{"id":4368,"date":"2020-08-20T15:53:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T07:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/?p=4368"},"modified":"2020-08-23T04:44:53","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T20:44:53","slug":"texas-qanon-supporter-used-car-to-attack-strangers-she-believed-were-pedophiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/texas-qanon-supporter-used-car-to-attack-strangers-she-believed-were-pedophiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas QAnon Supporter Used Car to Attack Strangers She Believed Were \u2018Pedophiles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Image Art: Jared Holt)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A Waco, Texas, woman arrested last week and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated\u200b appears to have been motivated by the QAnon conspiracy theory President Donald Trump spoke positively of during a White House press conference Wednesday.<\/p>\n

According to arrest affidavits first reported by the Waco Tribune-Herald<\/a><\/span>, 30-year-old Cecilia Fulbright got behind the wheel of her car just after 9 a.m.\u200b Wednesday with the intent to \u201c[save] a child\u201d from \u201cpedophiles.\u201d Fulbright reportedly chased two strangers\u2019 vehicles in an apparent attempt to \u200bhit them. According to a Waco police report, the first vehicle was a catering truck driven by a woman with her \u200bminor daughter in the passenger\u2019s seat. They successfully evaded Fulbright before calling the police who, according to an incident report, were unable to locate Fulbright or her vehicle. Fulbright then \u200btargeted a second unrelated \u200bvehicle, a Dodge Caravan \u200bdriven by a 19-year-old college student\u200b. Fulbright chased \u200bthe student into a parking lot\u200b where she cornered\u200b and repeatedly rammed \u200bthe Dodge Caravan\u200b.<\/p>\n

Responding police officers reportedly found Fulbright \u201ccrying hysterically\u201d and yelling that the driver of the vehicle she attacked \u201cwas a pedophile and had kidnapped a girl for human trafficking.\u201d The arresting officer noted that Fulbright seemed \u201cdelusional\u201d; her blood alcohol content was recorded as 0.21\u200b percent\u2014more than double the legal limit in Texas. Fulbright was charged with driving while intoxicated and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the latter of which is a second-degree felony in Texas and carries a term of 2 to 20 years. She was released on an $11,000 bond the day following her arrest.<\/b><\/p>\n

News and police reports about the incident have not explored\u200b how Fulbright\u2019s actions were influenced by her beliefs\u200bin the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon and its new soft front<\/a>, #SaveTheChildren.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n                                                                                                                    Cecilia Fulbright (Image: McLennan Country Sheriff\u2019s Office)<\/strong><\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

R\u200bight W\u200bing W\u200batch spoke by text message to Texas-based lawyer Mark Mueller, an acquaintance of Fulbright who originally befriended her in the Austin music and art scene. <\/b><\/p>\n

On Aug. 6, Fulbright sent Mueller an \u201cout of the blue\u201d message containing a link to download the Trump 2020 campaign app. Mueller said he subsequently argued with Fulbright about Trump\u2019s political competency and during the argument\u200b, she claimed that Trump was \u201cliterally taking down the cabal and the pedophile ring.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cOne by one,\u201d Fulbright wrote to Mueller. \u201cWhat President has EVEN TALKED ABOUT IT? It\u2019s been going on for centuries.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Many followers of QAnon and its associated myriad conspiracy theories baselessly believe that a cabal of politicians and celebrities including Hillary Clinton, Tom Hanks, and Oprah Winfrey are trafficking children, sexually assaulting them, and even consuming their blood in elaborate rituals. QAnon believers often posit that\u200b Trump and a team of high-level military operatives are engaged in a decades-long secret war with this villainous \u201ccabal\u201d and its associated \u201cdeep state.\u201d Adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory imagine Trump as a savior figure and often equate criticism of the president with support for pedophilia and infanticide.<\/b><\/p>\n

Sydney Molina, a\u200b\u200b former roommate of Fulbright, said that Fulbright \u201chas a history of mental health issues\u201d that have gone untreated. She added that Fulbright\u2019s family was \u201csuper huge\u201d into supporting the president and that Fulbright was \u201cfeeding off her own family\u2019s crazy Trump love.\u201d At some point in May, Molina claims to have introduced Fulbright to QAnon. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI was the one who originally sent her stuff, and her boyfriend sent her stuff, kind of like laughing at how ridiculous it is,\u201d Molina said. <\/b><\/p>\n

But according to Molina, Fulbright \u200bbegan to sincerely follow the conspiracy theory. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI found out later that she was staying up for days reading this stuff,\u201d Molina told RWW\u200b. \u201cShe was getting more and more caught up in it and delusional.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

By the time of Fulbright\u2019s arrest, Molina said Fulbright \u201chad been on a three-day bender on this QAnon stuff, and the last thing she said to me was that the aliens gave her free power.\u201d Fulbright claimed to Molina that her red 1984 Pontiac Fiero \u201cwas powered with free power from the aliens\u200b.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

RWW found signs that Fulbright was consuming QAnon content on her personal Instagram profile, where she follows accounts with names like \u201cRed White & Q,\u201d \u201cqmap.pub\u200b,\u201d\u200b\u201cQ Force Digital Soldier\u200b,\u201d and \u201cQ The Storm.\u201d Fulbright\u2019s Instagram posts bore no signs of political affiliation until she captioned a July 31 Instagram post with \u201c#trump2020.\u201d Molina told RWW that Fulbright had deleted multiple past posts expressing support for QAnon.<\/p>\n

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A picture of Melania Trump posted on Cecilia Fulbright\u2019s Instagram page includes several pro-Trump hashtags. (Screenshot \/ Instagram)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the day she first used a pro-Trump hashtag to the day of her arrest on Aug. 12, Fulbright repeatedly included hashtags supporting the president: \u201c#maga2020\u200b,\u201d \u201c#flotus\u200b,\u201d \u201c#potus\u200b,\u201d\u200b\u201c#patriot\u200b,\u201d\u200band \u201c#PrayForOurPresident.\u201d Posts made between Aug. 10 and \u200bAug. 11 show Fullbright wearing a red Make America Great Again baseball cap, complaining about social media censorship, and expressing her distrust of \u201c#bigpharma.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

Mueller and Molina both said they were surprised to receive pro-QAnon messages from Fulbright\u200b, and they described her as a political \u201cprogressive\u201d before \u200bshe began following the far-right conspiracy theory. Fulbright\u2019s attempts to sway those around her fits the pattern of \u201credpilling\u201d\u200b\u2014a term the QAnon community uses to describe the act of converting another person to their beliefs. Evangelizing QAnon and Trump is part and parcel of the movement\u2019s core tenets. <\/b><\/p>\n

Efforts to spread the conspiracy theory, however, can often isolate people from their friends and family, which can deepen one\u2019s dive into QAnon. According to Molina, Fulbright turned on her when she refused to embrace QAnon.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe started sending me these crazy messages attacking me, \u2018I don\u2019t know what you believe anymore. You\u2019re the one that showed me this\u200b, and you\u2019re turning your back on it, so you\u2019re a part of it. You\u2019re involved,\u2019\u201d Molina recounted. \u201cI couldn\u2019t say or do anything without her accusing me of being a satanist.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Fulbright\u2019s arrest did little to dissuade her from following QAnon, Molina and Mueller told RWW.<\/b><\/p>\n

Fulbright contacted Molina after getting out of jail, seemingly unaware that she had done anything wrong. Molina said that Fulbright told her that one of the cops who arrested her had winked at her and told her she was in \u201cgood girl jail\u201d because \u201cthey knew I was doing good.\u201d Molina said she confronted her ex-roommate about the seriousness of her actions but that her concerns were \u201cnot registering at all.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m mourning my friend\u2019s death,\u201d Molina said. \u201cI don\u2019t know her. Like, I have no idea who this person is. \u2026 That\u2019s pretty much how we all feel.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Five days after the incident, Molina sent a text message to Fulbright asking her if she was still \u201cfollowing the white rabbit,\u201d a common slogan for QAnon adherents that describes the \u201cresearching\u201d of the conspiracy theory. Fulbright responded in the affirmative. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cQ is I\u2026 Q is you\u2026 Q is us\u2026 it\u2019s literally data\u2026 collected by the white hats and then turned into videos and shit. But okay\u2026 yeah I follow Q,\u201d Fulbright wrote back on Aug. 17.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n
The leader of a \u201c#SaveTheChildren\u201d rally in Los Angeles on July 30 holds a sign calling for the execution of \u201call pedophiles\u201d and wears a t-shirt with a large letter \u201cQ.\u201d (Photo: Julian Feeld)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pro-Trump conspiracy theories like QAnon have been spreading online more quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to multiple recent studies, and \u200bfollowers of these conspiracy theories are actively targeting \u200bisolated \u200bindividuals\u200b, whose numbers have swelled \u200bduring this time of crisis. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue recently determined<\/a> that \u201cfar-right groups and individuals are opportunistically using the ongoing pandemic to advance their movements and ideologies\u201d and that \u201cQAnon conspiracy theorists are capitalising on the pandemic\u201d to \u201cincrease their reach online.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

Recently, QAnon followers have begun masking their belief system in less alienating and extreme language in an attempt to grow their movement. The issue of child trafficking \u2014 a very real problem \u2014 is often used to attract new adherents who are then slowly exposed to more incendiary QAnon rhetoric. According to the New York Times<\/a>, data collected and analyzed by the Facebook-owned data platform CrowdTangle has shown a 500 \u200bpercent increase in posts using the #SaveTheChildren \u200bhashtag since early July. \u200bOffline gatherings have \u200balso blurred the lines between anti-child\u200b trafficking activism and dangerous conspiracy theories.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u200bNot simply a fringe conspiracy theory anymore, the QAnon movement has \u200bbegun mobilizing politically. Multiple #SaveTheChildren rallies were held in American cities on July 30, which is the United Nations\u2019 official \u201cWorld Day Against Trafficking in Persons.\u201d References to QAnon and its related conspiracy theories peppered signs at such rallies. An affiliated Los Angeles rally<\/a> was organized and led by a man wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the letter \u201cQ.\u201d Rallygoers held signs stating \u201cHillary Clinton is Satan,\u201d \u201cQ sent me,\u201d and \u201cExecute all pedophiles.\u201d The crowd of approximately 200 people made their way down Hollywood Boulevard and gathered below the studio of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. They then launched into a chant: \u201cJimmy Kimmel, we know you\u2019re a pedophile!\u201d This weekend, more than three dozen similar rallies are being planned in the United States, Canada, Spain\u200b, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.<\/b><\/p>\n

A minority of people getting \u201cred\u200bpilled\u201d by far-right conspiracy theories turn to \u200bviolent action like Fulbright, but such instances have seemingly become more frequent in recent months. On April 29, a woman drove<\/a> from Illinois to New York and was arrested on a pier with a dozen illegal knives in her trunk, explaining to the police that she had watched the QAnon video \u201cFall of the Cabal\u201d and was inspired to take action. On June 11, a Boston man live-streamed<\/a> a police chase with his wife and \u200bfive children in the car, during which he was recorded saying \u201cQAnon, help me. QAnon, help me.\u201d The chase ended when the man rammed a police cruiser and crashed into a tree. There were no injuries. In early July, a woman attacked<\/a> a product display in an Arizona Target store and livestreamed a later confrontation with the police, explaining to the arresting officer that she had been hired as \u201cthe QAnon spokesperson.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

\u200bDespite such incidences and the FBI labeling QAnon a domestic threat, the president has expressed support for QAnon followers. Trump praised<\/a> QAnon congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene, has retweeted QAnon-affiliated accounts, and most recently spoke positively of the QAnon conspiracy theory when asked about it by NBC reporter Shannon Pettypiece during an Aug. 19 White House press briefing. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard that it is gaining in popularity,\u201d the president said. \u201cI don\u2019t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

After the reporter informed the president that \u201cthe crux of the theory is this belief that you are secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals,\u201d \u200bTrump responded by saying \u201cI haven\u2019t heard that, but is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing? I mean you know, if I can help save the world from problems I\u2019m willing to do it. I\u2019m willing to put myself out there. And we are really, we\u2019re saving the world from a radical left philosophy that will destroy this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"   By Julian Feeld<\/a> | August 20, 2020 3:33 pm<\/p>\n

Source<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Tags:<\/strong> conspiracy theories<\/a> QAnon<\/a> <\/span>violence<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Related<\/h3>\n

Some Republicans Finally Denounced QAnon. It\u2019s Too Little Too Late<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    (Image Art: Jared Holt) A Waco, Texas, woman arrested last week and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated\u200b appears to have been motivated by the QAnon conspiracy theory President Donald Trump spoke positively of during a White House press conference Wednesday. According to arrest affidavits first reported by the Waco Tribune-Herald, 30-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australias-move-to-the-right","category-the-pm-and-the-qanon-conspiracy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}