The last 10 years seems to have been a decade of conspiracy theories overtaking every aspect of our lives, from the rise of QAnon as a political force to claims of COVID as a form of population control (or the vaccine as a population reducer). But with the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, we may just have reached peak conspiracy theory.
No, I’m not talking about the inevitable ‘false flag’ claims that the assassination attempt was a set-up staged for political reasons (though I’m sure it will be used as such regardless of the improbability of that). Instead, I’m talking about what seems a minor detail, but one that is just so perfectly dumb that it makes you wonder if someone, somewhere (our simulation overlords perhaps?) are just having a laugh at our expense.
And that detail is the gentleman in the crowd behind Trump, the one who remains standing as others in the crowd take shelter as the gunshots ring out.
I know that gentleman. Not personally, but because I’ve watched the QAnon movement from close enough to its inception. His name is Vincent Fusca.
He stands out a little from the crowd, not just because he remains standing, but also because – unlike the usual T-shirt and MAGA cap attendee – he is wearing what can only be described as his ‘signature outfit’: a fedora and a suit jacket over a t-shirt, which he is almost always seen in.
Why do I know who Vincent Fusca is, and what he normally wears? I know, because Vincent Fusca is believed by some in the QAnon movement to be none other than John F. Kennedy Jr (and, it should also be noted, by extension, the mysterious ‘Q’ himself). Yes, the JFK Jr who died in a plane crash some 25 years ago (dead people being alive is a minor detail when it comes to QAnon theories).
As Will Sommer explains in his book Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy that Unhinged America:
In July 2018, Q went silent for twenty days, the longest that the flock had gone without their shepherd. Seizing the opportunity, a Q wannabe named “R” — the letter in the alphabet after Q — stepped up, suggesting that Q was really JFK Jr., who hadn’t died in a 1999 plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard after all. Instead, JFK Jr. faked his death to avenge his father’s assassination by the deep state.
…QAnon believers looking for JFK Jr. settled on Vincent Fusca, a then-little-known Trump fan. All it took to turn Fusca into JFK Jr. were a few image comparisons that put pictures of Fusca at rallies next to pictures of JFK Jr…
Fans dress up as Fusca for Halloween. They perform elaborate numerological calculations on his van’s license plate, speculating about what the numbers and letters could mean about the QAnon plan. One fan tried to launch a congressional campaign in his name.
In fact, for some QAnon believers, it was only a matter of time before Fusca/JFK Jr/’Q’ became Trump’s vice-presidential running mate pick for the 2024 election.
Now, it should be noted that Fusca’s appearance at the rally is not in any way suspicious – in fact, part of the reason he was noticed by QAnon adherents was because of him turning up in the ‘VIP’ section of Trump rallies occasionally – and most often, at Trump events in Pennsylvania. But of all the people in America to be standing right there when this huge news event happened…
What’s perhaps most notable – especially for QAnon adherents – about Fusca being the most prominent person in the crowd as Trump took cover beneath the lectern soon after the incredibly near miss, is the alleged reason that Fusca/JFK Jr/’Q’ was attending Trump rallies (according to QAnon adherents) in the first place: QAnon believers have always believed that he was staying close to Trump “because JFK Jr. needed to protect the president from the deep state that had killed Kennedy’s father.”
Looks like ‘Q’/JFK Jr’s hard work fighting the Deep State finally paid off! Boy do I have egg on my face, I really should have trusted the plan after all…
