent the values of the community, not his crazy right-wing QAnon conspiracy,” said Perdue.
Perdue points out that Sequim is in Clallam County, a county that has elected the winning president at every election since 1980. The county, Perdue says, represents the country’s political sentiment, which is why he is alarmed by the mayor’s words.
“There are a lot of people who believe this,” said Perdue. “Look at the things going on in Congress right now. We are certainly not alone in having people at a high level following the information from QAnon conspiracy theory.”
‘I even read the fake news’
On Thursday, CNN approached Armacost outside the radio station after his program. For fifteen minutes, the mayor answered questions calmly and politely.
When Armacost recalled what he said earlier on his radio show, calling the conspiracy theory a ‘truth movement,’ Armacost said, ‘What I am calling is the opportunity as a patriot and as a US citizen to seek the truth. That’s because of analysis and research. . People have to make a decision to do their own homework. ‘
The mayor said he regretted telling residents to watch the QAnon video, but he did not acknowledge the video’s bizarre content. The mayor then undisturbed shifted the conversation to human trafficking. One of the promoted QAnon conspiracy theories is that members of the “deep state” are engaged in human trafficking.
“I think if you take the time to do the research, there are a lot of parallels you can read that are historically in the books of things that happened,” Armacost said. “Human trafficking is one of them. We had a great opportunity to find more people who are in danger and save them and try to restore normal lives.”
When asked if he is a QAnon follower, the mayor said, “I am entertaining all the sources. I even read the fake news, to even see if there is a substance, a thread of substance that contains the truth.”
Armacost says he could never support it to damage a building like the Capitol or to harm or disrupt a government official. But he wondered if QAnon’s beliefs had fueled some of the Capitol insurgents, despite a video showing rioters wearing Q-shirts and Q-signs on Jan. 6 as they entered the Capitol.
“I’ve watched a lot of videos of what appears to be scenarios instead of what kept running. I can’t confirm that one group was against the other,” said Armacost. “Just because the angle of the camera showed this image, it may not have shown a different angle showing a totally different scenario. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t promise that this frame I saw on a clip was the truth versus the truth. they didn’t show all the information. “
Ultimately, the mayor says that what he believes is private does not affect his impartial job as mayor of Sequim.
As to whether he would denounce QAnon as concerned Sequim residents who asked him, the mayor said, “I don’t support it. I’m not in a position … I’m a little guy running a small business. in a small town. I don’t have the authority to sue or promote either. “
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that residents of Sequim organized a petition to impeach Mayor William Armacost. They have organized a petition to reinstate the city administrator.