The Conversation (0)
Becca Monaghan
Sep 23, 2021
The Gabby Petito case has now come to the attention of QAnon conspiracy theorists – a radical far-right, Trump-supporting movement who are deep-rooted in fighting a “deep state.”
The disappearance of the 22-year-old influencer and van life blogger prompted a nationwide search after communication with Petito had suddenly stopped. Earlier this week, police ruled her death a homicide after her body was found in Wyoming. Her fiance and travel partner, Brian Laundrie, has disappeared and been declared a person of interest in the case.
After the sad news broke, QAnon flocked to their Telegram channels such as GhostEzra and WeTheMedia to discuss Petito’s case. They spiralled into their own versions of events, with one claiming that the incident was “clearly Black Ops to cover for Biden failures.”
“Somethings not right about this whole situation... this is clearly Black Ops to cover for Biden failures.” They commented, before referring to the 2020 election votes audit: “Was he ever real? Is SHE? Another false flag right before the audits.”
Others believed their names were fake. In a desperate attempt to reach, they concluded that her fiance’s name deconstructed to ‘brainwash.’
“Brian Laundrie? Brian = Brain. Laundrie = Laundry = Wash. BRAINWASH is what his name means. Definitely an operation”, they wrote.
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Another anonymous post on an 8Kun message board read: “Think it’s interesting her name is Gabby Petito and his name is Brian Laundrie. Gabby Petito = small talk ... Brian Laundrie = dirty laundry. Always suspicious of missing persons making huge news.”
A separate user referenced a QAnon supporter who was killed at the Capitol riot and the officer who shot her: “Ashley Babbitt, Gabby Petito, Brian Sicknick. Made up names for made-up character actors.”