CONGRATULATIONS, WE'RE A CULT!
>reposting b/c notable
Fans of bizarre 'QAnon' cult show up in droves at Trump rally with signs and t-shirts promoting group inspired by #Pizzagate pedophilia conspiracy theory
Followers of the online conspiracy were seen in the audience at President Trump's Tampa rally, waving signs and wearing t-shirts
QAnon perpetuates talk of a 'deep state'
It launched the Pizzagate plot that claimed without evidence top Democrats were running a pedophilia ring [my edit: WAT?!]
Trump did not acknowledge the group or its followers in his remarks
He has talked about a 'deep red state' and conspiracies in the past
Followers of QAnon were spotted at President Donald Trump's rally in Tampa on Tuesday night, wearing t-shirts and waving signs that read 'we are Q' and indicating the online conspiracy theorists are moving from the internet to the campaign trail.
The QAnon conspiracy theories - said to be started by someone in the Trump administration although that has not been proven - has perpetuated talk of a 'deep red' state and launched the Pizzagate plot that claimed without evidence top Democrats were running a pedophilia ring.
Scattered throughout the audience in the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall were Trump supporters showing their support for QAnon.
Other prominent names have bought into QAnon or acted upon a post from it.
Porn star Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti sought police assistance after the promoter of the conspiracy theory posted a photo of a man outside of his office to the message-board 8chan.
Avenatti posted a version of the photo on Twitter in an appeal to the public for information.
'We are trying to identify the man in this picture, which was taken outside my office yesterday (Sun) afternoon,' Avenatti wrote. 'We will NOT be intimidated into stopping or changing our course.'
Actress Roseanne Barr has posted on twitter ideas and theories that have roots in QAnon.
Also known as 'The Storm', the QAnon theory is based on a series of anonymous and highly cryptic posts on the message board 4Chan, which purport to be written by a high-level insider at the Trump White House.
Q is a reference to 'Q-clearance', the Department of Energy security classification that offers the broadest level of access to Top Secret and Secret Restricted Data granted by the US government.
Though Q's posts are sometimes cryptic to the point of nonsense, in broad strokes the theory maintains that Trump is locked in a secret battle with 'evil' elements at the highest level of government.
Trump himself has reference battles against the 'deep state' - employees in the government he claims are working against his administration.
One conspiracy theory to come out of 'Q' was Pizzagate, purporting that top-level Democrats are engaged in satanic child sex abuse and child sex trafficking that included the involvement of Washington D.C. pizza restaurant Comet Ping Pong.
One of Q's only specific predictions, that Hillary Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta would be arrested on November 3, did not come to pass.
Nevertheless, the theory fired the imaginations of many who envision The Storm as an imminent domestic military crackdown and purge targeting the Trump Administration's foes.
Additionally, some interpreters of the conspiracy theory maintain that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is secretly working for Trump, preparing tens of thousands of sealed indictments targeting agents of the 'deep state' and allies of Clinton.
Fans of the QAnon theory, who call themselves anons, have spent countless hours piecing together the 'crumbs' dropped in the anonymous posts, which began in October.
As one fan explained in a post shared by Q on Monday: 'REAL ANON'S are here as we follow the EVIDENCE (documented verifiable evidence), we are building the TRUTH of our HISTORY so we can expose and dismantle the corruption that has PLAGUED our world for millennia.'
'WE are NOT about violence, subversion or control. WE are simply providing FACT based information FREE of charge to the WORLD,' the anon added.
PUBLISHED: 11:03 EDT, 1 August 2018 by Emily Goodin
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6015627/Fans-bizarre-QAnon-cult-droves-Trump-rally-signs-t-shirts.html