" Who is Q? HBO documentary says it’s identified QAnon leader as Ron Watkins.
The leader of the right-wing conspiracy theory group known as QAnon has remained a mystery for several years, but a new HBO documentary says it’s identified “Q.”
HBO documentary says it’s identified QAnon leader as Ron Watkins.
“Q: Into the Storm,” a new six-part HBO docuseries by filmmaker Cullen Hoback, explores the bizarre, widely discredited internet cult who believes “Q” is an anonymous government insider posting cryptic clues about a sex-trafficking ring made up of pedophiles and cannibals that plotted against President Trump. QAnon supporters were among those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and spread baseless claims Trump would remain a “shadow president” after President Joe Biden won the election and that Trump would return to the White House on March 4.
But “Into the Storm” names Q as Ron Watkins, the son of 8chan founder Jim Watkins.
8chan is an online message board where Q was believed to post “QDrops” with coded warnings and premonitions about the coming “storm” that would unmask the deep state, and lead to the arrest, trial, and execution of alleged liberal criminals. Ron Watkins was an administrator for 8chan, now known as 8kun.
- “You’re going through a possible list of who Q might be?” Watkins asks in the trailer.
- “That’s right. You’re on the list,” Hoback responds.
- “Well, let’s continue then,” Watkins says with a smile.
Ron Watkins, who said he stepped down from 8kun on Election Day, and his father were both interviewed for the series. He told Vice News in December that he was living in Japan and wanted to focus on woodworking and a book he’s writing about constitutional law, but he continued to spread conspiracy theories online, including accusing Dominion Voting Systems of manipulating election results.
Twitter and other social media platforms have cracked down on QAnon accounts that may lead to “offline harm,” but pro-Trump and Q-centric online forums remain on other sites, including the recently relaunched Parler. But several members of Congress, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, have raised concerns for sharing QAnon content in the past.
ABC News reports Jim and Ron Watkins have both been suspected of being Q, posting “Q drops” since October 2017.
“If he’s not ‘Q’ himself, he can find out who ‘Q’ is at any time,” Fredrick Brennan, the creator of 8chan and Jim Watkins’ former business partner, told ABC in September. “And he’s pretty much the only person in the world that can have private contact with ‘Q.’ He’s the only person that -- through the board that ‘Q’ started on 8chan – can send ‘Q’ a direct message and get into private contact with basically the leader of this political cult that everybody wants to hear from right now.”
According to Yahoo! News, much of the documentary focuses on the conflict between Brennan and Watkins. Brennan quit 8chan after growing concerns over posts, including the manifestos of the 2019 Christchurch shooter, that led to threats and violence, like the Pizzagate shooting.
“Q: Into the Storm” premieres Sunday, March 21, at 9 p.m. on HBO.
REFERENCE
Geoff, H., 2021. Who is Q? HBO documentary says it’s identified QAnon leader as Ron Watkins. [online] https://www.syracuse.com/. Available at: <https://www.syracuse.com/us-news/20...s-identified-qanon-leader-as-ron-watkins.html> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
HBO, 2021. Q: Into the Storm (2021) | Official Trailer | HBO. [video] Available at: <[https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=rK_Gf9H2CWI> [Accessed 22 June 2021].
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