Qanon cultists believe the final showdown between light and darkness is upon us

This cult is no joke - when the world is seen through such a warped lens, it’s little wonder their trust in democracy and rule of law is abandoned.

The pandemic has encouraged Qanon supporters, such as Jake Angeli, to believe they’re in a life-and-death struggle with evil forces. Picture: Supplied

If the storming of the Capitol was part tragedy and part farce, its enduring symbol was the bare-chested man in buffalo horns. This was Jake Angeli, a voiceover artist from Arizona, also known as the QAnon Shaman.

QAnon is a conspiracy theory-turned-cult whose followers believe that there is a deep-state plot run by a paedophile sect whose leaders include the Clintons and Obamas. This plot was “revealed” online a few years ago by someone calling themselves “Q”.

Q has also let it be known that there is a counterplot by freedom-loving Americans led by none other than Donald Trump.

Q supporters believe that the final showdown between the forces of light and darkness is upon us. When the world is seen through such a warped lens, it is little wonder their belief in democracy, votes cast and the rule of law, has been abandoned.

Last summer researchers estimated that online Q sites were followed by about 1.4 million people, mostly in the US. What starts online does not always stay there, and for the past couple of years Trump and Republican rallies have featured people wearing Q merchandise and waving placards with QAnon slogans on them.

A person wears a QAnon sweatshirt during a pro-Trump rally in New York City. Picture: AFP

Marjorie Greene, a Q supporter from Georgia, was elected to the House of Representatives in November. Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, who has urged the president to declare martial law and rerun the election in some states, has embraced the conspiracy theory and suggested deep-state assassins have him in their sights. Mr Trump has retweeted Q supporters, as have other leading Republicans.

Trump retweeted a Qanon account (@vmbb12) whose avatar is Q with a MAGA hat. I’d tell you more about this account but it has me blocked, even though we’ve never interacted. pic.twitter.com/Uhl0R2cOts

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 17, 2019

QAnon rhetoric leads supporters to justify violence. In 2016 a man with an assault rifle went to a pizza restaurant in Washington after online fantasists claimed children were being held as sex slaves in a (non-existent) basement. He was disarmed but there have been other incidents since then.

It appears that the pandemic has encouraged a sense of the approach of the final battle, not least among underemployed people forced to stay at home due to Covid-19. They believe that they are in a life-and-death struggle with evil forces.

Picture: Facebook/JakeAngeli

Inside the Capitol on Wednesday, Mr Angeli was not the only Q supporter. One man who chased a black police officer up the stairs was wearing a Q T-shirt and a woman was pictured holding a Q placard that said “Justice for the Children”.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol. Picture: AFP

It is thought that the woman shot dead was wearing a QAnon T-shirt. Outside the Capitol, protesters waved placards claiming that Joe Biden was a paedophile and Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was Satan. This is no metaphor and this cult is no joke.

The Times