4 Texas lawmakers reject condemnation of QAnon | Free Share

WASHINGTON — While the U.S. House overwhelmingly voted Friday to condemn the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, four Texas Republicans voted against the resolution.

The measure, titled “Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes,” passed on a 371-18 vote. The four Texans among those 18 were Republican Reps. Jodey Arrington of Lubbock, Brian Babin of Woodville, Michael Burgess of Lewsiville and Bill Flores of Bryan.

Four other Texans, also all Republicans, did not vote: Reps. Michael Cloud of Victoria, Louie Gohmert of Tyler, Kenny Marchant of Coppell and Ron Wright of Arlington. Wright is currently being treated for cancer. The 27 other Texans in the House voted to condemn QAnon.

The FBI has identified the movement as a domestic terrorism threat. BuzzFeed reported earlier this week that followers of QAnon targeted the resolution’s author, New Jersey Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski, with death threats. Malinowski’s resolution condemned and rejected the conspiracy theories the movement promotes and included a list of crimes in which the perpetrators cited QAnon as a guiding inspiration. The resolution additionally pointed to FBI and U.S. military warnings about the movement’s potential to foment political tension and radicalization.

The QAnon movement adheres to an unfounded theory that a cryptic government official named “Q” is exposing a plot against Trump by “deep-state” actors involving satanism and child sex trafficking. It has gained more attention as it has spread in conservative political circles online. Some believers have been accused of plotting or carrying out violent crimes. In April, an Illinois woman was arrested after she traveled to New York with illegal knives and wrote on Facebook that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden need to be “taken out.”

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