Opinion | Three Weeks Inside a Pro-Trump QAnon Chat Room - The New York Times (nytimes.com) This is a fascinating and unique article. There's a button for audio beneath the title. Click it to unmute. As you scroll you will hear these QAnon members in their own words. Throughout the article there are audio clips indicated by the ► symbol. Click to listen. Background: As President Biden’s inauguration ticked closer, some of Donald Trump’s supporters were feeling gleeful. Mr. Trump was on the cusp of declaring martial law, they believed. Military tribunals would follow, then televised executions, then Democrats and other deep state operatives would finally be brought to justice. These were honestly held beliefs. Dozens of Trump supporters spoke regularly over the past three weeks on a public audio chat room app, where they uploaded short recordings instead of typing. In these candid digital confessionals, participants would crack jokes, share hopes and make predictions. “Look at the last four years. They haven’t listened to a thing we’ve said. Um … there’s going to have to be some serious anarchy that goes on. Otherwise, nothing is going to change.” I spent the past three weeks listening to the channel — from before the Jan. 6 Washington protest to after Mr. Biden’s inauguration. It became an obsession, something I’d check first thing every morning and listen to as I fell asleep at night. Participants tend to revere Mr. Trump and believe he’ll end the crisis outlined by Q: that the world is run by a cabal of pedophiles who operate a sex-trafficking ring, among other crimes. While the chat room group is relatively small, with only about 900 subscribers, it offers a glimpse into a worrying sect of Trump supporters. Some conspiracists like them have turned to violent language in the wake of Mr. Trump’s electoral loss. Hearing these QAnon members' words is very different than reading them. They believe these conspiracy theories with all their heart, and they espouse violence. I recommend consuming the entire article for effect. To me, it's bizarre to hear people say such things in such a manner, and to realize they are dead serious. As a side note, it's no secret why QAnon has been censored. We can dismiss the "political censorship" nonsense from MTG. It's because of violence. As the article mentions, this was dozens from a chat room of 900. In itself, meaningless. The level of alarm should equal the level of danger, and I'm not ready to say the sky is falling because of this one chat room. What is concerning is that these beliefs certainly extend beyond this chatroom, and that Republicans have yet to condemn QAnon. If this type of mind control is now accepted in Congress, then it should be concerning to all of us. Beyond all that, the article offers an eerie glimpse into the minds of conspiracy theorists. A must read and listen.
