Dallas QAnon cult leader Michael Brian Protzman is using children to build his following and spread his QAnon-based beliefs through live-streams on the messaging app Telegram.
On Thursday evening, Protzman led an hour-long conversation with a 12-year-old girl on a Telegram livestream. Before the girl joined, the conversation’s moderators said they aim to spread Protzman’s teachings to children by featuring more kid-teachers like the girl, who Protzman and other adult participants referred to as "Tiny."
Before about 500 subscribers, Protzman and the girl exchanged so-called "decodes" using gematria, a simple alpha-numerical system in which A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 and so on. All of the decodes trace nonsensical gematria-based connections leading back to a few simple conclusions: Q has been right all along, and Protzman, alongside Donald Trump and the long-dead JFK and JFK Jr., are about to set in motion the mass execution of a network of satan-worshiping child traffickers who control society.
For example, early in the conversation, the girl laid out a series of convoluted associations between an alleged U.S. government mind-control experiment called Project Montauk, the time on the clock in background of Donald Trump’s first appearance in the movie Home Alone 2 and supposed subliminal messaging about a QAnon-like revolution buried the 2011 movie The Smurfs.
All of these connections, she claimed, lead back to an 111-acre island in Australia called Elliott Island, where an Australian university is leading a marine biology study that somehow involves the brother of the late alligator wrangler Steve Irwin.
Protzman then piggybacked on her chain of connections with a series of Gematria-based links between the Kennedys, Donald Trump’s signature catchphrases and movie-theater popcorn, which all supposedly show that predictions by him and Q, the purported anonymous whistleblower behind QAnon, are about to come true any day.
Last Thursday's stream isn’t the first time Protzman has platformed children in attempts to expand his audience and target kids, recordings of Telegram livestreams show. Late last month, the same 12-year-old girl made at least two extended appearances on Protzman’s channel, the Observer found. During at least one February live-stream, Protzman also brought a 12-year-old boy on to exchange similar gematria-driven nonsense connections for Protzman to riff on after.
One expert said that use of young children who’ve internalized Protzman’s bizarre ideology and speech patterns is unprecedented amongst QAnon leaders.
“There was never anything that I’ve ever seen specifically targeting Q to children, and it’s extremely disturbing,” said Michael Rothschild, whose book The Storm Is Upon Us documents the rise of the QAnon movement from its post-2016 election roots up to last year’s Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Rothschild emphasized that the situation raises immediate concerns about the kids’ wellbeing. “The biggest issue is exploitation of children,” he said.
It’s unclear if these children’s parents are members of Protzman’s group, or whether or not they have been in Dallas alongside them.
Protzman did not respond to requests for comment about how the 12year-old girl and boy became so well-versed in his teachings, which even other QAnon believers have reportedly condemned as outlandish.
At one point in Thursday’s livestream, the girl recalled a "decode" Protzman made “in the room” a few days before they went live. At multiple other points during the stream, Protzman and the girl appear to refer to in-person interactions when they discussed the finer points of their "decodes" in the days before the event.
Rothschild emphasized that even if the children on Protzman’s streams aren’t learning from him in person, their appearance on the streams is alarming. “Is there anyone around that is thinking about her as something other than a vessel for his bizarre ideology?” he said.
Protzman and a core group of followers decided to follow the U.S. ‘Freedom Convoy’ to Washington last week. But in chats and livestreams Protzman has made clear that he intends to return to Dallas after the convoy and a South Carolina Trump rally are over.
They originally came to Dallas in droves in early November. Protzman had predicted that JFK Jr. and his father would reappear in Dallas, where JFK was assassinated, to set in motion all of the righteous persecution and societal reorganization QAnon believers have held onto for years.