A prominent QAnon figure from Victoria greeted some of her 60,000 online followers with cucumbers and sardines before an Aug. 13 event aiming to arrest Peterborough police officers, but ended with four protesters charged with assault.

Romana Didulo, who claims shesa国际传媒檚 the commander in chief and queen of the sa国际传媒淜ingdom of Canada,sa国际传媒� promoted the sa国际传媒渃itizens arrestsa国际传媒� event multiple times on her conspiracy-laden Telegram account.

Didulo has called for violence against anyone who allows for the vaccination of children and encouraged her sa国际传媒渇orcessa国际传媒� to sa国际传媒渟hoot to killsa国际传媒� health-care workers. The rhetoric led to the RCMP searching her Victoria address last year. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network said Didulo has one of the largest followings among the countrysa国际传媒檚 fringe figures.

In an Aug. 10 post viewed 12,500 times, she ordered her sa国际传媒渇orcessa国际传媒� to the Ontario rally and said officers would be handed over to the military.

About 30 protesters gathered at the police station on Aug. 13 looking to arrest officers for COVID-related sa国际传媒渃rimes against humanity.sa国际传媒� The protesters, according to police and video, accosted officers arriving for work and tried to access the stationsa国际传媒檚 secure entrance. One video shows a man telling officers sa国际传媒測ou guys are going to hang.sa国际传媒�

Peterborough police arrested three protesters on the weekend, with charges including assaulting a peace officer with a weapon and assaulting police. On Thursday, police charged another man for ripping a counterprotestersa国际传媒檚 sign and the department is investigating a woman videoed tearing off the counterprotestersa国际传媒檚 face mask.

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Ontariosa国际传媒檚 special investigations unit is looking into officer actions during one of the arrests, which followed an interaction with police, after a man was injured. Protesters swarmed police and were videoed trying to intervene during the arrest.

sa国际传媒淏e peaceful. But stand your ground sa国际传媒�,sa国际传媒� Didulo posted on Telegram during the event.

Edwin Hodge, a University of Victoria expert in radicalization and extremist ideologies, is familiar with Didulo and said while her reach is clearly influential, itsa国际传媒檚 always the smallest minority that actually engages in real-world actions. She wouldnsa国际传媒檛 have any influence 20 years ago, but social media has changed that, Hodge said.

Didulo and her followers reflect a pattern of radicalization seen in the Jan. 6, anti-vaccine and Freedom Convoy movements, Hodge said, noting those sucked into conspiracy theories are usually looking for a sense of purpose or community.

sa国际传媒淚t remains sort of an unpleasant surprise to see just how many people respond to these sorts of calls to action.sa国际传媒�

Peterboroughsa国际传媒檚 mayor was concise in her response to the protesters.

sa国际传媒淗ere is my comment: fsa国际传媒攌 off, you fsa国际传媒�-wads,sa国际传媒� Diane Therrien tweeted on Aug. 16.

The mayor defended the response on Thursday, telling CBC shesa国际传媒檇 do it again. Therrien said her community is tired and frustrated after a string of conspiracy theory-inspired events where participants have had the explicit intent to cause harm, disruption and pain.

sa国际传媒淵ou cansa国际传媒檛 reason with unreasonable people so they need to be told directly in terms they understand how people feel about them,sa国际传媒� she told CBC. sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e just kind of showing up because they have nothing else better to do on a Saturday, they should go volunteer or help the community but they donsa国际传媒檛.sa国际传媒�

Conspiracy theorists will think anyone challenging their beliefs is part of the conspiracy, Hodge said.

sa国际传媒淭he idea is to ask them questions that direct them toward the holes in their logic so in their own minds they can start to see the problems.sa国际传媒�

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