Category:Ron Watkins: Difference between revisions

| birth_name = Ronald Watkins

| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|33|2021|4|13}}

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'''Ronald Watkins''' (born {{Birth based on age as of date|33|2021|4|13|mos=1|noage=1}})<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|last=Malone|first=Patrick|date=April 13, 2021|title=Seattle man wonders if his childhood friend is the leader of Q-Anon|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-man-wonders-is-his-childhood-friend-the-leader-of-q-anon/|accessdate=April 16, 2021|work=[[Seattle Times]]|language=en}}</ref> is an American [[Wikipedia:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorist]] and site administrator of the [[Wikipedia:imageboard|imageboard]] website [[:Category:8chan|8chan]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Gilbert|first=David|date=December 15, 2020|title=The Dangerous QAnon Figure Doing Whatever It Takes to Win Trump's Approval|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/93wqm7/ron-watkins-meet-the-dangerous-qanon-figure-doing-whatever-it-takes-to-win-trumps-approval|accessdate=January 20, 2021|work=[[Vice (website)|Vice]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=Ling|first=Justin|date=January 6, 2021|title=QAnon Is Trumpism Now|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/06/qanon-q-trump-republican-party-election/|accessdate=January 20, 2021|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|language=en-US}}</ref> He has played a major role in spreading the discredited [[Wikipedia:Far-right politics|far-right]] [[:Category:QAnon|QAnon]] conspiracy theory,<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=McKay|first=Tom|date=November 19, 2020|title=Great, We're at the '8kun's Admin Is an Election Security Expert' Stage of This Bullshit|url=https://gizmodo.com/great-were-at-the-8kuns-admin-is-an-election-security-1845719735|accessdate=January 20, 2021|work=Gizmodo|language=en-us}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web|last=Amore|first=Samson|date=January 20, 2021|title=QAnon in Meltdown After Biden Inauguration: 'We Need to Go Back to Our Lives'|url=https://www.thewrap.com/qanon-in-meltdown-after-biden-inauguration-we-need-to-get-to-go-back-to-our-lives/|accessdate=January 20, 2021|work=TheWrap|language=en-US}}</ref> and has promulgated baseless conspiracy theories that widespread election fraud led to [[:Category:Joe Biden|Joe Biden's]] victory over [[:Category:Donald Trump|Donald Trump]] in the [[Wikipedia:2020 United States presidential election|2020 U.S. presidential election]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Harwell|first=Drew|date=December 1, 2020|title=To boost voter-fraud claims, Trump advocate Sidney Powell turns to unusual source: The longtime operator of QAnon's Internet home|language=en-US|work=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/01/powell-cites-qanon-watkins/|accessdate=January 20, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> He is the son of [[:Category:Jim Watkins|Jim Watkins]], the owner and operator of 8chan.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|last=Francescani|first=Chris|date=September 22, 2020|title=The men behind QAnon|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/men-qanon/story?id=73046374|accessdate=January 21, 2021|work=[[ABC News]]|language=en}}</ref> Some journalists and researchers believe that one or both of the Watkinses know the identity of, or are themselves, "[[Wikipedia:QAnon#Identity of Q|Q]]", the person or group of people behind QAnon.