QAnon nuts now bizarrely say Trump’s March 4 ‘inauguration’ is false flag trap by Antifa as Capitol braces for violence
QANON believers are now claiming the conspiracy that Donald Trump is going to be made President again on March 4 is actually a false flag trap orchestrated by Antifa.
The latest twist comes as the conspiracy theorists regroup after months of failed prophecies which predicted everything from mass executions of celebrities, to a military coup to install Trump.
Security has actually been upped around the Capitol after “concerning” intelligence was detected ahead of March 4 amid fears of potential violence following the chaos which unfolded on the hill on January 6.
March 4 had become the latest date which the QAnon conspiracy storm swirled around as proponents believed Trump would somehow be reinstalled as president.
Conspiracy theorists connected the dots and claimed Trump would be “inaugurated” tomorrow and to become the 19th President of the United States – rolling back the union to the form it had in 1871.
QAnon groups however now seem to be rowing back – and have since claimed the “inauguration” is a “false flag” or a “trap” which has been cooked up by their enemies, including Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
Jared Holt, a domestic extremism researcher at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, told The US Sun the latest twist on the theory is a sign of the widespread paranoia which has become more common in the Q movement since January 6.
“Pro-QAnon and broader far-right Trump movements have been plagued by paranoia since the attack on the US Capitol on January 6,” he said.
“We’ve observed increasing prevalence of ‘false flag’ conspiracy theories seemingly aimed at preempting would-be violence or embarrassment.”
He added he has not seen any evidence that points to a “significant mobilization” of Q supporters tomorrow.
Despite being pushed off Twitter, Facebook and other conventional social media through mass bans, the conspiracy theory continues to run riot on alternative platforms such as Gab and Bitchute.
And some QAnon content can still be found on mainstream social sites as the tech giants struggle to police the swathes of conspiracy content which has surged during the pandemic.
So what is QAnon?
QANON is one of the world's most dangerous and widespread conspiracy theories.
It alleges a worldwide network of celebrities and politicians are part of a child sex-trafficking ring which is doing battle with Donald Trump.
The cult-like belief spawned out similar viral conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate and historic hoaxes about cults linked to Satanism.
“Q” is the central anonymous figure of the theory, who was claimed to be a high-ranking government official inside the Trump administration.
Posts began to appear on internet forum 4Chan in June, 2017, before starting spread across social media.
Q would drip feed various pieces of information detailing a grand plan in which Trump would defeat the Satanists in an event called “The Storm.”
It was claimed thousands of suspects would be rounded up and arrested before being executed.
Q created an alternative reality as supporters shunned mainstream news outlets, instead feeding entirely on a stream of false information and bogus predictions.
The conspiracy theory began to gain more mainstream attention and QAnon supporters began appearing at Trump rallies.
Numerous events then started unfolding linked to QAnon, such as domestic terrorist Matthew Phillip Wright blocking the Hoover Dam with an armoured truck while armed with an AR-15 in June 2018.
Crime family boss Frank Cali was then allegedly murdered by Anthony Comello, who is claimed to have been a QAnon believer who thought Cali was a member of the “deep state” in March 2019.
And then Jessica Prim was arrested carrying several knives as she livestreamed her attempt to “take out” Joe Biden.
QAnon activity exploded during the coronavirus pandemic, with reports of posts tripling on Facebook and Twitter.
Both social media giants tried to take action, but struggled to police the spread of misinformation.
QAnon was reported to be in disarray following the inauguration of Biden, but the army of conspiracists now appears to be regrouping and refocusing their narrative
One user on Gab posted in a QAnon dedicated group with more than 150,000 members decrying the reports – saying the conspiracy theory, was itself actually a conspiracy theory.
“There it is. The false flag narrative is being set up. Stay away from DC and any state capitol tomorrow. Far away,” the poster wrote, with his avatar showing far-right symbol Pepe the Frog.
“Funny thing though, Q never called for violence.”
“The only people talking about this are the media and the idiots in DC. Trump supporters, MAGA and QAnon people are not planning to be anywhere near Dc on the 4th. If anything happens it will be a setup false flag,” one poster raged.
Another wrote “Don’t they mean Anitfa/BLM false flag day?” and one added “BLM and Antifa were relatively quiet recently. Now we know why – preparing for Mar 4”.
Some believers have focused on a so-called “Q Drop” post from November 15, 2019, which happens to have the date March 4 lined up with the word “trap” to prove the latest twist in their narrative.
Part of the driving force in the QAnon ecostystem is believers being encouraged to decode h posts from the anonymous Q, attempting to somehow apply them to reality to reaffirm their beliefs.
Many supporters also continued to falsely blame Antifa and BLM for the violence on January 6 – pushing the wider conspiracy that its all part of a massive plan being executed against Trump and his supporters.
Whats the significance of March 4?
The idea stems from the “sovereign citizen” movement who believe that in 1871 a law was secretly passed which turned the US into a corporation, disregarding the American government of the founding fathers.
QAnon followers are spreading the belief on the app Gab and Telegram, where most supporters have been communicating after being banned from Twitter.
The March date comes from the fact that 1933 was also the year when inaugurations were changed from March 4 to January 20.
The dates were changed to shorten the period of outgoing presidents.
QAnon followers believe that Trump will become the 19th president of the original republic, and not the corporation that they believe the 1871 act created.
Trump’s Washington DC hotel has reportedly hiked its rates on March 4 – and it did the same thing on January 5 and 6, which were key dates in the Capitol Hill riot.
Jason Blazakis, a senior fellow at the Soufan Center, said: “Raising room prices will surely be interpreted by QAnon as Trump’s support for the March 4 narrative.
“They absolutely try to interpret the words and actions of President Trump very carefully.”
QAnon believers seized upon the March 4 as it was the original inauguration day for presidents prior to 1933.
Many remain obessesssed with the idea that Trump is somehow pulling the strings behind the scenes, and that the military is actually working for him.
The March 4 date appears to have been co-opted from the “sovereign citizen” movement – who believe after two shadowy law changes in 1871 and 1933 that the US was dissolved into a corporation rather than a republic.
“No REAL patriots will be there,” another added, and one wrote: “Um they are not, but a false flag event will happen and the will be the Excuse to go after guns and gun owners.”
Another said: “More antifa dressed in Trump gear so the democrats can impeach Trump again??”
Others wrote “please stay home March 4,5,6,7,8 – do not go to DC, there is no Trump rally” and “they are setting up a false flag so they can try to demonize conservative”.
The split in the Q narrative comes as the conspiracy theorists continue to regroup after all their predictions failed to materialize and Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President.
Closely tied to falsehoods about the election being stolen pushed by Trump and his most hardcore allies, the conspiracy theorists had been claiming a Myanmar-esque coup was due to happen tomorrow in the US.
Presence of the National Guard in DC was only providing fuel for the QAnon conspiracy fantasies – with some claiming the troops are there ready to overthrow Biden, while others state they are there to protect the Democrats from an uprising of “patriots”.
The soldiers were deployed the protect the Capitol due to ongoing fears of attacks following the horrific scenes on January 6.
And despite some of the more outlandish and laughable Q claims, the conspiracy is considered dangerous as it has been linked to violence and ex-believers have explained how following the conspiracy almost ruined their lives.
At least 13 of the 266 arrested so far in connection with the Capitol attack have been found to believer in QAnon theories.
Mr Holt told The Sun Online: “There has always been bickering and disagreements between different factions of the pro-QAnon ecosystem online.
“The competing flavors of the conspiracy theory often duke it out for audience attention. QAnon means different things to different believers.”
The expert explained the theory did suffer a wobble after Biden’s inauguration, but warned against believing that the movement is “dissolving”.
“QAnon exists as an umbrella for a myriad of different conspiracy theories–ranging from topics like 5G cell towers to vaccines–that are perfectly capable to barreling forward even if people disengage with Q posts.
“They were excited at Trump’s return at CPAC, and did what they always do: search for symbolism in his speech that would validate their false beliefs.”
'My QAnon living nightmare'
A BUSINESSWOMAN told The US Sun how she became brainwashed by QAnon - leaving her in a downward spiral that sent her to rehab and almost destroyed her marriage.
Melissa Rein Lively explained how a decline in her mental health linked to the pandemic became horrifically intertwined with QAnon.
And it all ended with her suffering a highly publicized breakdown in a local Target store.
Melissa, who owns PR firm The Brand Consortium, became labelled ‘QAnon Karen’ by cruel trolls as a video of her attacking a face mask display went viral last July.
She told The Sun Online this was the day she hit “rock bottom,” suffered a manic episode, and had no choice but to check into rehab.
Her meltdown was in-part triggered by a last straw row with her husband Jared in which he told her to try to come back from the conspiracy spiral or he would have to file for divorce.
The now-heartbreaking video shows her screaming at store staff, and other footage has her confronting police as she claims to be in direct contact with then-president Donald Trump.
She ended up dubbing herself the “QAnon Spokesperson” online, descending into the
twisted world which left her lonely, isolated, paranoid and suffering self neglect – losing almost 10lbs.
“You think everyone is lying to you, every day is Judgement Day, and you are living an apocalyptic nightmare. It’s a sad, lonely place,” she told The Sun Online.
“I was consuming information all hours of the day, I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping well, and when I did sleep I would have horrific recurring nightmares where I would wake up gasping for air,” she said.
“I became increasingly mentally unhinged and angry as time went on.”
Reflecting on her behavior, she likens the QAnon to a “choose your own adventure” game or “live action role play” as it encourages you to go deeper and deeper into its twisted world.
“I was freaking out,” she said.
Her husband Jared tried to provide a ballast of reality for her as he tried to reassure her and pull her back to the real world – but things blew up between the two before her episode at Target.
She said: “QAnon replaces your worldview wholesale, everything changes, it rewires your brain.”
After going through rehab, the couple have repaired any fractures in their relationship caused by QAnon and Melissa said she’s managed to come to terms with her own “trauma and demons
Trump’s own Washington DC hotel has reportedly hiked its rates on March 4 – and it did the same thing on January 5 and 6, other key dates for QAnon, reports Forbes.
QAnon has been previously labelled a “domestic terror threat” by the FBI over its tendency the inspire violence.
And a speaker at CPAC, Angela Stanton King, pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory on Sunday as she called for an investigation into its child abuse claims.
Trump never explicitly endorsed the conspiracy theory, but was repeatedly accused of spreading it via his Twitter.
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He often retweeted messages from accounts linked to QAnon – including while spreading false claims of voter fraud.
The former president refused to condemn it during an NBC town hall on the campaign trail, saying “I don’t know about QAnon”.
And the Democrats are focusing on Republican congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene, a freshman legislator who has previously seemed to endorse a slew of conspiracy theories.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell stopped short of naming her, but took aim at the trend of “loony lies” taking root in the party – describing them as a “cancer.”