QAnon Casualties
Endless Thread
WBUR
4.1 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 2 October 2020
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For nearly two years, a Redditor named Jitarth Jadeja got deep into QAnon, the Far Right conspiracy theory founded on the idea that President Trump is secretly waging war against a satanic cabal of pedophiles who control the world. “I was kind of an addict… All I could talk about was Q,” Jitarth says. But then, all of a sudden he had a (re)awakening: “That was the moment that I realized it was all garbage.”
In this episode, we trace Jitarth’s journey into and, ultimately, out of, QAnon.
Background:
QAnon originated as a fringe online conspiracy theory born in the aftermath of the 2016 election. Since then, it has grown in influence and keeps creeping further into mainstream consciousness. It’s come up in recent White House press briefings and there are current congressional candidates promoting QAnon messages. Q followers have also been linked to murders, armed stand-offs, and kidnappings.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Produced by the island at WBUR Boston. |
| 0:07.0 | I want to tell you a story about the past that will help us tell a story about the present. |
| 0:14.0 | Two years ago, Thanksgiving of 2018, something happened to me that really looking back almost felt like part of a movie or something. |
| 0:21.0 | I was back in my hometown for a big Thanksgiving dinner, a bunch of families. |
| 0:25.0 | There was going to be like 30 people eating at my former church, this Quaker meeting house that could really sort of fit everybody eating. |
| 0:32.0 | And the night before Thanksgiving, I did the other Thanksgiving tradition, the one where you go out to the bars in your hometown and see all the people you went to high school with. |
| 0:43.0 | And because I was out, I took a lift back home. |
| 0:46.0 | And because on me, I of course struck up a conversation with the driver. |
| 0:51.0 | He asked me what I did and I said I host a podcast to a story found on Reddit. |
| 0:55.0 | And he immediately perked up and said something that made me sober up. |
| 1:00.0 | He was like, do you know about Q? I knew about Q. |
| 1:07.0 | Followers of a fast growing conspiracy group called QAnon could have a significant influence in the upcoming election. |
| 1:14.0 | QAnon for a certain kind of experience. |
| 1:16.0 | Running in primaries for Congress have promoted messages affiliated with QAnon, either through campaign Twitter accounts or in person. |
| 1:24.0 | So to just ask you plainly, do you believe in QAnon? |
| 1:27.0 | I think I have warned that the followers of this theory could pose a domestic terror threat. |
| 1:32.0 | And the ideology has led to acts of violence, including kidnappings and murder. |
| 1:37.0 | But asked about QAnon's expanding footprint, President Trump? |
| 1:40.0 | A 24-year-old man was charged in the shooting death of a reputed mob boss. |
| 1:45.0 | His attorneys argued he was motivated by QAnon. |
| 1:50.0 | So I'm in this car with this lift driver. He's super amped up. |
| 1:54.0 | He's like, over the last year I've been researching QAnon. |
... |
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