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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Leyland Cecco in Toronto

‘Queen of Canada’: the rapid rise of a fringe QAnon figure sounds alarm

A woman in a white coat and blue scarf, raises a gloved hand while her followers cheer in the background
Romana Didulo, the self-declared "Queen of Canada" and a leading Canadian QAnon figure, at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. Photograph: Patrick Doyle/Reuters

She travels Canada in a flag-draped RV with an entourage. She greets supporters in small towns, who eagerly film the encounters on mobile phones. She’s called on her disciples to execute healthcare workers and politicians who support mass vaccination campaigns.

To her more than 60,000 followers online, she’s the newly installed Queen of Canada. But to law enforcement and national security officials, she represents the threat that online conspiracy theorists may be all too capable of inflicting real-world harm.

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