Republican Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem held a fundraiser in California on Sunday that was hosted by a conspiracy theorist who believes 9/11 was orchestrated by the U.S. government and attended by a prominent QAnon influencer.
Nicole Nogrady, who hosted the event, has shared many debunked stories and posts concerning COVID-19, abortion and other falsehoods on her Instagram account.
“They have the public addicted to fetal tissue,” Nogrady said in one post, citing a debunked conspiracy theory that certain foods and drinks are made with aborted fetal tissue. “Cannibalism is addictive, which is why people become addicted to these mainstream corporate products.”
Nogrady also believes that airplanes spray chemicals to geoengineer the world, a long-debunked conspiracy called “chemtrails.”
On Sept. 11, Nogrady also posted on Trump’s Twitter knock-off, Truth Social, about her beliefs that the attack that claimed the lives of 2,977 people 21 years prior was made by the “Deep State.”
“The day (9/11) the Deep State took thousands of lives & changed the course of American history,” Nogrady said. “Since that day, the same people who orchestrated the event have been working hard behind the scenes to create their desired ‘One World Gov’t’ and have divided us more than EVER before.”
On her website, Nogrady has republished the conspiracy theory film Zeitgeist, which also claims that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by the United States government, among a litany of other claims.
But Nogrady was far from the only conspiratorial attendee on Sunday.
Video of the event shows that conspiracy theory language and rhetoric was front and center. A song titled “WWG1WGA,” which is the QAnon slogan was sung live by the artist who wrote it.
Also in attendance was Jordan Sather, a prominent QAnon influencer. Sather posted pictures of the event on social media that showed “Let’s Go Brandon” themed red wine at the tables, along with photos of himself with disgraced former Army Gen. Mike Flynn and Steve Bannon, who was one of Donald Trump’s key advisors in 2016.
Sather has long been active in conspiracy theory circles, including appearing in a film called “Above Majestic,” in which he claims that extraterrestrials were behind 9/11, among many other spurious and dubious assertions. In an interview with comedian Jim Jefferies, Sather also alleged that Democratic politicians were using “adrenochrome,” an alleged drug harvested from children’s blood. There is no evidence supporting the claim.
