Red Pill Rally In DC Unites Far-Right Conspiracy Theories and Apocalyptic Religion

Banner leading Operation Justice march in Washington DC April 7, 2018 (Photo: Peter Montgomery / Right Wing Watch)

A group of just over 100 right-wing conspiracy theorists met in front of the White House on Saturday, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue past the Justice Department and FBI buildings, and gathered on Freedom Plaza for an open mic rally.

Several marchers brandished copies of Infowars Washington bureau chief Jerome Corsi’s latest book, “Killing the Deep State.” Corsi promotes the conspiracy theory known as The Storm, which is based on anonymous postings by someone known as Q, supposedly from deep within the government. “I see Q people,” read a sign at the march. Others yelled at tourists and pedestrians, “Who is QAnon? Look it up!”

Adherents believe that the dispatches from Q—or QAnon—are signaling that the Trump administration is getting ready to blow the lid off major conspiracy theories, including one that posits that leading Democratic political operatives are engaged in child sex trafficking.

In January, Corsi warned that eventually videos would come out showing “global elites” making children plead for their lives before “butchering” them. The related “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory nearly turned fatal when one adherent showed up at a restaurant that conspiracy theorists claimed was the center of a sex-trafficking ring and started shooting.  At the Saturday march, one participant’s sign read, “Arrest Luciferian Pedophiles NOW.”

“Red pills, white hats,” chanted marchers at one point. “Red pills” is a reference to the movie “The Matrix,” in which a taking of a red pill meant being willing to open your eyes to the horrible truth about the hidden machinations that underlie visible reality.

One speaker, who introduced herself as RedpillTheWorld, described herself as having been a moderator on Reddit before the forum “Calm Before The Storm” was shut down. She promoted FreedomForceNews, a new online venue for conversation and document-sharing she said was housed in Iceland, where they “hate the globalists so bad.” She encouraged people to join the forum and share their “research.”

RedpillTheWorld described QAnon as “leading the charge” in fighting for the country, and she talked about current events as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. “Y’all know that Trump is not in that White House because of our smarts,” she said, “He’s in there by God’s hand. God put him there to rescue us because he is a fighter!.”

She read from the biblical book of Habakkuk denunciations of leaders who have plundered nations—she paused to refer to the conspiracist-favorite Rothschilds—and warned that people now living in mansions outside D.C. will be sent to Gitmo “or worse.” She saw these happenings not as signs of the end of the world, but the end of our current wicked era.

“Q said 2018 is gonna be glorious,” said RedpillTheWorld, in the midst of quoting from the Book of Revelation.

We’re gonna see our families well … We’re gonna see autism healed. We’re gonna see the hospitals emptied. There’s not gonna be any more cancer … There’s not gonna be any more depression. There’s not gonna be any more darkness … There will be no more deception. …

We’re gonna stand, and we’re gonna watch, just like Moses at the Red Sea, we’re gonna see that Red Sea part. He said, ‘Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.’ He’s gonna do it for us, all right?

She left the mic after leading a chant of “fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight! Amen.”

Other speakers referred to chemtrail and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, including allegations that dissident scientists and activists had disappeared or turned up dead as a result of their rebellion.

An advance video by organizer Tracy Beanz promoting the event was filled with images representing conspiracy theories involving Hillary Clinton and the supposed plot by elements within the FBI and Justice Department to bring down Donald Trump. She posted video of herself shaking hands with Trump at his D.C. hotel on Saturday night.