On January 6th, thousands of people attempted a coup on the US capitol. Among these rioters was a shirtless male dressed in a deer-antler hat and red, white, and blue face paint; he is a QAnon supporter who has been seen many times before with signs that say “Q sent me.” But what is Q?

Q stands for QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory group formed on an unproven idea that Donald Trump will save the right against Satan-loving, elitist pedophiles such as Hilary Clinton. 

Some popular theories of theirs are that politicians, specifically left-wing politicians, are pedophiles who have a sex cult operating in the basement of a DC pizza shop. Although this theory has been disproven dozens of times, QAnon members still believe it.

 QAnon followers have also stated that 9/11 was either an inside job or staged. The group also believes that government-paid actors staged the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

These dangerous theories have consequences offline. The FBI has identified the group as a potential domestic terrorist threat. QAnon followers made up many of the attackers at the siege on the capitol, along with another far-right group, the Proud Boys. This attempted coup proved the danger of QAnon and that their online posts and rhetoric do not exist in a bubble.