I Infiltrated Parler for 13 Hours, an Anonymous Op Ed

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We received this article anonymously for our consideration. While it is more in the realm of journalism, given the rise of popularity of cults in film, and as a popular topic in the horror community, we felt this had relevance connecting dark fiction genre and current events. We feel that this shines a spotlight on how people process a lot of difficult topics through the horror genre in books and film. We also felt it pertinent to highlight the fact that the danger of misinformation is real and indoctrination into cults can happen to anyone, and that education and socioeconomic backgrounds are NOT deciding factors; anyone and everyone is vulnerable. We encourage our readers to think critically, stay informed via multiple streams of information, and to seek help via the guidance of a counselor, therapist, or other pertinent authority as needed when in crisis.

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I Infiltrated Parler for 13 hours

As someone who has spent a good portion of their life infiltrating cults, when the news broke that Parler would be inaccessible from my iPhone within 24 hours, I immediately downloaded it. I expected white supremacy, far-right extremists, and domestic terrorists. What I didn't expect was that I would fall down a rabbit hole that lasted 13 hours straight, and would end in me buying an am/fm radio, and food and water rations. Why? Because out of all of the brainwashing cults I have infiltrated, I have never experienced any with as powerful of a sway than this echo chamber of horrors. 

It started as an infiltration, which is actually a pretty basic process, just make them believe you are “one of them.” Throw around a few MAGA and Qanon hashtags, call out liberals, and you’re in. I was so convincing, in fact, that I even had liberals and antifa attacking the fake persona I had created just for Parler. I talked about the “Satanic Elite” and all of the baby eating they supposedly do. The “truths” I was coming up with as a creative writer were hilarious to me, because they were beyond outrageous! I talked in circles about Canaanite Gods, Israel, Pedophiles, Trump, the occult-meaning of numbers, and “Patriots” (sometimes even fitting them all into a single post).

They loved it. They trusted me. My followers grew faster in a day on Parler than a month on Twitter. But, in order to have reached that level of trust, I had to follow others as well. That's when it became scary.

There was always “a plan” being talked about. A plan that had been in place since at least June 2020, as a timestamp suggested. The steps were written out by, apparent, special ops vets as such:

“RED1: POTUS twitter removal

RED2: Central communications blackout [continental US]

RED3: CLAS movement PELOSI or PENCE

RED4: Movement of MIL assets [10th Mountain_1stMarine_CPSD_Marine_QVIR] to central locations under the guise of citizen riot control.

RED5: NAT MIL COM CEN

RED6: SEC OF DEF _instruct11 USS CASTLE ROCK Q”

Now, at first, that looked like a bunch of nonsense jargon to me. Until more and more information about RED2 and RED3 came out. Everyone was told that there would be a total communications blackout in the coming week, and Trump would be enacting the Emergency Broadcast System; and for everyone to prepare to have enough food and water for 10-12 days, along with a radio. They then started showing images and live video of Pakistan’s and The Vatican’s blackouts, claiming them as part of “the plan.” 

At this point, I was in my 11th hour on the app and immediately began following orders. Turning off my location, stocking up, etc. In the past, I had previously infiltrated Transcendental Meditation, having attended multiple three-day long trance “retreats” over the course of four years and never “Drank the Koolaid” as they say. But the Far-Righters managed to get me paranoid to the point in which I was absolutely sure the FBI or CIA were watching me within a matter of hours. I was unable to get to sleep until after 2 A.M.

I woke the next morning with even more followers… I also woke up to a “meme” claiming something would be happening to Pelosi that day. Luckily, a good night’s sleep helped me regain some of my sanity back, and after checking the news, I saw that no such thing had happened. I did, however, uncover a lot of death threats and doxxing, and was luckily able to immediately report them to the liberals/leftists/democrats they were going after. It also let me know that I had to get out. 

I have been within the walls of The Mormons, The Maharishi, The Scientologists, The Raelians, and the white-lady “gurus” of the world. None of them affected me psychologically. I am a college educated person and consider myself a realist and individualist. I have never held on to a right-winged belief in my life, and that didn’t change within Parler. I did not change my intersectional feminist views, but I did change my views on how seriously I should be taking these people. 

Deranged rants, people saying they were ready for the upcoming “civil war,” which social media apps to quit - and which to switch to instead. At 7 P.M. EST, the day before, more details were released - the site saying that it is coming from Trump, himself. They included a list of what to expect over the coming week, such as The Emergency Broadcast System, physical “Battling,” “high profile arrests,” “Bombshell evidence” to be released between now and January 20th, some form of “Internet blackout,” and of course… “Trump to be inaugurated on Jan 20th!” 

We all changed our phone settings to not automatically update, out of paranoia that Apple’s newest update that night would stop Trump from being able to communicate via Emergency Broadcast. The day after, it took me an hour to undo everything I had done to my phone out of the fear these people were spreading. The main contributor? To no one’s surprise, Lin Wood. 

By 12 A.M. PST January 10th, Parler would be deplatformed by Amazon, but they have already organized where to head to next. The social media platforms Gab and Clouthub were the two most mentioned, and where people like Lin Wood and his supporters are now on or being encouraged to switch to. Other “non communist” sites, as a graphic read, were DuckDuckGo, MeWe, Telegram, Signal, Modbroz, and TinyzoneTV. 

Some of the more worrisome posts I saw while melting my brain on Parler included, 

“We felt it this week [the capitol insurrection] when it looked like we might lose our freedom forever, but you were ready and knew exactly how to handle it, You played it cool. Now just do that again, but X100.”

“Bring the UN, bring your jihad, When we walk through the valley of death, we fear no evil, because the valley’s are ours, and so are the shadows.”

“Omg! We are about to have a civil war.”

One post, made by Donald Trump Jr., asked “What is freedom worth to you?” to which the top voted comment in response to the question was a Parler user who responded, “Freedom is worth my life sir.” 

I don't know about you, but to me, that sounds a lot like a death cult. Am I overreacting? If you had asked me before January 6th, I would have said “Absolutely.” But after the insurgence of the Capitol, I'm not so sure that would still be my answer. Pelosi, Pence, Graham, and AOC seem to be the most targeted political figures on the site, whereas Pope Francis seems to be the most hated religious figure. Even a Hare Krishna follower claiming to be speaking for their deceased cult leader, stated that “Liberal demons must be slayed.” Who knew you could be in two cults at once? 

What now? As I am writing this, I have officially deleted my fake Parler account, and am $200 poorer for gathering up supplies, radios, and batteries. But I'm less concerned about my bank account and more concerned about who the people in this (apparent) death cult are. They are the people who you would expect to be the most peaceful. The majority of extremist accounts I came across were white female yoga teachers, immigrant doctors, nurses, lawyers, and religious leaders (some even held their church services on Parler). The fear that the far-right is spreading is dangerously contagious, and easy to believe if you aren't familiar with confirmation bias. I'm going to be honest with you. After 13 hours straight in an echo chamber of hatred and paranoia, I truly feel that I should seek some sort of therapy. The problem? Can I trust the therapist?

Updated 3PM Jan. 13th: As of the time of scheduling this article (which was written last week following the US Capitol Siege) a State of Emergency/the Emergency Broadcast system was in fact enacted this week by Current US President Trump. In addition, the National Guard has been deployed inside the Capitol Building to protect political officials and other government/civilian employees. Articles of Impeachment have also been presented for consideration.

Article by BMB