Is COVID event at Arizona Capitol a shoutout to QAnon? This acronym raises questions

A two-day event planned next week at the Arizona Capitol to address the COVID-19 pandemic response is being flagged as a blatant callout to people who believe in QAnon conspiracy theories because of its conspicuous name and it is partially funded by The America Project.

The America Project is a political organization that has promoted a host of unfounded conspiracies about elections. Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne and Mike Flynn, once national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, founded the group.

Byrne, whose career ended after disclosing an affair with a Russian agent, was a primary donor to the discredited "audit" of Maricopa County's 2020 election. Flynn, whom Trump pardoned after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, also was involved in that election review and has casually discussed unproven theories about vaccines — for example, that they are being administered through salad dressing.

The America Project and other sponsors are funding travel and accommodations for the speakers at the May 25-26 event, according to Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, who responded via Senate GOP spokeswoman Kim Quintero.

But when Shamp tweeted out an America Project flyer for the event, she included the acronym "NCSWIC" in her message, apparently meant to refer to the committee name. But NCSWIC is a common slogan used by QAnon.

The far-right QAnon political movement launched after Donald Trump was elected president, and without evidence, claims the world is controlled by the “Deep State,” or Satan-worshipping pedophiles, whom Trump eventually will defeat. The movement has attracted the attention of anti-hate groups like the Anti-Defamation League because of its antisemetic themes and calls to violence.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, QAnon followers promoted a host of unfounded theories about the illness and vaccines, masks and other mitigation efforts.

Within the QAnon movement, the acronym "NCSWIC" stands for "nothing can stop what is coming" and is used as a reference for the end of the Deep State that Trump will supposedly bring about.

The official committee name at the Arizona Legislature is "Novel Coronavirus Southwestern Intergovernmental Committee," which would more properly be abbreviated NCSIC, because "southwestern" is one word, not two.

But that's not what Shamp wrote and not what The America Project uses to describe the event, with both using the longer NCSWIC acronym that matches the QAnon slogan when referring to the event. (It also appears to be something of a choice to refer to COVID-19 as the "novel coronavirus" to make the committee name match the QAnon slogan.)

It's a little too coincidental for experts reached by The Arizona Republic, part of the Paste BN Network, to believe it's not a callout to QAnon followers.

"That is an interesting set of coincidences," said Michael Simeone, an associate research professor at Arizona State University who is a fellow with New America, a nonprofit, nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think tank, where he has studied public responses to actions such as government lockdowns and also how social media has been used to promote political violence.

"That seems pretty conspicuous given the deployment of that acronym as a promise for political revolution, or whatever revolution QAnon is supposed to bring about," he said.

Rachel Goldwasser, a senior research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., agreed.

“The fact that The America Project is involved, that alone is enough to be concerned that the rhetoric and beliefs are QAnon based," Goldwasser said.

The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks hate groups and domestic extremists.

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Goldwasser said that while the QAnon movement is broad, the beliefs can be a public safety concern.

"There have been many instances of real-life violence perpetrated by members of QAnon," she said. "QAnon is a very blatantly partisan conspiracy theory. ... It essentially villainizes anyone they see as being on the left or might be considered a Democrat. That is concerning because as they villainize them, people who fit within that identification become more of a potential target for violence."

Simeone said that rhetoric about political responses to the pandemic has fueled events ranging from the Canadian Freedom Convoy trucker protests last year to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"I think if history teaches us, then this is a very malleable set of ideas and people have gone from thinking government is overreaching with the pandemic response and extrapolating that to 'We need to show up on Jan. 6,' or 'We have to show up in Ottawa on this date, otherwise we are all in big trouble,'" he said.

"When we are playing with these ideas, we need to be very careful," he said.

None of the state lawmakers involved in the committee, including Shamp, Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, or Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, responded to requests for comment on the naming of the committee.

The America Project is advertising the event on its website and soliciting donations. It also is advertising that it will be showing the live feed from the Arizona Senate. The America Project also repeatedly uses the incorrect but QAnon familiar "NCSWIC" acronym when referencing the event on its website.

Quintero and the state lawmakers involved declined to answer who named the committee, whether the lawmakers are QAnon adherents, or whether using the Senate facility to host such an event and allowing The America Project to solicit from it reflected well on the state.

Goldwasser said The America Project's attempts to raise money off the event are not surprising, as Flynn has several enterprises seeking to profit from political discontent, including a dating application for people who oppose COVID-19 vaccines.

"He exploits many of the cultural issues Americans are arguing about and tends to find a way to make them profitable for his enterprises," she said.

Byrne also funded a movie called "The Deep Rig" about the election review he financed in Arizona.

Also scheduled to attend are Reps. Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs and Eli Crane, Republican members of Congress from Arizona.

The event is expected to be a venue for airing grievances about how government handled the pandemic and the public health response. Dr. Peter McCullough, an anti-vaccine physician from Texas, is one of the speakers.

Another scheduled speaker, Kristen Meghan, has attracted attention because of her recent comments that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were an "inside job."

Reach reporter Ryan Randazzo at ryan.randazzo@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4331. Follow him on Twitter @UtilityReporter.