FBI says QAnon conspiracy theories a domestic terrorism threat

The FBI has identified conspiracy theories, including those espoused by QAnon, as a domestic terrorism threat, according to report Thursday.

It is the first time the FBI has labeled fringe conspiracy theories as a terrorism threat.

Yahoo News reported the intelligence bulletin, which it says originated from the FBI’s Phoenix office. The previously unpublicized bulletin was released in May, according to the report.

The FBI bulletin specifically mentions QAnon, a group that believes there is a deep state working against President Trump, and Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton and other Democratic leaders are operating a child sex trafficking ring underneath a Washington, D.C., pizza shop.

The FBI believes these stories will spread, “driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts,” the bulletin said. Agents are on alert that such conspiracy theories could spread during the 2020 election, the bureau said.

Both Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracies have been linked to acts of violence.

In 2016, a man fired bullets into the D.C. pizza shop alleged to be the center of the sex trafficking ring. He told police he was there to investigate the conspiracy.

Last month, an attorney for a man accused of gunning down a mob boss in New York City said his client was inspired by QAnon.

The Yahoo report surfaces a week after FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that white supremacist violence was the majority of domestic terrorism cases the bureau has investigated in fiscal year 2019.

The memo, however, states conspiracy theory violence is separate from racially motivated attacks.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/1/fbi-says-qanon-conspiracy-theories-domestic-terror/

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FBI memo warns QAnon poses potential terror threat: report

An FBI document, first reported by Yahoo News, identifies conspiracy theories as potential domestic terrorism threats, specifically identifying QAnon, a group that believes there is a "deep state" working against President Trump, in the memo.

The FBI specifically points to QAnon and Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory that claims Hillary Clinton and other top Democratic figures are running a child sex-trafficking ring beneath a pizza shop in Washington, D.C., as examples of groups whose messages could lead to “violent acts.”

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“The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts,” the document, dated May 30, reads.

Acts of violence or attempts thereof have already been tied to both of the conspiracy theories.

In December 2016, a man fired a gun in the Comet Ping Pong pizza shop in D.C., claiming he was there to “self-investigate” the Pizzagate conspiracy, and an attorney for the man charged with the murder of the alleged boss of the Gambino Mafia family claimed his client, Anthony Comello, was inspired by QAnon.

The revelation of the document comes a week after FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that white supremacist violence was the motivator for the majority of domestic terrorism cases the bureau has investigated in fiscal 2019.

The same month the document was written, Michael C. McGarrity, the FBI’s assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division, told Congress the FBI classifies domestic terror as either racially motivated, anti-government/anti-authority, environmental extremism, or abortion extremism, which he said encompasses both pro- and anti-abortion rights advocates.

The memo states that the new category for conspiracy theories is closely related to anti-government extremism but distinct from racially motivated violence.

The new extremism category focuses specifically on views that “attempt to explain events or circumstances as the result of a group of actors working in secret to benefit themselves at the expense of others” and are “usually at odds with official or prevailing explanations of events,” according to the document.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/fbi/455770-fbi-memo-warns-qanon-poses-a-potential-terror-threat-report