Hacktivist group Anonymous has begun doxxing the supporters of internet conspiracy group Q-Anon, days after the group threatened “we gonna wreck you.”
VICE News has confirmed the identities of two Q-Anon supporters, whose details — including phone numbers, home addresses, email addresses and dates of birth — were published online by hackers claiming to be part of Anonymous.
Videos by VICE
The two men have promoted the Q-Anon conspiracy theory through their own websites, something that would have made them among the leading targets for the Anonymous operation to out known supporters.
Frederick Sparaga, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, is the operator of QProofs.com, a website that gathers together ”a collection of Q-Anon evidence provided by anonymous patriots.”
He was unaware that he had been doxxed when contacted by VICE News on the number published by Anonymous. He confirmed the other information was also correct before abruptly hanging up.
Another Q-Anon supporter doxxed by Anonymous was much more talkative, however.
Timothy Holmseth, 50, who lives in Minnesota, confirmed that all the information posted about him was also correct, and admitted that he was an ardent follower of Q, saying that just this morning he had put hashtag Q stickers on his car.
“Whatever Q is, it has brought a lot of people together”
“I have been watching Q-Anon, it is very interesting for me,” Holmseth told VICE News. “Whatever Q is, it has brought a lot of people together and it has brought a lot of valuable information to the American public. I support Q.”
However Holmseth claimed that his information was not published by Anonymous, but by a shadowy cadre of people who he claims are “a group of child traffickers and pornographers” that were involved in the disappearance of year-old Florida girl Haleigh Cummings in 2009.
Holmseth claims the reason this group put his information online is an attempt to discredit him because he has “concrete proof” that they were involved in child trafficking.
Q-Anon is a theory that centers around a government agent (with so-called “Q-Level” Top Secret clearance) who is putting cryptic messages on Trump-friendly message boards, telling adept readers where to find clues that point to a massive government conspiracy that Trump is single-handedly thwarting in secret.
The group shot to fame last week when members appeared at a Donald Trump rally in Tampa and the U.S. president appeared to point and wave at them.
The doxxing of Sparaga and Holmseth came days after Anonymous posted a video online signaling their intention to out the followers of Q-Anon.
Unlike previous Anonymous videos that typically feature ominous music and imagery, this one was much more upbeat, with the group even mocking the typical view of hackers.
“We’ve been watching the interwebs from deep within our basements, flinging data bits and bytes here and there — living the stereotypical hacker life, you know; eating Doritos and drinking the Dew,” the narrator says.
While the group says it was initially entertained by Q’s antics, they became concerned when the group grew into “a deformed Alex Jones conspiracy thought bubble.”
Finally, the digitized voice of the narrator issued a warning:
“We will not sit idly by while you take advantage of the misinformed and poorly educated. In our collective we all have our differences and internal drama but we do have one thing in common; none of us are happy with your bullshit. We gonna wreck you.”
Cover image: David Reinert holds a large ‘Q’ sign while waiting in line on to see President Donald J. Trump at his rally August 2, 2018 at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. ‘Q’ represents QAnon, a conspiracy theory group that has been seen at recent rallies. (Photo by Rick Loomis/Getty Images)
