Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
Following the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill, QAnon, one of the main conspiracy theories of the extreme right in the United States, has become more important, as it is believed to be expanding its strength to other countries and may even become a new religion.
QAnon - short for Q-Anon - emerged in 2017, when an individual began posting under the pseudonym Q on the 4chan forum, which claimed to have access to confidential national security information in the United States.
To date, the theory has gained greater force due to the various conspiracies that are exposed through youtubers that have been hooked on such claims and today could be a real threat to internal security.
This was pointed out by Meili Criezis, a partner in the Innovation Program at the Polarization and Extremism Research Laboratory at American University in Washington, who added that QAnon's core beliefs are basically two elements: "the belief that there is a world controlled by a satanic group of pedophile elites, and the second is the prediction that these individuals will be exposed and executed when 'Recognition Day' comes.
Thus, this group of people who follow such conspiracy theory believe that eventually this Day of Recognition will come, while "conspiracy theorists consider the events on Capitol Hill to be part of the 'storm' before the calm.
The fact is that Donald Trump is part of the equation in such a daring conspiracy theory, since QAnon supporters consider the former American president to be "the one", that messiah who will expose all that network of pedophile Democrats and help the country become a superstate that will help, especially, the Caucasian race.
"A significant portion of Donald Trump's supporters have been attracted to the conspiracy theory, and I suppose it's interesting to think about what this could mean for the Republican Party itself and its future," Criezis said.
While for many of these supporters, the outcome on Capitol Hill on January 6 was not what they expected and they did not achieve their goal - of Donald Trump staying in power - so they began to question "the plan," there are those who are expressing greater loyalty and confidence in the conspiracy theory.
He noted that although companies such as Twitter and Facebook have cancelled and closed accounts for these types of groups, they find ways to communicate through other means, such as WhatsApp and Telegram messaging systems, in addition to Heavenly, Fortune and Parler.
"Although Facebook is trying to eliminate them, and they're doing a good job on Twitter, they still find a way forward despite everything... they're everywhere," he said during the session "Q-Anon, Domestic Terrorism and Threat to Democracy," conducted by Ethnic Media Services.
The associate member of the Global Network on Extremism and Technology noted that QAnon supporters have included other extremist groups on their lists, such as white supremacists or "proud boys.
He noted that, according to several researchers, the QAnon phenomenon has reached places like Canada, Germany and even Japan, in addition to 68 other countries. "It has definitely spread to many countries. The way these conspiracies are taking place in other countries is specific to that environment, so they will not necessarily follow the American context".
For his part, Colin P. Clarke, assistant professor of politics and strategy at Carnegie Mellon Institute, noted that the people who demonstrated at the Capitol are "fanatics or evangelical-Christian religious extremists who see Trump as the second coming of Christ.
This, he said, could be seen in the clothing and objects that the people who participated in the violent demonstrations on January 6 were made to wear, and even images related to the neo-Nazi movement could be seen.
"There is a large dose of anti-Semitism that serves as the connective tissue, so to speak, among many of these groups, in some of them, you also see aspects of misogyny. Especially in the 'proud boys' type and some of the white supremacist type," he said.
The fact is that the acts that took place on Capitol Hill must be re-evaluated, and viewed as "violent domestic extremism.
He explained that "there is a real type of struggle at this time within the federal government within the think tanks and the Academy to establish the right terminology and it is going to be just one of the many challenges we have as we think about how to combat this threat.
The other big challenge, he said, is that there is no domestic terrorism designation, but it is possible that the current federal administration, headed by Joe Biden, will take action.
"The First Amendment right to privacy, which comes into play and must be carefully weighed against any benefits of a domestic terrorism statute, is a solution that people have raised and I think is quite attractive because it is making domestic terrorism a federal crime," he said.
Clarke noted that hate crimes are even considered a different category of crime "and there are many cases where violence has been perpetrated against racial and ethnic minorities that could be qualified in this category - domestic terrorism.
In this regard, he said that the FBI is in charge of domestic issues, the CIA has responsibility for international issues, but now it is necessary to see the links between citizens and groups operating abroad.
"We can work with partners and allies abroad to share information and cooperate on intelligence, extradition, surveillance, reconnaissance and other issues," he said, adding that there is intervention, particularly by Russia, that seeks to fund groups like QAnon that seek to destabilize the country.
The specialist highlighted that one in five people arrested for the insurrection in the Capitol was ex-military, which means they had the capacity and training to bring the demonstrations to a critical point.
"I think these groups are actively recruiting veterans because they have training in the use of weapons and in most cases they have training in operational security and not only does it bring a certain prestige or credibility to a group, but it is also a force multiplier for the group from a tactical perspective," he said.
Ricardo Corzo Moreno, a theologian specializing in Latino churches and former president of the Multiethnic Group of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, pointed out that the fact that Latinos participated in the events that took place on Capitol Hill is that 70 percent of that community is Catholic and another 20 or 25 percent is evangelical.
"Religion has a view that it is very strong in creating bonds in the community and something you have to understand is that it will not allow this world to eventually be divided," he said.
Most of the Latinos who attended the January 6 protests in Washington were evangelicals, and they, he said, "have what we call a literal understanding of the Bible," which even reads in a prophetic and apocalyptic way.
For many of these evangelicals, Donald Trump is God's anointed according to many of the prophecies, "and this is really important to understand their psychological concept when talking to evangelicals about someone being ordained by God.
Corzo Moreno said he was concerned that acts such as those seen on Capitol Hill and QAnon theories could lead to the creation of a new religion, and that it could even cross borders outside the United States.
The above, after several photographs taken on January 6 in the country's capital, the participants carried all kinds of objects and images related to religion, such as the cross, knelt, prayed, filled Bibles and rosaries with them, which links every day, a little more to politics, conspiracy and religion.
