CULT

&

CONSPIRACY

International

Terrorism

9/11

OLLI Presentation

•Reporting vs. Opinion

•News vs. Editorial

•Description vs. Persuasion

Cult

A system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object

Conspiracy

A combination of persons for an evil or unlawful purpose; an agreement between two or more persons to do something criminal, illegal, or reprehensible (especially in relation to treason, sedition, or murder); a plot

NOTE: Conspiracy theories are attempts to explain the ultimate causes of significant social and political events and circumstances with claims of secret plots by two or more powerful actors

Topics

•Examples

•Activities

•Beliefs

•Messages

•Effects

•Characteristics

•Methods

•Believers

•Leadership

•Approaches

People use data like drunks use lampposts

… more for support than illumination!

Reliable Sources?

Southern Poverty Law Center

Middlebury’s Center on Terrrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism

Sinister Groups

•Witches•Satanists•Jews•Aliens•Freemasons•Reptilian Lizard People

Some American Cults

• Antifa

• Boogaloo Bois

• Constitutional Sheriffs

• Ku Klux Klan

• NXIVM

• Oath Keepers

• Proud Boys

• QAnon

• Three Percenters

• Wolverine Watchmen

Conspiracy Theories

• Global Cabal

• Birtherism

• Climate Change

• Coronavirus

• Deep State

• False Flags

• New World Order

• Pizzagate

• Russian collusion

• Vaccination

• Anti-Semitism

• Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Vaccination

to implant

micro-chips

• Population tracking

• YouGov Poll

• 28% believe Gates plot

• Miracle cure

• Wonder drug in India

Global Cabal

•Sinister group in control behind the scenesBelieve: 37% Americans; 45% Italians; 55% Spaniards; 78% Nigerians

•Plot, act in secret•Single explanation for complex processes•Power to foresee, predict events•Cunning smokescreen of False News deceives us•We can be in on secret, understand

Militia Groups

NATIONAL — 4

The Constitutional SheriffsNot Fucking Around CoalitionOath KeepersThree Percenters

STATE WIDE — 33

AZ, AR, DE, IN, ME, MS, NY, OH, PA, RI, TX, VT, WA, WV

Domestic Terrorists?

Constitutional Sheriffs

• County Sheriffs must control immigration

• Assert supremacy of local government over state, federal authorities

• Protect property rights

• Resist federal Bureau of Land Management

• Oppose asset forfeiture programs

• Refuse to enforce gun laws

• 400 members *Source CSPOA website

• Founded 2009 by Elmer Stewart Rhodes

• Yale Law; Ron Paul staffer; paratrooper

• Members former military, police, first responders

• Armed militia, military fatigues

• Defend Constitution against enemies foreign & domestic

• Ferguson; Chattanooga mall; Bundy Ranch; Parkland School

• Armed security for some Trump rallies

Storming the Capitol

• Planned, coordinated assault

• Messaging

• Maps building tunnels

• Armed

• FBI charges conspiracy

Antifa

• Anti-Fascist movements • Emerged post 2016 election • International, Germany• Social media propaganda • Typically non-violent direct-action protest• Often cooperate with Black Lives Matter• Anti-racist, anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist • Rather than pro anarchist, socialist, communist• Lacks centralized organization, structure, leadership• Array of autonomous left-wing groups, especially Pacific NW

Antifa• Multiple false flags misrepresenting

• "If the reports are true," Rep. Matt Gaetz said on the House floor just hours after the attack, "some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters. They were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group Antifa.”

• Steven D'Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington field office, told reporters that investigators had seen no indication Antifa activists were disguised as Trump supporters in Wednesday's riot.

• FBI Christopher Wray characterized to Senate Judiciary Committee as “more of an ideology than an organization”

• Founded 2016

• Gavin McInnes, VICE co-founder

• Neo-fascist

• Biological male members only

• Glorifies political violence

• Espouses “Western Values”

• Denies white supremacy belief

• Website taken down by host

• Canada names white supremacists

Proud Boys

Protests in

Washington DC

December 2020

Passing Supreme Court

Proud Boys

•Joseph Biggs* arrested 1/21/2021

•Leader of Capitol insurrection

•Wore walkie-talkie•Ordered wearing black

•Appear like Antifa *3rd from rightPortland OR 2019

Proud

Boys

NXIVM Sex Cult

• Keith Raniere

• Clare Bronfman

Nancy Keith AllisonSalzman Raniere Mack

Claire Bronfman

Boogaloo

Bois

Boogaloo Bois

•Anti Government

•Race War

•DOTR

Boogaloo Bois

Three Percenters

Three

Percenters• American and Canadian• Paramilitary militia (denies)• Founded 2008 by Mike Vanderboegh• Right to keep and bear arms• Resists Federal involvement in local affairs• Only 3% opposed GB in 1776 Revolution• Allies with Oath Keepers

Wolverine

Watchmen

Threat to kidnap Michigan GovernorGretchen Whitmer

QAnon

• PizzaGate, Comet Ping Pong DC

• Edgar Welch, 2016

• Anthony Weiner emails “revealed” pedophilia ring

• Launched on social media October 2017

• 4Chan anonymous imageboard, now 8kun

• Coded messages, #17, Breadcrumbs, Locks, Q drops

• Expanding internationally

QAnon Leadership

• Q’s identity unknown • May be group, presumed American• Deep state mole• Access to classified Trump administration information• Founder of 8Chan Frederick Brennan• Identified Jim and Ron Watkins, later controlled 8Chan• Watkins also control QMap, popular aggregator• Also fingered Paul Furber, poster, Johannesburg• JFK Jr. faked his death, may be Q

John F. Kennedy, Jr.

“If my dear friend Donald

Trump ever decided to

sacrifice his fabulous

billionaire lifestyle to

become president he

would be an unstoppable

force for ultimate justice

that Democrats and

Republicans alike would

celebrate.”

Vincent Fusca, aka JFK, Jr.

Conservative Political

Action Committee

National Harbor, MD

February 27, 2020

QAnon Beliefs

• Cabal of Satan worshipping pedophiles

• Drink babies blood to extend life, anti-semitic

• Save The Children, USN hospital ships

• Children sold through Wayfair website

• Global sex trafficking ring

• Donald Trump chosen to battle Deep State

• Day of Reckoning : Great Awakening : Storm

• Massive arrests, journalists, pols, next week

• Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Podesta, George Soros, Hollywood

QAnon Fringe Beliefs

• Michelle Obama is a man

• Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden's body double; still alive

• Adam Schiff raped body of dead boy in Chateau Marmont

• Frazzledrip with Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin

• Anthony Fauci a Deep State puppet, created coronavirus in laboratory with Obama

QAnon Fringe Beliefs

• Bill Gates funded coronavirus, vaccination to implant microchips

• Bill Gates’ mother related to Ghislaine Maxwell

• Mueller investigation targeted child-trafficking ring

• “X marks the spot over Roswell NM. XIV Fifth Force Particle. X + Q Coincidence?”

• #PedoBiden is a pedophile

• California wildfires ignited by Jewish lasers

The

Kraken

is loose

in

America

Sidney Powell

March 4th• Date Trump will be sworn in as president

• Sovereign Citizen movement

• Not required to obey federal laws or pay federal taxes

• Secret 1871 law made U.S. a corporation

• March 4th Inauguration Day changed to January 20th in 1933

• Every president since U.S. Grant illegitimate

• FDR ended gold standard in 1933

• Trump International Hotel room rate tripled to $1,331

• March 21, 2021 is start of New Republic

Texas Winter Storm

• Biden’s Keystone Pipeline Executive Order

• Allowed Chinese access to U.S. power grid

• Biden and Chinese orchestrated polar storm

• Caused blackout

• Not real natural snow

• “Solid research” from InevatibleET

• Texas operates and maintains its power grid

Qult Messages• “Mockingbird HRC extradition already in motion, detained,

expect massive riots, POTUS will go on TV to address nation…”

• “Exposure of the unimaginable depravity of the elites will lead to an increased awareness of our own depravity…the long-prophesied spiritual awakening lies on the other side of the storm.” — David Hayes (33,000,000 total views)

• CBTS “Calm Before The Storm”

• #WWG1WGA “Where We Go We Go All”

• #TakeTheOath

Violence, Posts on

8chan• Violence marginal earlier, incidental

• White supremacist manifesto, 51 killed in 2 New Zealand mosques

• Anti-semitic letter, handful shot in Poway CA synagogue

• Manifesto, 22 killed in El Paso TX Walmart

• Hoover Dam blocked by truck, armed driver

• Multiple examples of women kidnapping children

• Comet Ping Pong set on fire, rifle attack

• New Mexico 300 immigrants held at gunpoint

• False flags with school shootings

• Named domestic extremists by FBI, August 2019

QAnon Actions• Facebook per WSJ, August 2020:

Blocked: Restricted:790 related groups 1,950 groups100 pages 440 pages1500 ads 10,000 Instagram accounts

• Some groups >100,000 members

• Facebook October 2020 closed down all accounts

• Twitter restricted > 150,000 accounts September

• Marjorie Taylor Greene elected to Congress in GA

• More than 50 supporters ran for national office

• State legislature candidates in AZ, MI, WI

• 600% growth since Coronavirus lockdowns

How significant?

• Awareness among Americans, March 2020, Pew Research:• 76% knew nothing• 20% knew a little• 3% knew a lot

• 5% of voters believed, August 2019, Emerson • 6% of Republicans and Democrats, 2% of Independents

• Polled as least liked political group, 22-26 on scale of 101

• Favorability not increased much recently

• Power to convert true believers exaggerated, fringe group

• Do not underestimate strength of feeling among converts

QAnon and Trump

Trump rally

QAnon

Dominion Voting Systems

• International election system provider• Voting machines, tabulators, optical scanners• Software• 2nd largest in U.S., HQ in Denver CO• Used in 2,000 jurisdictions, 33 states + PR• Dominion founded by Hugo Chavèz!

"Many of the claims being asserted about Dominion and questionable voting technology is misinformation at best and, in many cases, they're outright disinformation.”

— OSEC

Dominion Voting

Systems• Dominion Voting Systems operates a strong product

security program that leverages internal and external security expertise for rigorous development processes that align with – or exceed – industry best practices for security. Every Dominion system is certified by federal and state election authorities for use, and we make continuous improvements to our products throughout their lifecycle.

• Key system features include: Multi-factor authentication, role-based access, lockable hardware ports, the latest encryption techniques and full auditing capabilities for every action. These multiple layers of protection work to help ensure the integrity of every election conducted with Dominion Democracy Suite systems. Certified by U.S.

Election Assistance Commission

Hammer & Scorecard

• Source Dennis Montgomery, ex CIA whistleblower, gambler• Rumors of CIA supercomputer HAMR• Vote count altering software Scorecard, at transfer points• Commandeered by Obama to steal 2012 election• Attorney Sidney Powell interviewed by Lou Dobbs on Fox• Rudy Giuliani charged millions of votes diverted• Showed movie altering vote counts• Cited Edison Research• “Stop the Steal”• 60 out of 61 lawsuits dismissed

Dominion Voting

Systems• “Robust safeguards including canvassing and auditing procedures

help ensure accuracy of official election results and…it is not true that a bad actor could change election results without detection.”

• Edison Research denied issuing report

No evidence of voter fraud

• Christopher Krebs, Director of CISA in Homeland Security:

NONSENSE!

• Dominion filed multiple suits for defamation

• Seeks $1.3 billion from Giuliani

• Fox, Newsmax et al issue apologies

Smartmatic

• Provided voting software to Los Angeles County

• Filed defamation lawsuit against Fox News

• Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeannine Pirro

• Attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell

• $2.7 Billion damages CEO

• Antonio Mugica is Venezuelan

• Initial contracts for Hugo Chavez

To the Capitol!"Big protest in D.C. on January 6th, be there, will be wild!” Tweet

"If you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore.”

"We're going to walk down to the Capitol”

At the

Capitol

Storming…

…the

Capitol

Inside

In the Chamber

How significant?"Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.”

National Terrorist Advisory System

January 27, 2021

January 6th

Aftermath• Impeachment

• Lawsuits

• Prosecutions

• Indictments

• Proud Boys and Oath Keepers sued under Ku Lux Klan law

• House Homeland Security Chair and NAACP

• Challenges to truth of cult beliefs

Cult Leader

Characteristics1. Grandiose self-centered xxxbehavior

2. Fantasies of power

3. Excessive need for praise

4. Sense of entitlement

5. Lack of empathy

6. Anti-social behavior

7. Pathological lying

8. Interpersonally exploitative

9. Sadistic

10. Harassing and silencing

11. Tendency to call for violence

12. Paranoia

13. Inability to trust friends

Cult Leadership

• Promise what people want to believe in• Absolute confidence• Grandiosity• Amplify fear, hate, sow confusion• Spread false information, ambiguous, deniable• Manipulate followers’ special feelings, being “inside”• Pit us versus them, other• Demand devotion and adoration• Ultimately create false identity in subject • Restore Eden, greatness

The Personal Identity

Play

View of Self : Viewed by OthersPRO

• Constitutional rights

• Personal freedom

• Food freedom

• Medical choice

ANTI

• Vaccination, mask wearing

• Social distancing

• Pasteurization

• Fluoridation

Believers

Psychological Traits:

• Crave knowledge

• Desire safety and security

• Need to maintain positive self-esteem

Particularly threatened in times of crisis, stress

Typically non-mainstream, alienated

Both right and leftJournal of Personality

Appeal

• Psychological need for uniqueness

• Hunger for certainty, closure, control

• Especially in times of crisis

• Possessing answers that others lack

• Often suffering anxiety, depression, loneliness

• QAnon alternate reality game, fun of “Baking Breadcrumbs”

• Special connection to something important

Why Do People Adopt

Conspiracy Theories?• Psychological Factors• Epistemic Motives• Existential Motives• Social Motives• Demographic Factors• Political Factors• Ideology• Motivated Reasoning• Are Conspiracy Theories for Losers?

Political Psychology

BITE Model of Mind

Control

•Behavior

•Information

•Thought

•Emotion

RescueFence Sitters• NO forceful deprogramming• “Precontemplation stage”• Focus maintaining family contact

Believers• Beware fostering resistance• May not want to be saved• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy• Must be well informed to argue• Ware amateur errors Psychology Today

Some Resources

• QAnon Casualties

• My father, the QAnon Conspiracy Theorist

• How to talk to Conspiracy Theorists — and still be Kind

• Escaping the Rabbit Hole: how to Debunk Conspiracies using Facts, Logic and Respect

• Freedom of Mind: helping loved ones leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs

• Red Pill, Blue Pill: how to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories that are Killing us

Thank you!

Richard Hoskin

rjchoskin@gmail.com

www.cornishchronicle.com