MAGAReport for 4/10/2024

Today: A look inside QAnon plus summaries of the pro-Trump forums. No organized plans for violence.

A look inside QAnon today

Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory have not gone away. There is some interesting activity on their forums today, and I want to use it to give a peek inside their way of thinking.

As background, QAnon followers believe there is a secret cabal of cannibalistic pedophiles among elected Democrats, the media, and other “elites”. They believe Trump was sent to bring this cabal down and they are waiting for “the Storm” where he leads mass arrests (and sometimes public executions) of the cabal members. The eponymous “Q” was an alleged government insider who posted cryptic clues on the 4chan (and later 8kun) message board that QAnon followers try to interpret.

While Trump’s loss in 2020 limits his ability to execute mass arrests, QAnon followers still have hope he will return and the Storm will happen. They look for evidence in a lot of places using some questionable intelligence techniques. This brings us to today.

Trump has been posting about the pending renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) over on TruthSocial which, he contends, was used to spy on his 2016 campaign. QAnon followers have been looking for evidence to link these FISA posts to Q, and they found it. We see two pieces of “evidence” today.

First, a full on conspiracy theory board graphic! This cites an April 9, 2020 post by Q that reads simply “FISA INCIDCTMENTS=START”. Today, a QAnon follower created this graphic that links the 2020 Q post to yesterday’s coordinated posts by house Republicans that read “Get a warrant #FISA”. The follower notes that all these posts happened on April 9th and they all mention FISA. In the QAnon way of thinking, even though these aren’t the indictments that Q mentioned, could this be the start of the Storm since everything is mentioning FISA and some were also posted on the same date???

Another QAnon follower found a different connection. Back in 2018, Q made a post that reads “Listen Carefully. What will this week bring?” At the top of the Q post is some metadata, including a post ID number, 1525 (which we’ll come back to in just a second).

On Monday, conspiracy theorist Vincent Kennedy posted on Twitter: “The ’Start.’” Then, on Tuesday, Trump posted a link on TruthSocial to an article from the right-wing outlet Just The News about renewal of FISA. Our QAnon follower looked at the difference in time between Kennedy’s post and Trump’s post which, she says, is 15 hours and 25 minutes, thus linking it to post 1525 from Q in 2018. Could Trump have posted exactly 15 hours and 25 minutes later to intentionally reference the Q post and suggest this week will bring something, maybe related to the start of the Storm??? Here’s the graphic she posted in support of the theory, which is just missing the lines between the posts to make it another full conspiracy graphic:

This technique of linking up posts from Q and other information based on differences in time stamps (called “deltas” in the community), dates, numbers, and content is pretty common.

This is the kind of evidence that led a lot of people to storm the Capitol on January 6th.

QAnon is much smaller now than it was in 2020, but I think it’s fascinating to watch and worth following. QAnon grew out of the predecessor conspiracy theory, Pizzagate, and there is no reason to think a new movement won’t emerge from the ashes of QAnon as we approach the election. I don’t see it yet, but I’m watching for it.

From the .win Forums

This is an automated summary of discussions on pro-Trump forums.

The main topics being discussed include government corruption, immigration and border control, the COVID-19 pandemic, and race relations. There is also a focus on political figures and parties, with criticism of Democrats and support for President Trump. Other topics include media bias and manipulation, and conspiracy theories.

There are several instances of threats against individuals or groups, including calls for violence against government officials, media figures, and political opponents. There are also mentions of potential civil war and racial divide, as well as calls for retribution against Black Lives Matter and other black individuals.

There are no explicit plans for political or violent action mentioned, but there are discussions of potential consequences and the need for reform and accountability within the government. There are also mentions of potential legal action and calls for justice for January 6th “political prisoners”.

From Telegram

This is an automated summary of discussions on pro-Trump Telegram channels.

The discussion revolves around support for President Trump and his actions, criticism of Democrats and Biden, and religious beliefs. There are also mentions of immigration, financial scams, and technology censorship. Some individuals express concerns about satanism and support for Julian Assange. There are calls for giving Biden a chance and support for Trump's re-election in 2024. However, there are also threats against individuals and groups, including Democrats, Biden, and media outlets. There are no explicit plans for political or violent action mentioned in the posts and comments.