QAnon conference, Patriot Party scheduled for this weekend in Paradise Valley

Fresh off being praised by President Donald Trump at his town hall-style interview this week, adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory are scheduled to gather at a conference in Paradise Valley.

The Q Con Live! conference, the second in-person gathering for followers of the baseless theory, has been scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort.

It will feature people popular among devotees of Q, an anonymous government official with Q-level security clearance who has supposedly been posting cryptic clues to hidden truths on obscure online bulletin boards.

The theory’s main narrative: Trump has been investigating a global cabal of political leaders and celebrities who run a child trafficking ring so leaders may have sex with the children or eat them.

About 100 to 200 people are expected to attend, according to a video interview that event organizer Chris Jacobson did to promote the event.

“It’s going to be a fun time,” Jacobson said in the interview. “It’s just a bunch of patriots hanging out together, learning from each other.”

Among the scheduled speakers listed is Jim Watkins, who runs the bulletin board 8kun. It is the website where the mysterious Q posts his occasional writings, known among followers as Q drops.

Q’s postings have migrated to bulletin boards — first 8chan and then 8kun — run by Watkins.

An October article in Business Insider quoted sleuths speculating that it’s actually Watkins who authors Q’s writings, rather than a mysterious figure embedded in the White House.

Trump, the central figure in the Q narrative, has been asked about Q and said he was not very familiar with its tenetsbut still described some of its beliefs. During Thursday’s town hall-style interview on NBC, the president said again he knew nothing about QAnon before explaining that it was against child sex.

“I know nothing about it,” Trump said. “I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it.”

On Twitter that night, Dave Hayes of Gilbert, who interprets Q’s writings under his pen name, Praying Medic, posted to his 72,000 followers: “Imagine that. The President of the United States is the only person on Twitter who knows nothing about QAnon.”

Registration for the day-long conference is $49.99, according to the Q Con Live! website. A VIP package is available for $249.99.

The first in-person Q Con Live! conference was held in August in Jacksonville, Florida. A virtual conference was held in June.

According to a policy posted on the Q Con Live! website, journalists are allowed to pay the registration fee and attend, but are prohibited from interviewing, photographing or recording in any fashion anything going on. The policy also forbids journalists from asking attendees or presenters to meet somewhere else for interviews.

The QAnon conference in Paradise Valley is being held within a larger Patriot Party event scheduled to begin Friday night and go through Sunday afternoon.

That event will begin at 6 p.m. with an opening prayer by state Rep. Jay Lawrence. It will feature music and speeches by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Juanita Broaddrick, who has accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual assault.

QANON CONSPIRACY: 2 Arizona congressional candidates have posted about the QAnon conspiracy theory

Jacobson, in his taped interview promoting the event, said he expected another 200 people to attend the Patriot Party event. Attendees of that event, who will pay between $100 for general admission or $250 for VIP access, are able to attend the Q Con Live! conference for free, he said.

Although the nighttime music events on Friday and Saturday are set to be held outdoors, according to the schedule on the Patriot Party website, the speeches on Saturday morning and afternoon are set for a ballroom.

All speeches for Q Con Live! are also set for a conference room.

The Q Con Live! website advises attendees to practice social distancing and that they have the option of wearing personal protective equipment. The words “advised” and “option” are underlined.

In the video interview posted on the website, Jacobson referred to mask mandates as “tyranny.”

Maricopa County requires that people wear masks while indoors if not socially distanced.

Sean Sachs, senior vice president of the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, said the hotel will follow all government guidelines on hosting events. But, he said, enforcement of those guidelines and mandates is worked out in confidence with each group that wants to hold an event.

Sachs would not say whether his resort would refuse the business of an entity that wished to purposefully violate mandates or guidelines.

“I won’t comment on that,” he said.

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8473 or by email at richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @ruelaswritings.

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