QAnon, a baseless but sprawling pro-Trump conspiracy theory, began online in 2017. It has since attracted thousands of followers, bringing what researchers call a cult and what the FBI says is a potential domestic terror threat into the offline world.
nyti.ms/38dWgmn
nyti.ms/38dWgmn
From its start, QAnon has been bound up with "MAGA" communities online. The core belief is that the president is heroically battling entrenched evil — however outlandish and unfounded — and it can now be frequently seen at Trump campaign rallies.
The seepage of conspiracy theorizing from the digital fever swamps into life offline is one of the more unsettling developments of the Trump era, in which the president has relentlessly pushed groundless conspiracies to reshape political narratives for his benefit. 
Several Republican politicians at local, state, and congressional levels have signaled interest in QAnon. Matthew Lusk, running unopposed in a Republican congressional primary in Florida, openly embraces it, saying its anonymous creator is a patriot.
Researchers who track conspiracy theories say there's a potential for violence by unstable individuals who fall under QAnon's sway, particularly in the fraught political climate of the 2020 election.
There have already been several such QAnon-linked incidences, including one in 2018 when a man with an AR-15 style rifle and handgun in an armored truck had a standoff with police and demanded the release of a report on the government investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails.
In its intelligence bulletin identifying QAnon as a potential domestic terror threat, the FBI warned that social media was serving as an incubator for groundless theories and inspiring followers to take action.
Read @mmcintire and @kevinroose's full report on how the online conspiracy theory QAnon has steadily migrated offline to Republican campaigns, colleges and even a murder case: nyti.ms/38dWgmn
