QAnon Is Back On 8kun But Many Believe It Is Just Jim Watkins Trying To Make A Buck

Frederick Brennan, the original and former founder of 8chan (now 8kun), has shared what he claims is “incontrovertible” proof that Jim Watkins is now posting as Q, the anonymous account at the center of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

It is now incontrovertible that Jim Watkins changed the ID on a Q drop from 422ccc to 000000 using the database, to hide the fact that he was just arguing with an anon on that ID.

— Fredrick Brennan @copypaste@mastodon.online 🦝🔣📗 (@fr_brennan) June 29, 2022

Jim Watkins is the administrator of 8kun, which was renamed from 8chan in 2019 after American internet hosting services refused to continue hosting it. The rebranded 8kun is now hosted via a Russian service and based in the Philippines where the Watkins live.

8kun has been associated with several mass shootings, blacklisted from Google Search because of child pornography in its forums and cited as a planning ground for the January 6th rioters. It first gained attention as a forum where GamerGate was discussed, and later became the home of Q and the movement associated with QAnon.

Within the conspiracy, Q claims to be a high-level government operative with ties to Donald Trump recruiting “patriots” online to help overthrow the United States government. Q first emerged in 2017, posting a series of cryptic catchphrases and leading questions in “Q Drops.”

Suggestion for Season 2 Q drops: include a few health and wellness tips.

"How does exercise affect the body?
How does sunshine affect the body?
^[30] minutes every day
Use logic
STAY HYDRATED ANONS
PATRIOTS IN CONTROL (OF SOME THINGS -- DON'T OBSESS OVER WHAT YOU CAN'T CONTROL)
Q"

— Travis View (@travis_view) June 29, 2022

QAnon has also become influential in the modern Republican party, with several elected officials like Marjorie Taylor Greene and former President Donald Trump echoing and amplifying claims made by QAnon believers. Prior to June 24th, Q had been on a lengthy hiatus, with no new posts since December 2020.

For the first time since December 8th 2020, Q from QAnon (or someone with his password) posted at 8:26 p.m. EST tonight.

"Are you ready to serve your country again?
Remember your oath," the account posted. pic.twitter.com/iz2NiK3BTV

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) June 25, 2022

Brennan has claimed Jim’s son, Ron Watkins, was posting as Q for several years. In our 2020 interview with Brennan, he theorized that it was likely Jim or Ron posting the infamous Q Drops.

In the 2021 HBO documentary Q: Into The Storm, Brennan again laid out his claims and Ron Watkins himself seemed to inadvertently allude to being Q. Ron later resigned his role at 8kun to run for Congress in Arizona after establishing a reputation as a prominent 2020 election denier.

Q has been definitively exposed as Jim Watkins. I mean we all knew this at least since the HBO doc but this is the nail in the coffin. There is no longer even a hint of plausible deniability. https://t.co/7Bi7ujr1kR

— molotovs against malarkey (@phreespeech) June 29, 2022

When you get drunk and sad on a Friday night you text your ex.
When Ron Watkins gets drunk and sad on a Friday night he reignites a cult. https://t.co/tigIO9suNt

— Azalea (@AzaleaWyatt) June 25, 2022

Brennan’s alleged evidence comes from an analysis of trip codes and server data, which proves that Jim Watkins accidentally used the same ID he posted under as Q to argue with a poster who criticized him, later going into the server to push an update changing that ID and concealing the evidence. Brennan describes the line of reasoning as fairly complex, but it seems like even a decent number of 8kun users are with him.

I was Fake Q'd by a very obvious ego who is so easily trollable by anti-jim speech. This is NOT Q. pic.twitter.com/miGlaPwy6o

— W_Tactic (@w_tactic) June 29, 2022

A coincidence that Q came back during 8kun's slowest month ever, barring outages? pic.twitter.com/sGmQQAf3xQ

— Robert Amour (@kunstderfuge1) June 27, 2022

Jim Watkins has issued a statement denying the charges, and a few QAnon adherents seem to have confidence in the new Q Drops regardless of the recent claims.

While 8Kun trolls are currently mocking the fact that Jim Watkins has now 200% outted himself as Q. QAnon, AKA the World’s Greatest Researchers are busy trying to decode the latest JimDrop. pic.twitter.com/qrhvdN4rH3

— Poker and Politics (@PokerPolitics) June 29, 2022

Jim Watkins' resurrection of Q has basically been one unforced error after another. I'd be howling in laughter at how badly he's messed this up if I were able to look away from all the terrible implications of Q's second coming

— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) June 29, 2022