Tracking future threats, conspiracies falling apart and family intervention – extremism expert speaks with KION

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION)

Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory were waiting for the moment. As reported by the Associated Press - they "encouraged one another to “trust the plan” as they waited for the day when President Donald Trump would orchestrate mass arrests, military tribunals and executions of his Satan-worshipping, child-sacrificing enemies." Then, on the morning of January 20, 2021, Joe Biden was sworn-in as the 46th President of the United States of America.

Jason Blazakis, the Director of Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at Monterey's Middlebury Institute of International Studies tells KION, "these groups, whether QAnon or white supremacist groups or paramilitary groups, they have all kind of circled the idea that President Trump was going to remain in power somehow," adding "the QAnon community, in particular today on the 20th, looked like they were very disappointed."

He says social media bans have impacted their conversations. Companies like Twitter and Facebook are suspending accounts related to the QAnon-movement, in the wake of the deadly attack of the U.S. Capitol. The groups have gone to encrypted platforms, and the messages and reactions to Biden's presidency are mixed.

"There is a profound sadness and disappointment among the QAnon supporters and the supporters of organizations like the Proud Boys. (There is a) perception that somehow Donald Trump had failed them and that the ideas and conspiracies and disinformation that were circulating were all wrong. They were hoodwinked," Blazakis says. "But on the other side, you see individuals who were more hardened in their worldview. And that is why we need to be particularly cautious."

However, the large military presence in Washington DC and around the country helped deter any threat this last week. 20,000 National Guard troops were sent to Washington ahead of the inauguration.

"We haven't seen (violence) today and we didn't see it on the 17th when we were all kind of (waiting) for more violent activity, and that is because of the show of force by the U.S. government and National Guard, not just in Washington, but across the state capitals" Blazakis said.

The QAnon conspiracy is not immediately going away. As reported by the AP, "followers continued to hunt for clues that QAnon prophecies would be fulfilled, with several social media posts noting that Trump’s speech Wednesday was delivered in front of 17 American flags — a significant number to QAnon conspiracy theorists because “Q” is the 17th letter of the alphabet."

Blazakis says that people need to be proactive and intervene.

"On social media, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, unfortunately there is a lot of information circulated. A lot of that information is not accurate information. It is not where people should get their news. So, one of the most important things I think people can do is if they see a family member or friend use a certain hashtag that is associated, perhaps, with the QAnon movement or they see a family member talk about the election being stolen when there is no significant evidence that the election was stolen, that is the time to have an intervention with the family or friend."