That cryptic post appeared on 4chan's racist, sexist and xenophobic/pol forum on October 28, 2017. Others followed, mentioning their hated triumvirate of Clinton, Soros, and Obama. On   October 29 this appeared on 4chan, “Priority to clean out the bad actors to unite people behind the America First agenda. Many in our govt worship Satan." That last post may well have gotten lost had it not been brought to the attention of Tracy Diaz, an avowed #pizzagate believer, who shared it with her fairly sizable audience.

Eventually, the poster identified him or herself as "Q Clearance Patriot," which was later changed to just "Q."

That's all it took for discussion boards dedicated to "Q" to start up on Reddit, which was already loaded with conspiracy theorists. From there it moved on to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. "Q" logos began to appear at Trump rallies, and then Trump himself began to retweet "Q" content.

QAnon true believers fancy that their soothsayer is someone in the upper echelons of government with access to top secret information who has chosen this time in history to reveal this information. There is absolutely no evidence of this. The rumor started because of the "Q drops" reference to Democrats Comey, Clinton, Obama, and Podesta.

Other elites are also called out as pedophiles, including Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, and even Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama.

The QAnon followers stole the #SaveTheChildren slogan and claimed it as their own, hampering efforts to combat the actual sex trafficking that goes on in the real world.

I personally started receiving private messages on Facebook from someone who claimed to be targeted by the government because he had been given this information from someone called "Q." I had actually never heard of "Q" at the time this began. He sent me sheets and sheets of paper with sealed indictments which he claimed were targeting Democrats and Hollywood elites who were involved in the sex trafficking of children. He told me that they would all eventually be arrested by the Trump administration and sent to Guantanamo. Once the story of "Q" was finally revealed, I blocked him.

Although the Satanic cabal is the core belief of QAnon followers, they have branched out, spreading misinformation on COVID-19, the Black Lives Matter protests, antifa, and The Big Lie that the election was stolen from Donald Trump.

QAnon followers even gathered at Dealy Plaza in Dallas, Texas, in November of 2021 awaiting the return of JFK Jr. They claim that the 2020 election was illegitimate, and that Trump would be reinstated and would select JFK Jr. as his vice president. The man chosen to bring down the Satanic, baby-killing, child sex-trafficking cabal would then step down and turn the reins over to JFK Jr. who would choose Michael Flynn as his VP. They gathered at a giant "X" where his father, John F. Kennedy, was murdered in 1963. It should be noted that JFK, Jr. died in a plane crash back in 1999, and he hasn't shown up anywhere. But hope springs eternal among the Q-tips.

What would become of Trump once he stepped down? Fear not. One "Q" poster said Trump would become "1 of the 7 new Kings. Most likely the King of Kings." This is a reference to a biblical passage in Revelations 17. I'd say you can't make this shit up, but somebody clearly did.

The QAnon Shaman is one of the most recognizable participants in the J6 insurrection. A trip through his rambling manifesto is a revelation into the thought process of a QAnon adherent.

When people think of terrorist threats, the first inclination is to think "violent" actions, and that is totally understandable. There have been plenty of violent actions across the U.S. over the past several years. Yet, there is another terrorist method which may not be perceived as such.

Misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories are designed to weaken a target from within. Both are designed to erode the faith people may have in established institutions and government agencies, and to sow discord.

For example, the medical misinformation and outright lies about the COVID-19 virus and the vaccines developed to fight the illness has created vaccine hesitancy that has made the pandemic more deadly than it needed to be.

Likewise, the misinformation and conspiracy theories promoted by QAnon have created a myriad of

problems here in the United States. Understanding how the QAnon movement creates connections with people is essential to combating the lies.

While the core belief remains the same (that Donald Trump is fighting a cabal of Satanic-worshipping pedophiles), QAnon has taken a "kitchen sink" approach to conspiracy theories, covering everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to Satanic pedophiles in the Democratic party and Hollywood to the Big Lie that the election was stolen from their lord and master, Donald Trump. As has been pointed out, Trump's election loss is just fake news for QAnon adherents. It is really another battle with the evil cabal, and only bolsters their belief that Trump is really the president. This belief, whether indirectly or not, led to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

It doesn't even matter that virtually none of QAnon's predictions have come true. More lies are created to cover those lies, resulting in a never-ending cycle of mis-, mal- or dis-information.

The notion that mere words and conspiracy theories do not inspire violence was proven false on January 6, 2021, when the continual repetition of The Big Lie finally culminated in the ultimate violent action, the storming of the Capitol.

There have been more violent encounters as evidenced by these stories:

• September 25, 2019: A man trashes the Chapel of the Holy Hill in Sedona, AZ, while accusing the Catholic Church of supporting human trafficking.
• December 30, 2019: Montana authorities arrest a QAnon supporter from Colorado in connection with a kidnapping plot.
• April 30, 2020: A woman drives to New York and is subsequently arrested for making threatening statements against Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.
• June 11, 2020. A Boston man leads police on a 20-mile car chase as he livestreamed himself talking about QAnon.

These incidents and more are covered in this article from The Guardian.

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism has put together QAnon crime maps here.

Almost as frightening as violence is the fact that QAnon adherents are making their way into America's political system. An article in 2020 focused on the 24 QAnon candidates running for office.

The movement shows no signs of dissipating anytime soon. In 2022, there are QAnon candidates on the ballot in 26 states.