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Article snippet: At as Trump stood in the background. A wide-ranging and vague theory, “QAnon” touches on a number of popular conspiracy theories: Democrats and prominent Hollywood figures are orchestrating underground pedophile rings; special counsel MORE for their ties to said rings; and hundreds of sealed indictments may have already been handed down in the Clinton case. The theories are proliferating online, fanned by cryptic messages posted by a person or persons going by the initial “Q." The persona first posted on 4chan last year, claiming to be a high-ranking security official in the Trump administration. Among other things, Q alleges that Trump was persuaded to run for president by military leaders, and that together they are planning mass arrests of deep-state actors and perpetrators and will send them to be detained in Guantanamo Bay. Those allegedly forthcoming arrests are called “The Storm,” referring to Trump’s cryptic comment warning of a “calm before a storm” during a meeting with military leaders last year. The popularity of the "deep state" theory, which has been popularized by Trump on Twitter and regularly raised by his most high-profile supporters in TV appearances, may have helped Q's theories proliferate in the Trump era, according to one expert who studies the spread of online theories. Q’s messages, called “crumbs” by his followers, are vague and use code names to refer to major players in the theory. His devotees who interpret the messages to fuel the ... Link to the full article to read more