# Q of QAnon has supposedly been found. Is he in legal trouble?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 31, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487 "2020-08-31T22:49:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/1 "2020-08-31T22:49:26Z")
Q of QAnon infamy has been doxxed. From what I’ve read the evidence is very compelling. I will not repeat the name here or post a link on the off chance that the person is not in fact Q.
My question is if the personed outed is in fact Q, are they in legal trouble? Either criminal or civil? You have to figure that if Alex Jones can get sued civilly that Q has to be in a similar boat, right?
Is anybody aware of any criminals laws that may have been broken by Q?
---
### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2020, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/2 "2020-08-31T23:37:57Z")
Where are you reading this? What’s the source?
---
### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/3 "2020-08-31T23:43:47Z")
The person currently being outed as q anon is the person who has always been thought to be them. He’s either been helping them hide all along or he was they. Not really news.
I can’t answer your legal question.
---
### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/4 "2020-08-31T23:46:23Z")
I’m not afraid to name the person, after all it is 100% speculation at this point. The name I am seeing is [Jim Watkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Watkins_(businessman)). Among other things, he has ties to the lovely 8chan.
---
### Author:  [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/5 "2020-08-31T23:46:48Z")
It’s Steve Guttenberg, isn’t it.
---
### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/6 "2020-08-31T23:55:39Z")
Shhh
The stone cutters are listening!
---
### Author:  [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/7 "2020-08-31T23:59:45Z")
I would guess that he _will_ be sued. Whether suit will get to proceed and ultimately succeed depend on things that are beyond my limited familiarity with the exact content he’s put out. There are probably potential avenues in the direction of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. But, like I said, don’t know enough of the content, and really not interested in studying up on it. I have the broad strokes, and that’s more than enough for me.
---
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/8 "2020-09-01T00:00:40Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#):
>
> I’m not afraid to name the person, after all it is 100% speculation at this point. The name I am seeing is [Jim Watkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Watkins_(businessman)). Among other things, he has ties to the lovely 8chan.
Interesting. I was going to say that, based on what I knew, I don’t think there’s a legal issue with just saying cryptic things and letting other people on 8chan misinterpret them. But if he’s actively participating in that part, there might be something, depending on what they’ve done.
I mean, they did harass Rebecca Chandler (two different women, actually) because they thought her name meant she was Epstein’s “child handler”–and that they’re living in a shitty detective novel.
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/9 "2020-09-01T00:15:48Z")
Here’s the only article I can find online at the moment that lays out some of the details:
> **[Did an IP address accidentally reveal QAnon's identity?](https://www.dailydot.com/debug/who-is-qanon-jim-watkins-rumors/)**
>
> Who is QAnon? This week the internet was asunder that 8kun owner Jim Watkins was revealed as QAnon. But there's holes to that theory.
---
### Author:  [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/10 "2020-09-01T00:19:56Z")
Sorry for the badly written post. I injured my back today. I’m really just interested in Q (whoever it is) has broken any laws? Civil cases seem like a no-brainer.
For example, could the incident surrounding Pizzagate be considered instigating violence?
---
### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/11 "2020-09-01T01:11:04Z")
If making and spreading crazy conspiracy theories was illegal, lots of people with major TV and radio audiences would be in prison right now.
[I’m all for it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438).
---
### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/12 "2020-09-01T01:28:59Z")
> [@ThisIsTheEnd](#):
>
> It’s Steve Guttenberg, isn’t it.
> [@mikecurtis](#):
>
> Shhh
> The stone cutters are listening!
They doooo!
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoSLiHKrzRU)
---
### Author:  [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/13 "2020-09-01T02:24:23Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#):
>
> Sorry for the badly written post. I injured my back today. I’m really just interested in Q (whoever it is) has broken any laws? Civil cases seem like a no-brainer.
>
> For example, could the incident surrounding Pizzagate be considered instigating violence?
I Am Not A Lawyer, but:
What exactly did “Q” post about Comet Ping Pong? Did he explicitly advocate an imminent violent act? In the U.S., the bar for incitement to violence is generally pretty high, due to 1st Amendment considerations.
If he posted, “Whoever is reading this, you should grab a gun right now, go to Comet Ping Pong, and start shooting those pedos!”, he’s probably criminally liable. If he posted, “Pedophiles use ‘cheese pizza’ as a code for referring to their victims. Democrats sure order a lot of ‘cheese pizza’ from Comet Ping Pong.”, there’s not actually any crime there, and it’s pretty tough to make out any civil liability.
It’s my understanding that Q’s posts were generally much more along the lines of the latter than the former, but I haven’t read them in much detail.
---
### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/14 "2020-09-01T02:34:51Z")
And Alex Jones was sued for just spreading conspiracy theories
> While the nation recoiled at the terrible reality of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Alex Jones saw an opportunity," said the families’ attorney Josh Koskoff in 2018. “He went on a sustained attack that has lasted for years, accusing shattered family members of being actors, stating as fact that the shooting itself was a hoax and inciting others to act on these malicious lies.”\<
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/15 "2020-09-01T02:48:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> inciting others to act on these malicious lies
That’s totally different from “just spreading conspiracy theories.”
---
### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/16 "2020-09-01T02:59:12Z")
Sorry,
That’s a typo. It should say, “wasn’t sued”
That’s very different!!
---
### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/17 "2020-09-01T11:27:28Z")
I have never read any of Q’s posts but I thought it got started with a claim to have a federal Q security clearance. It would not surprise me to find this is a false claim, but is there anybody who was not a QAnon conspiracist who thought it was plausible? (Evidently Watkins has never had such a clearance.)
---
### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/18 "2020-09-01T13:13:26Z")
it just makes me sad that so many otherwise intelligent people believe in that horseshit.
---
### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/19 "2020-09-01T13:27:59Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> I have never read any of Q’s posts but I thought it got started with a claim to have a federal Q security clearance. It would not surprise me to find this is a false claim, but is there anybody who was not a QAnon conspiracist who thought it was plausible?
Not I, for sure. Security clearances are SRS BSNS. I’ve known a couple of people who have had to attain one as a condition of employment for a job, and the government is not screwing around with them. If you have a clearance, they know what material you have access to and if that material gets disclosed improperly they WILL find you fast.
the idea that this guy could have legit access to classified material, spend several years leaking it while the government just couldn’t figure out who he is is ludicrous. Period.
---
### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487/20 "2020-09-01T13:38:57Z")
I have had a clearance at the Secret level, which is not that big a deal, but I live in the DC area and have had many friends with Top Secret, SCI, lifestyle poly, the whole bit. Yes, they are serious. Just look at what they did to Chelsea Manning. However, I am not aware of any classified info purportedly disclosed by Q; just things like, “I know what’s really going on and it’s BIG” or other vagueries.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-of-qanon-has-supposedly-been-found-is-he-in-legal-trouble/919487.md?page=2)