Last month’s attack on the U.S. Capitol has forced people to take a closer look at the fringe conspiracy theory, Q Anon. The movement is easy to dismiss, with its claims of Satan-worshipping Democrats trafficking children and eating babies. Not to mention a day of reckoning they call “The Storm,” which never comes. But the movement is also dangerous. The FBI considers Q Anon a potential domestic terror threat.
In Sequim, Washington, the events of the past month have sharpened the focus on the town’s mayor, William Armacost. For months, he’s been pushing propaganda for Q Anon, which he calls a “truth movement.” And there is growing concern that he’s helping other extremists take over the halls of government.
Former City Manager Charlie Bush was ousted last month after a surprise motion from Armacost demanding his departure. Bush had criticized Armacost's Q Anon musings. He was a popular administrator and his position is a powerful one in Sequim, which has a weak-mayor form of government. His departure has rattled the politically moderate community.
A majority of the Council supported Bush’s ouster. All those who voted in favor were appointed to their seats after vacancies, with support from Armacost himself.
“All four serve as part of what appears to be a coordinated far-right recruitment effort,” resident and activist Matthew Randazzo V tweeted.
“A town that has explicitly chosen a local gov model with weak mayor/council are being ruled by 3 unelected extremists and a Q-pilled Mayor who got on council because he was only candidate to register for an obscure local election. Literally no one voted for this,” he added.
That resident is not alone in his concerns. A new citizens’ group called the Sequim Good Governance League has already welcomed at least 500 members. They want Bush reinstated and they want to give the town’s Q Anon mayor the boot.
“People are awake now," the group’s leader Shenna Younger told CNN. "They want to participate, and they want to be involved."
Q Anon likes to say “The Storm is coming.” In Sequim, it’s coming for them.