QAnon faithful gather in Las Vegas to save the world from sinister elite

In the cool of a Las Vegas morning a former speechwriter for Donald Trump smoked a cigarette by the entrance to a glass hotel, chatting with a man in a cowboy hat who became famous for riding a horse from New Mexico to the White House. A sheriff-turned-media personality was finishing his breakfast inside and various Republican politicians and candidates were expected soon.

It was just another stop on the conservative speaking circuit, with one important difference: the Patriot Double Down convention this weekend had been organised by followers of the sprawling conspiracy theory QAnon, who believe that the world is in the grip of an epochal battle pitting Trump against a global cabal of Democrats and Satan-worshipping elites who are guilty of horrific crimes

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