Share this page!

Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
Twitter logo
10 Jan, 12 tweets, 6 min read
The violence in Washington shocked the world and caught the authorities off guard.

But for anyone who had been watching the unfolding story - online and on the streets of US cities - it came as no surprise.

We tell the story of 65 days that led to chaos.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
Videos, images, graphics and claims that went viral on and after election day gave rise to a hashtag: #StopTheSteal

The message was clear - Mr Trump had won a landslide victory, but dark forces in the establishment "deep state" had stolen it from him.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
A Facebook group called "Stop the Steal" was created on 4 November and became one of the fastest-growing in the platform's history, adding more than 300,000 members.

Some of the posts were alarming, speaking of the need for a "civil war" or "revolution".
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
On 14 November, a "Million MAGA March" was held in Washington DC.

While mainstream conservative figures were present, the event was dominated by far-right groups.

Militia groups, far-right media figures and promoters of conspiracy theories were there.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
The pro-Trump online world became fascinated with Sidney Powell and L Lin Wood, and their "Kraken" legal cases.

But their lawsuits consisted predominantly of conspiracy theories and debunked allegations that had already been rejected by dozens of courts.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
Far-right activists increasingly targeted election workers and officials in several swing states, including Michigan, Georgia and Arizona.

"Someone's going to get hurt, someone's going to get shot, someone's going to get killed," @GabrielSterling warned.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
On 12 December, a second Stop the Steal rally was held in the capital.

Once again, thousands attended, and once again prominent far-right activists, QAnon supporters, fringe MAGA groups and militia movements were among the demonstrators.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
On 17 December, 8kun's Ron Watkins suggested Mr Trump should follow the example of Julius Caesar and use the "fierce loyalty of the military" to "restore the Republic".

#CrossTheRubicon became a Twitter trend, referring to Caesar launching a civil war.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
As it became clear Congress would certify Mr Biden's win, online rhetoric reached boiling point. References to guns, war and violence were rife.

"Pence will be in jail awaiting trial for treason," Mr Wood said. "He will face execution by firing squad."
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
Hundreds of posts on TheDonald forum openly discussed plans to cross barricades, carry firearms and other weapons to the Capitol rally on 6 January.

There was open chatter about storming the Capitol and arresting "treasonous" members of Congress.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
The signs were there for weeks. A hodgepodge of extreme and conspiratorial groups were convinced the election was stolen and openly talked about arming themselves.

Perhaps authorities didn't think their posts were serious. They now face pointed questions.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…
This long read was written by @Lussenpop, @O_Rob1nson, @J_A_Horton and me.

Production and graphics were done by James Percy.

And many thanks to @_k_westcott @mwendling and @hugotwilliams for subbing and editing the piece.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Shayan Sardarizadeh

Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Shayan86

Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
8 Jan
BREAKING: Twitter has suspended the accounts of Ron Watkins, Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn.

Alongside L. Lin Wood, suspended yesterday, they were the most high-profile amplifiers of conspiracy theories about the election, whose tweets reached millions of Mr Trump's supporters.
All four feature prominently in a piece I'm working on about the online rhetoric and disinformation that sadly contributed to the storming of the Capitol.

In the absence of Q since election day, they became the main stars of the QAnon crowd.
It definitely looks like Twitter has finally decided to do what Facebook and YouTube did three months ago.

Major QAnon influencers are falling one after another
Read 13 tweets
Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
20 Dec 20
There was a pro-Trump "Stop the Steal" rally held in Osaka, Japan, today.

Videos suggest at least a few thousand people attended, alleging the election was stolen from Mr Trump.

There was also a "Stop the Steal" rally in Tokyo at the end of November.

A similar "Stop the Steal" rally was held in Taipei, Taiwan, yesterday.

It received widespread coverage on the social media accounts of The Epoch Times.

Here's more about the Tokyo "Stop the Steal" rally, which was held three weeks ago 👇
Read 4 tweets
Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
12 Dec 20
Now that the US Supreme Court has dismissed the case by Texas, QAnon supporters are unanimous on what must happen next.

The military getting directly involved is the only way to overturn the election, they say.

Some are even advising each other to stockpile food and ammunition.
When I say unanimous, I really mean unanimous.

Literally every major QAnon influencer and account I know is saying the military should now get involved to help overturn the election outcome.
And now Ron Watkins from 8chan/8kun says things are "teetering ever precariously" towards the military intervening to overturn the election.
Read 4 tweets
Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
8 Dec 20
Margaret Keenan, 90, born in Enniskillen and living in Coventry, became the first person to receive a Covid vaccine today.

But anti-vaxxers have been spreading conspiracies about her since.

"She actually died in 2008 and the one who was vaccinated today was a 'crisis actor'." Image
"Wasn't she coming from Coventry in the beginning??"

How could she be born in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, and later relocate to Coventry, England?

Clear proof she doesn't exist, apparently. Image
You can see her giving a "masonic hand gesture" after taking the jab which proves she's a "freemason lady" and a member of "the illuminati".

Other world leaders like Angela Merkel, also members of the illuminati, have given that hand gesture before, they claim. ImageImageImageImage
Read 7 tweets
Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
29 Nov 20
Iran's Fars news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, has published bizarre new details of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's assassination.

His car, escorted by three cars for protection, leaves Rostamkola, Mazandaran province, for Absard, Damavand in the morning.
One of protection team's cars, which was driving upfront, drives off to check Fakhrizadeh's destination for safety.

Meanwhile, Fakhrizadeh stops the car after hearing the sound of gunshots. He gets out, thinking it's either the sound of him hitting something or an engine issue
A Nissan, parked 150m away, begins firing numerous shots at him via "a machine gun being controlled and operated remotely".

Two bullets hit him on the side and one on the back causing a spinal cord injury.

The lead bodyguard stands in front of him and is hit several times.
Read 7 tweets
Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
28 Nov 20
NEW with @J_A_Horton @ChrisSGiles and @alistaircoleman

Lawyer Sidney Powell has released the #Kraken in her Georgia and Michigan lawsuits, hailed by QAnon supporters as irrefutable evidence of voter fraud.

We read both, and here's what we found in them.
bbc.co.uk/news/election-…
Some of the claims in the 200 pages have already been rejected in court cases, while others - such as accusations that voting machines are part of a plot originating under former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez - are not backed up with any credible evidence.
bbc.co.uk/news/election-…
But thanks to QAnon supporters, #Kraken has gone viral.

On Twitter, there have been nearly 100K tweets referencing Kraken in the last 48 hours.

On Facebook there have been just over 1M interactions involving the word Kraken since Wednesday evening.
bbc.co.uk/news/election-…
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @Shayan86 has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @Shayan86!

Read all threads by @Shayan86