Canada’s self-proclaimed “QAnon queen” has been ousted from the village where she has been camping out for two months.
Romana Didulo, a QAnon-inspired conspiracy theorist, arrived in Richmound, a small Saskatchewan village of about 150 people, in September, along with her entourage, after travelling around Canada over the past few years.
Since then, the group of about 15 and 25 people has been camping out in an old school in the village, owned by one of Ms Didulo’s supporters.
The group’s presence in the village had drawn a significant police presence and protests that have led to at least one arrest, with village officials repeatedly saying they wanted the group out.
But villagers had struggled to remove the conspiracy theorist and her group from the school in the face of resistance from the building’s owner, Ricky Manz.
Mr Manz was arrested in October and charged with assault after an altercation.
It is unclear what exactly Ms Didulo and her entourage were using the school building for, but the self-proclaimed QAnon queen broadcasted every day from the school to her 70,000 followers.
However, last week, viewers spotted a heater propped up on a propane tank in the background of a livestream, which prompted an inspection visit by local officials for a possible fire code violation.
The inspectors were turned away, the BBC reported, but the group packed up and left the site an hour later, leaving only a flag that the group had left flying above the building.
According to reports, the group are now on a farm to the west of the village, but villagers fear Ms Didulo and her entourage may return.
“We’re glad they’re gone, but everyone’s still on edge in case they come back,” said the village spokesperson, who asked not to be identified.
Meanwhile, Christine Sarteschi, a professor at Chatham University in Pittsburgh and an expert on extremism who has been studying Ms Didulo’s movement, told the BBC the group is “unpredictable”.
Ms Didulo’s presence in Richmound drew protests from villagers— (Community TV)
“They are very secretive about what they are doing, but they still care about what’s going on in Richmound and talk about coming back,” she said. “That unpredictability makes people nervous.”
Ms Didulo and her followers have reportedly threatened to execute local officials and have previously issued threats against medical professionals, journalists and others.
The 48-year-old QAnon influencer uses many online platforms, including the encrypted Telegram app, to communicate with her supporters, who refuse to pay taxes and make up their own fake legal systems.
Ms Didulo calls herself the “Queen of Canada”, and believes herself to be the secret ruler of Canada. She maintains she is Canada’s real head of state and that Queen Elizabeth II has been executed.
She is also a known anti-vaxxer and has spread ideas related to QAnon - a wide-ranging, unfounded theory that says former US president Donald Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media.
In 2021, she claimed she was taken into custody in Victoria, British Columbia under the province’s mental health act over a post where she allegedly called for the execution of medics who administered the Covid-19 vaccine to young adults and children.
Meanwhile, a year later, her group participated in the “Freedom Convoy” protests in Ottawa in which they attempted to arrest police officers, accusing them of “crimes against humanity”. Six of her followers were arrested.
She has also allegedly shared posts encouraging her followers to overthrow Canadian officials and take over government buildings.
