A Killing Joke

There are a lot of elements of the QAnon conspiracy complex, which absorbs and assimilates other conspiracy theories, which are darkly comedic, such as lurid tales of mole children and evil reptilian aliens posing as the rulers of the planet.  The whole farrago is one big joke, but one with deadly consequences.  In short, Morrissey pretty much nailed where this joke has gone.

This story about a QAnon adherent/victim locking her children in their rooms and setting fire to her house is pure horror.  The truth behind her arson, attempted murder came out gradually, as recordings made by the first responders were made public:

The helmet cam caught Corliss screaming, "Get the f--- away from me, I've had wormwood, you'll all die," the affidavit stated. The captain accused her of pushing him away when he tried to keep control of her.

Later, she was lowered by a ladder but was accused of grabbing onto the ladder and attempting to keep firefighters from taking her out of the home.

After being led to safety, Corliss was unstable, the report said. When one firefighter stated she was acting crazy, she heard the comment and yelled she was not crazy, the affidavit stated. 

A Boscawen police lieutenant carried Corliss to an ambulance, but she was accused of being combative with him, too. Corliss hit the lieutenant in the face with her bloody hand and said he was now infected, the report said. The lieutenant accused Corliss of screaming about her body being "poisoned" and "you'll die if you eat me," as well as blaming her father for selling her into slavery, calling herself by other names, and admitting to trying to kill herself.

"At no time during the incident did Corliss tell anyone that the children were inside the room," the investigator stated. 

This attempted murder is eerily similar to the April murders of three California children by their mother, in what seems to be a terrifying combination of post-partum depression and conspiracist derangement.  The daughter of the New Hampshire woman recounted her mother's reason for attempting to burn her to death:

The investigator said EMTs spoke with the girl while she was being taken to Concord Hospital. The girl told the EMT that her mom told her that "bad guys broke in" and "my mom set the fire to protect us," according to the affidavit. At Concord Hospital, a doctor also heard a similar statement from the girl. 

I am firmly of the belief that the whole QAnon thing began as a LARP on 4Chan, an internet bulletin board on which anonymous shitposters often try to outdo each other with tales told while posing as government insiders, and was taken over by the owners of the 8Chan/8Kun board in order to drive traffic to their website, and incidentally to inspire MAGA morons to worship Trump.  It started off as a joke, then took on a life of its own, and eventually led to something deadly.

Post title taken from the name of an influential post-punk. proto-industrial band from London.