WASHINGTON — A new federal intelligence report warns that adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory could target Democrats and other political opponents for more violence as the movement’s false prophecies increasingly don’t come true.
Some in the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol embraced the theory.
Many QAnon followers believe former President Donald Trump was fighting enemies within the so-called “deep state” to expose a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals operating a child sex trafficking ring.
Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden disillusioned some believers in “The Storm,” a supposed reckoning in which Trump’s enemies would be tried and executed. Some adherents have now pivoted to believing Trump is the “shadow president” or Biden’s victory was an illusion.
The report was compiled by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security and released Monday by Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat.
It predicts that while some QAnon adherents will pull back, others “likely will begin to believe they can no longer ‘trust the plan’ referenced in QAnon posts and that they have an obligation to change from serving as ‘digital soldiers’ towards engaging in real-world violence.”
