PANIC (for real): NJ & VA Reps Introduce Bi-Partisan Resolution Condemning QAnon Scared AF.  One of the sponsors, Tom Malinowski, D-NJ-7: https://twitter.com/Malinowski/status/1298270725795508228 The other sponsor, Dan Riggleman, R-VA-5: https://twitter.com/RepRiggleman/status/1298274698963243008  The story: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/25/congressmen-bipartisan-resolution-condemning-qanon-401606 The resolution: https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000174-2695-d0fb-aff6-b6dfb9780000 RESOLUTION Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes. Whereas,throughout history, conspiracy theories thatfalsely blame secret cabals or marginalized groups for society’s ills have fueled prejudice, genocide and acts of terrorism; Whereas, QAnon is a movement promoting a collectionof unfounded conspiracy theories that have spread widely on the internet since 2017; WhereasQAnon initially alleged that prominentAmericans are engaged in a secret plotto controlthe world, while using their power to exploit children, and has expandedto embrace virtually every popular conspiracy theory of the last several decades, from questioning the Kennedy assassination,to believing in alien landings, to denying the safety of vaccines; Whereas, many QAnon followers express anti-Semiticviews, and the Anti-Defamation League has said that the movement’s central conspiracy theory includes anti-Semitic elements; Whereas,the FBI has assessedwith high confidence that “fringe political conspiracy theories,” includingQAnon, “very likely motivate some domestic extremists, wholly or in part,to engage in criminal or violent activity,” and that these conspiracy theories “very likely encourage the targeting of specific people, places and organizations,thereby increasing the likelihoodof violence againstthese targets”; Whereas,the FBI bases this assessment on “events in which individuals committed crimes, plotted attacks, or successfully carriedout deadly violence, and who — either before or after their arrests — attributed their actions to their conspiratorial beliefs”; Whereas, QAnon adherents have been implicatedin crimes that they claim their QAnon beliefs inspired, including: a man arrestedin 2018for plottingto plant a bomb in the Illinois Capitol rotunda to make Americans aware of the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory; a man arrestedin 2018for using an armored car to block trafficonthe Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge; a man in Arizona arrested in 2019 for vandalizing a Catholic church; a woman in Colorado arrested in2019 for plotting an armedraid to kidnap her child, who had been takenfromher custody; a man chargedwith the murder of an organized crime boss in New York in2019; a woman arrested in New York witha car full of knives after posting a video accusing Joe Biden of participating in child sex trafficking and threatening to kill him; Whereas,the FBI further assesses that “these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread and evolve in the moderninformationmarketplace . . . fostering anti-government sentiment, racial and religious prejudice,[and] increasing politicaltensions”; Whereas, according to the CombattingTerrorismCenter atthe WestPoint Military Academy, “QAnon is arguably no longer simply a fringe conspiracy theory but an ideology that has demonstrated its capacity to radicalize to violence individuals at an alarming speed”; Whereas, Facebook, Twitter andGoogle have removed or blockedQAnongroups and contentfromtheir platformfor violating their policies against misinformation, bullying, hate speechand harassment; Whereas, QAnon adherents have been harming legitimate efforts to combat child exploitationandsex trafficking, including by overwhelming anti-traffickinghotlineswith false reports;and Whereas,the conspiracy theories promoted by QAnon undermine trustin America’s democratic institutions, encourage rejectionof objective reality, anddeepen our nation’s political polarization. 1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 2 (1) condemns QAnon and rejects the conspiracy theories it promotes; 3 (2) encourages the Federal Bureau of Investigation and all Federal 4 law enforcement agencies to continue to strengthen their focus on 5 preventing violence, threats, harassment, and other criminal activity 6 by extremists motivated by fringe political conspiracy theories; and 7 (3) urges all Americans, regardless of our beliefs or partisan affiliat8 ion, to seek information from authoritative sources, and to engage 9 in political debate from a common factual foundation