Robert David Steele/Public Intelligence Blog
Unraveling viral disinformation and explaining where it came from, the harm it's causing, and what we should do about it.
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Steele was in Florida for the final dates of his Arise USA tour, a three-month trek across all 50 states, during which he spread conspiracy theories about COVID-19, election fraud, and former President Donald Trump’s supposedly imminent return to office. The tour had run out of money, but Steele was continuing to show up to events on his own.Steele was joined for parts of the tour by Richard Mack, the head of the “Constitutional Sheriffs” movement, a group working to radicalize American law enforcement.
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Hours after Steele’s death was announced, he was already being lauded as a “warrior to the end” on QAnon channels on messaging app Telegram. And just as the final years of his life were defined by conspiracy theories, his followers reacted to his death by boosting conspiracies about how he “really” died, including claims that he was poisoned or “killed with a heart attack.”