On June, a man blocked a bridge near the Hoover Dam with a homemade armored vehicle. Inside the man held firearms and nine hundred rounds of ammunition. He did this as a protest. He was demanding that a report he'd heard about via an online conspiracy be released to the public. This conspiracy theory started in October. That's when someone calling themselves Q Clearance Patriot first wrote a public message on
the notorious four Chan website. The original poster, now known as Q, inferred that they were a US government insider with knowledge that would expose a deep state conspiracy within American politics. This spawned what is now the Q and On phenomena, a conspiracy theory so complex that it's formed a cult like following. Many of its followers think Q is associated with Donald Trump and that he's cryptically communicating
with them via obscure image boards online. Hundreds of thousands of people across the world believe in this, and as a result, Q and On has torn families apart, led people to violence, and is even infiltrating the highest levels of government with disinformation. Now in more than seventy u s, congressional candidates have either shared or outright endorsed Q and On material. President Trump himself is even given availed thumbs
up to the movement. Outside of what the conspiracy community thinks, nobody quite knows the true identity of Q. We aim to change that. I'm Jake Hanrahan, a journalist and documentary filmmaker covering the war, conflict, and extremist politics for the last seven years. And this is Q Clearance, an investigative podcast series that aim to uncover the true creators of Q and On. Listen to Q Clearance on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.