“Why do you publicly support QAnon,” two people asked this week during the mayor’s monthly radio broadcast “Coffee with the mayor”.
“What does the Punisher symbol mean to you?” asked another interlocutor, referring to the comic book anti-hero icon that was adopted by QAnon’s followers. “Are you concerned that the publicity received as a result of your position on QAnon will damage our reputation?”
Mayor William Armacost answered each question on his radio show calmly, patiently and without apology for his growing attention on the Internet as a mayor who called the conspiracy theory a “movement for the truth”.
“I have never publicly stated that I support this,” said Armacost, referring to QAnon. “I am an information hunter. I should have kept my personal feelings to myself. I am here to talk about our beautiful little town of Sequim.”
But a considerable number of Sequim residents have organized a petition to reinstate the city administrator, who resigned earlier this month. They call the mayor a dangerous threat after several alleged followers of QAnon were arrested for their alleged roles in the US Capitol insurrection on January 6.
“The people who led the Capitol insurrection were Q leaders,” said Shenna Younger, a Sequim resident who leads the Sequim Good Governance League, a popular movement hoping to oust the mayor. “This is not just a conspiracy theory. This is serious.”
‘QAnon is a movement of truth’
Sequim’s municipal council revolves around a salaried municipal manager who serves as chief executive. This means that Armacost does not have the power assigned to most US mayors.
Most residents of Sequim barely paid any attention to Armacost until last August, when he delivered an impressive statement during “Café com o Mayor”.
Asked about the QAnon, the mayor replied: “QAnon is a movement for the truth that encourages you to think for yourself. If you remove the Q from that equation, they are patriots from around the world fighting for humanity, truth, freedom and saving children and others of human trafficking. “
Armacost then encouraged his listeners to watch a QAnon video full of conspiracy theories about a conspiracy by a Satan-worshiping child sex trafficking group, formed as part of a “deep state” that seeks to annihilate Donald Trump.
The video echoes the unsubstantiated claims promoted by QAnon. Since its inception, QAnon has gone from the darkest corners of the Internet as a single conspiracy theory to baseless theories about elections, global financial systems and human trafficking.
Earlier this month, the city council approved Bush’s sudden resignation following a surprise motion by Armacost. The resignation of the popular city administrator alarmed Sequin residents, who believe that the public conflict over QAnon led to Bush’s departure.
Bush told CNN he would not comment on his departure.
In the “Coffee with the Mayor” broadcast on Thursday, residents like Karen Hogan called to demand an explanation.
“We have philosophical differences between the city council and the city administrator,” said Armacost.
“What are these differences?” Hogan fired back at the call.
“I am not at liberty to reveal them,” said Armacost. “We have big differences and we will leave it at that.”
Two people who called the mayor’s broadcast asked, “Why do you publicly support QAnon?”
“I have never publicly stated that I support this,” said Armacost. “I am an information seeker and I should have kept my personal feelings to myself.”
Residents who formed the Sequim League of Good Governance dispute the mayor’s defense.
Armacost opponents point to the mayor’s personal Facebook page, where Armacost shared several posts of disinformation and the phrase “WWG1WGA”, a rallying cry that QAnon supporters have adopted, which means: “Where are we going, let’s go all”.
They also say the mayor is wearing a lapel pin at virtual city council meetings this year. The badge, clearly visible at recorded city council meetings, is a skull matching the symbol of the Punisher, preferred by QAnon believers. The mayor says the badge supports law enforcement.
Younger says that 500 people joined the Sequim Good Governance League in just two weeks. They fear that the mayor’s departure signals that the mayor may further influence the city.
“People are awake now,” said Younger. “They want to participate and they want to be involved.”
Rick Perdue, who recently moved from the East Coast to Sequim, said he was shocked to hear about the mayor of his new city, which he described as moderate and welcoming.
“I didn’t think we would have that kind of nutcase here. He should represent the values of the community, not his crazy right-wing QAnon conspiracy,” said Perdue.
Perdue points out that Sequim is in Clallam County, a thermometer county that has chosen the winning president in all elections since 1980. The county, says Perdue, represents the country’s political sentiment, so he is alarmed by the mayor’s words.
“There are many people who believe that,” said Perdue. “See what’s going on in Congress now. We certainly aren’t the only ones with high-level people who follow the information from the QAnon conspiracy theory.”
‘I even read the fake news’
On Thursday, CNN approached Armacost outside the radio station after its program. For 15 minutes, the mayor answered the questions calmly and politely.
When quoting back what he said earlier on his radio show, calling conspiracy theory “the movement of truth”, Armacost said: “What I call an opportunity, as a patriot and as an American citizen, to seek the truth. This comes through analysis and research. People need to make their own decisions to do their homework. “
The mayor said he regretted telling residents to watch the QAnon video, but did not recognize the video’s bizarre content. Without warning, the mayor then diverted the conversation to human trafficking. One of the conspiracy theories promoted by QAnon is that members of the “deep state” are involved in trafficking.
“I think if you take the time to do the research, there are many parallels that you can read that have historically been in the books of things that happened,” said Armacost. “Human trafficking is one of them. We had a great opportunity to seek out more people who are in danger and rescue them and try to regain a normal life ”.
When asked if he is a follower of QAnon, the mayor said: “I enjoy all the resources. I even read the fake news, even to see if there is a fabric, a thread of fabric that contains the truth.”
Armacost says he would never support the disfigurement of a building like the United States Capitol or the attempt to harm or disturb a public official. But he questioned whether QAnon’s beliefs fueled some of the Capitol insurrectionists, despite the video showing Jan. 6 protesters wearing Q shirts and carrying Q posters while violating the Capitol.
“I watched a lot of videos of what appears to be scenarios versus what continues to happen. I have no way of confirming whether it was one group versus another, ”said Armacost. “Just because the angle of the camera showed this view, it may not have shown another angle that shows a totally different scenario. I am not denouncing, but I am not confirming that this painting I saw in a clip is the truth versus they did not show all the information. “
Ultimately, the mayor says that what he believes in particularly has no impact on his non-partisan job as Mayor of Sequim.
On whether he would denounce QAnon as concerned that the residents of Sequim asked him to do, the mayor said: “I am not supporting this. I am not in a position … I am a small man who runs a small business in a small town. authority to report or promote as well. “
Correction: an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the residents of Sequim organized a petition to oust Mayor William Armacost. They organized a petition to reinstate the municipal administrator.