The QAnon Witch, Sen. Justine Wadsack, apparently has competition for the title from another QAnon member of the Arizona legislature, and it’s not from Sen. Wendy Rogers (who is the undisputed QAnon Queen of the legislature).
Media Matters reports that How Facebook led Arizona state Sen. Justine Wadsack to claim Uvalde tragedy was a false flag:
Newly uncovered Facebook posts show that Arizona Republican state Sen. Justine Wadsack declared that the Uvalde, Texas, mass school shooting was a false flag event enacted to install “Red Flag laws and gun regulations.”
Wadsack’s embrace of the Uvalde false flag conspiracy theory came after another Facebook user sent her numerous pieces of supposed evidence in a comments section. It is another example demonstrating how social media, including Facebook, helps further push people down misinformation rabbit holes.
Wadsack has a history of embracing conspiracy theories online: She has tweetedthe QAnon slogan and shared false claims about the 2020 election being stolen. (Wadsack has claimed she is not a QAnon conspiracy theorist.)
Shortly after the Uvalde school shooting on May 24, 2022, Wadsack wrote a Facebook post stating: “Prayers for the families grieving after 19 children & 2 adults murdered in TX. #Wadsack4Arizona.”
A commenter on Wadsack’s post responded, “As details emerge, this is looking more like a False Flag event, for the purpose of whipping up emotional gun control and anti-2nd amendment frenzy.” Wadsack asked the person for more information. That person then posted several screenshots and links — some of which no longer appear to be online — including an insinuation that the shooter likely received help from “the Feds.” Wadsack responded: “yes. Very interesting!”
After another commenter told her it was “probably brought to you in part by those that brought the ‘Replacement Theory’…or another way to keep the future minority voters in check,” Wadsack replied: “This school shooting has nothing to do with keeping minority voters in check, IMO. But I believe it has everything to do with instilling Red Flag laws and gun regulations that move America toward losing our 2nd Amendment.”
average conversation to have right after 19 children and 2 adults are massacredhttps://t.co/P2yKP9L5V7 pic.twitter.com/UnCElCWQmB
— AZ Right Wing Watch (@az_rww) June 7, 2023
Sen. Wendy Rogers, Wadsack’s colleague in the Arizona state Senate, suggested in May 2022 that the white supremacist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, was a false flag operation orchestrated by federal agents as well. Rogers, like Wadsack, has also pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory.
But wait! Wadsack has competition.
Media Matters also reports that Arizona state Sen. Janae Shamp has shared QAnon propaganda on Facebook dozens of times:
When Arizona Republican legislators recently debuted a committee that was accused of QAnon signaling with its acronym, chair and state Sen. Janae Shamp responded by claiming it was “a goofy accusation.” [Moi?] But a review of her Facebook posts found that Shamp has frequently promoted the conspiracy theory: She has posted QAnon videos; forwarded conspiracy theories from QAnon influencers; and shared QAnon slogans, including the phrase of the acronym in question.
Republicans in Arizona set up a committee chaired by Shamp to purportedly “examine federal, state and local efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Its most recent hearing was filled with COVID-19 conspiracy theories.) They named it the Novel Coronavirus Southwestern Intergovernmental Committee, using the acronym “NCSWIC.” Reporters and QAnon experts soon raised questions about whether they were nodding to QAnon, which uses NCSWIC to stand for “nothing can stop what is coming.” (QAnon followers basically believe what’s coming is Trump arresting or destroying the supposed deep state.)
Arizona state Senate GOP spokesperson Kim Quintero called the line of questioning about QAnon “absolutely ridiculous” and “BS.” And Shamp responded to the controversy by tweeting: “What a goofy accusation! Sometimes an acronym is just an acronym.”
Yet Shamp herself has repeatedly shared the phrase “nothing can stop what is coming.” And her Facebook page leaves no doubt that she’s a QAnon devotee who is deeply immersed in the violence–linked conspiracy theory.
The following are over numerous examples of Shamp promoting QAnon-tied propaganda on social media. (This is just a sampling of her voluminous activity.)
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- In a post claiming the 2020 election was stolen, Shamp shared the QAnon phrase “Nothing can stop what is coming.” (She copied the post from a QAnon-supporting Telegram account).
- She also shared a Trump campaign image that includes the phrase “Nothing can stop what is coming.”
- Shamp shared the QAnon phrase “WWG1WGA” (“where we go one, we go all”).
- Shamp shared a video she credited to the Gab account Qanon211 to downplay the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
- Shamp has frequently promoted content she credited to the QAnon influencer collective We The Media. Her shared content includes a false claim about Dominion Voting Systems stealing the election and a videodownplaying January 6. She also shared their pro-QAnon video that featured the “where we go one, we go all” phrase.
- Shamp additionally shared a We The Media video featuring QAnon imagery, writing: “I know I’ve shared this video before but I do believe it is worth sharing a thousand more times!”
- Shamp posted a video including the text “WE ARE THE STORM” — a popular phrase among QAnon followers.
- Shamp posted a video titled “The Trump Wave by ItalyQanons.”
- Shamp said that she listens to the QAnon show X22 Report “nightly” and also likes the QAnon show BardsFM.
- Shamp shared a post from a QAnon-themed Twitter account which pushed the conspiracy theory that the Clintons killed Monica Petersen because they wanted to hide their sex trafficking.
- Shamp has cited Ron Watkins (aka “CodeMonkey”), a QAnon influencer who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Arizona, in pushing election conspiracy theories.
- Shamp has repeatedly shared content that she’s sourced to Praying Medic, a QAnon influencer.
- Shamp shared election denial content that she attributed to QAnon influencer Stormy Patriot Joe.
- Shamp shared a quote that she attributed to QAnon influencer Jordan Sather.
- Shamp shared election denial content that she attributed to QAnon influencer InevitableET.
- Shamp shared election denial content that she attributed to QAnon influencer KanekoaTheGreat.
- Shamp has repeatedly shared the QAnon-promoting account AnonPatriotQ, including to push election denialism.
- Shamp shared a video from the QAnon influencer aTimeQ that features the QAnon-aligned phrase “the Great Awakening.”
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In addition to Shamp, Arizona state Sens. David Farnsworth, Wendy Rogers, and Justine Wadsack have endorsed or promoted QAnon. Arizona sheriff Mark Lamb, who is running for the U.S. Senate, has also been attempting to appeal to QAnon followers.
But wait, there’s more!
Media Matters also reports, Arizona state Sen. Janae Shamp has promoted neo-Nazis and other virulent antisemites:
Arizona state Sen. Janae Shamp has promoted antisemitic influencers on her Facebook page. Her sources include a neo-Nazi who previously said he wants a picture of Adolf Hitler in “every classroom”; a Gab user who urged readers to “Fight the Jews on Every Single Issue”; a QAnon influencer who dreamed of the day that Jewish people would be “gone”; and a neo-Nazi radio host who served a prison sentence for issuing violent threats.
In addition to her repeated promotion of antisemites, Shamp has also forwarded QAnon propaganda dozens of times, which Media Matters reported on earlier this week. QAnon itself is steeped in antisemitism. Shamp has not responded to reporters’ questions for comment about her QAnon activity, but she has taken down some of her posts.
Shamp has also compared people who oppose the COVID-19 vaccine to victims of the Holocaust. In one instance, Shamp shared an image of the Jewish badge with the word “unvaccinated” written over it.
She also posted an image comparing the treatment of the unvaccinated to laws targeting Jewish people in Nazi Germany.
Shamp’s sharing of bigoted accounts is part of a larger pattern of Republicans who have promoted antisemitic media figures and outlets. Those officials include fellow Arizona politicians Rep. Paul Gosar and state Sen. Wendy Rogers. Both of them, along with former President Donald Trump, endorsed Shamp’s campaign.
The following are numerous examples of Shamp promoting the accounts of antisemites.
Shamp promoted neo-Nazi Blair Cottrell’s anti-Soros post
Shamp shared an anti-George Soros post that was credited as “Via Gab – @RealBlairCottrell.” (The writing was originally posted on a QAnon-themed Telegram account.) Blair Cottrell is a pro-violence neo-Nazi who has written of Hitler: “There should be a picture of this man in every classroom and every school, and his book should be issued to every student annually.” He has also said, “The Jews are as small physically as they are degenerate in character,” and claimed that Jewish people “infiltrate and subvert entire generations of other nations in a bid for world power.”
The Gab account Shamp directed people to includes Cottrell praising Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers’ Party (also known as the Nazi Party). He wrote: “The reason nobody will recreate National Socialism any time soon is because the NSDAP was built from the ground up by a decorated war veteran and thousands of high-stock, stoic German soldiers, frustrated and forced into political action by Germany’s terrible conditions following her defeat in the First World War. … Personally, I don’t even feel like I have the right to call myself a National Socialist. I work hard and am in good condition, however I don’t live morally enough yet.”
Gab itself is a haven for antisemites, neo-Nazis, and white nationalists. It is run by Andrew Torba, who has repeatedly made antisemitic remarks.
Shamp promoted the website of neo-Nazi Hal Turner
Shamp shared a COVID-19 conspiracy theory article on the website of white supremacist radio host Hal Turner. The Southern Poverty Law Center wrote:
On his radio show, Turner has ranted about “bull-dyke lesbians,” “savage Negro beasts,” “f——,” and even joked about a “portable n—– lyncher” machine. He has a nasty history of threatening political enemies, saying that they deserve to be killed and posting their addresses online. That practice caught up to him in August 2010, when he was convicted of threatening to assault and murder three federal judges.
The SPLC also documented Turner’s history of antisemitism. Publications including The New York Times and NPR have described him as a neo-Nazi.
Shamp cited InevitableET, “a leading and hugely antisemitic voice in the Q community”
Shamp shared election denial content credited to QAnon influencer InevitableET. Vice News wrote that InevitableET (real name Craig Longley) is “a leading and hugely antisemitic voice in the Q community.” The publication reported that he has imagined “the day Trump would leave the White House, suggesting that all Jews would be ‘gone,’ using the antisemitic three brackets ‘echo’ symbol to identify Jewish people. … He has taken part in the ‘Blue the Jew’ movement, where anti-Semites Photoshop images of Jewish people blue, a technique developed on fringe websites to use visual clues to disseminate hateful antisemitic messages while avoiding triggering mainstream platforms’ hate speech rules.” Vice added that Longley promoted the virulently antisemitic text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Shamp shared a Clinton death conspiracy theory tweet from a “groyper”
Shamp shared a tweet from a now-suspended Twitter account named “wxgroyper” that pushed the conspiracy theory that Alabama reporter Christopher Sign’s death was related to the Clintons. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue defines groypersas “a loose network of white nationalist activists and internet trolls who gravitate around several key online influencers. Their goal is to push and normalize white nationalist ideas within mainstream conservatism.” Holocaust denier and antisemite Nick Fuentes is a leader of the groyper movement, which pushesantisemitism.
Shamp promoted antisemitic QAnon influencer Jordan Sather
Shamp shared a quote from QAnon influencer Jordan Sather, who has a history of antisemitism. He has written: “What is the real virus plaguing our world?” He then wrote the echo symbol that’s been used by antisemites to symbolize Jewish people: “(((Them))).”
Shamp promoted Gab account Wyatt, Austere Deplorable, who wants to “Fight the Jews on Every Single Issue”
Shamp shared a conspiracy theory post from the obscure and virulently antisemitic Gab account Wyatt, Austere Deplorable. That account, which also supports QAnon, had previously posted antisemitic remarks:
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- “Are we, as Gentiles – Satan’s Creation, going to sit back and allow this to happen? Or are We going to Fight the Jews on Every Single Issue and put a END to their plan for world domination? I REFUSE TO BE A SLAVE!!” [Link]
- “The little jew started all this and now they are trying to sit back and watch the people devour themselves. This is a classic method of the jews. This is the same thing they did in WW2 and in all other historical times, such as the Roman Empire.” [Link]
- “The jews are very good when it comes to causing wars, frail and afraid when its to carry them. So what do they have to do, is cause Gentiles and other States to fight for them. The jewish oligarchy is pushing Gentile Soldiers to actually do what the jews don’t want to do.” [Link]
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Where does AZ find these whack jobs? Maybe AZ has a Flint, MI style water problem or an East Palestine, OH type of soil pollution. Maybe, gasp!, it’s in the air, having floated across from Flori-Duh and Tex-ass a’la good ol’ Hersch. Or, maybe these RWNJs have figured out just how ignorant, gullible and downright crazy Arizona christo-fascist Republicans are.
Arizona was a hotbed of John Birch Society conspiracy theorists from the 1950’s to 1970s. There are parts of this state which have always been right-wing crazy, and this cancer has spread to parts of the state which used to be sane. Christian Nationalism evangelical religious groups definitely have played a major role.
I’ve led a sheltered life. I always thought Birchers were a fringe whack-a-doodle cult that never amounted to much. In the 90s I remember Tom Metzger in San Diego was pretty much dismissed as a washed up Bircher wanna-be. I thought JBS was toast back then. Weird, the creepy crawly things that one finds under rocks and dead animal carcasses. I’ve always believed the old saying, “When fascism comes to America, it will be carrying a bible and wrapped in the American flag.”