The candidate's posts on a fringe social media site contradict what she has said in official campaign statements.
A Troubling Discrepancy
Ada Nestor has repeatedly stated in her campaign materials that she decided to run for School Board because she saw children suffering and falling behind during COVID lockdown.
But on February 13, Ada Nestor posted to https://social.quodverum.com/ that her motivation to run for WCASD School Director is related to a QAnon conspiracy theory that Donald Trump has a plan to return to office.
Given recent reports of planned attempts by QAnon followers to infiltrate local elections, as well as government reports warning that the threat of violence and harm by QAnon followers is on the rise, it is critical that voters be informed. This matter is serious and requires our attention, so we ask that you stick with us while we break down the details. There two areas of background knowledge that are needed in order to fully understand Ms. Nestor’s 2/13 post, so we will start with those.
Background: QAnon's "Trust the Plan" Theory
First, we need to understand the QAnon conspiracy theory known as “the plan”. This false theory, which has been widely documented, involves the belief by many QAnon followers that Donald Trump was planning a day of reckoning known as the "Storm", when thousands of members of a pedophiliac, satanic cabal that they believe is controlling global politics and running a world-wide sex trafficking ring will be arrested. Following Trump's loss in the 2020 election, the plan theory evolved to include a belief that Trump is orchestrating a plan to return to office and will be reinstated as president. QAnon was heavily involved in a post-election misinformation campaign pushing Trump’s baseless claim that the election was fraudulent and was stolen from him. As has been widely documented in the press, many QAnon followers believe the Trump impeachment trial was “merely part of the plan that will see him return” and was intentionally staged as “part of Trump's plan to set a precedent for other former officials such as Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to stand trial for ‘crimes’ they are falsely accused of by the conspiracy theorists.”
This is the same conspiracy theory cited by an FBI report that warned QAnon followers may be increasingly likely to engage in violence. Per a Reuters report, “the FBI said its experts believe that some believers in predictions of political upheavals promoted on QAnon websites and bulletin boards believe they can "no longer 'trust the plan'" and now must take matters into their own hands. Based on her social media posts under @AnonymousAda as well as frequent use of the #TrustThePlan and #StopTheSteal hashtags, there is significant reason to believe the Ada Nestor subscribes to the QAnon "plan" theory.
Background: Conspiracy Theorist Thomas Wictor
Also important in understanding Ms. Nestor’s 2/13 post is background knowledge of Thomas Wictor. Wictor is a notorious
and discredited conspiracy theorist who has created and distributed conspiracy theories in which he promotes false claims
of election fraud and asserts that Donald Trump is orchestrating a plan to return as president, to peculiar and at times seemingly disturbed personal content, including a blog post in which he claims to have taken a photo of a cat in the process of dematerializing, a profile picture in which he is wearing a strainer on his head, and frequent rants and revelations about his family and childhood. Wictor is currently an active member of the fringe site social.quodverum.com, which bills itself as the un-Twitter.
Ada Nestor is also active on social.quodverum.com. She appears to be a fan of Wictor and an enthusiast of his content, which she frequently “boosts” (the social.quodverum version of a retweet) and replies to via her @AnonymousAda profile. In a post as recent as April 6, she agrees with a claim by Wictor that military air traffic patterns prove that the military is continuing to communicate with Trump. @AnonymousAda takes the theory one step further, claiming that Trump is still in control of the military, and that it was him, not President Biden, who ordered the February 2021 strikes on Syria:
The Link Between Ada Nestor and @AnonymousAda
While there is no profile picture showing Ms. Nestor’s likeness associated with @AnonymousAda on social.quodverum.com as there is on her other social media accounts such as Twitter and gab.com, the profile clearly belongs to her or someone attempting to appear as her. Posts from @AnonymousAda repeatedly reference Ms. Nestor’s WCASD School Director campaign in the 1st person, even soliciting donations and linking to her campaign website.
In Her Own Words: Why Ada Nestor is Running for Office
This brings us to Ms. Nestor's social.quodverum post in which she explains why she decided to run for office. On February 13, Thomas Wictor posted a social.quodverum.com thread in which he discusses at length why he is certain that the 2021 impeachment trial was part of an elaborate and well-orchestrated plan by Trump, who “has a solution”. He is referencing the QAnon “plan” conspiracy theory outlined above, which the FBI has linked to increased risk of threats of violence by QAnon followers.
@AnonymousAda posts a reply to Wictor’s thread stating that it is her hope in Trump’s planned return that inspired her decision to run for local office:
As we have highlighted on our social media sites, the movement by QAnon followers to target positions in local government is not unique or by accident. As we can see from Ms. Nestor’s activity on fringe social media site social.quodverum.com, this organized and intentional movement to bring a culture of misinformation and conspiracy theories into positions of power in local government is a motivating factor in her decision to run for local office. Our group and others have previously alerted Ms. Nestor's endorsers of her links to QAnon, and thus far, none have taken apparent action to investigate or even denounce Ms. Nestor's alarming views. This includes both Keeping Kids in School PAC and Ms. Nestor's unofficial running mate Stacey Whomsley (WCASD School Director Candidate for Region 3).
QAnon Candidates: Not an Accident
Equally concerning, @AnonymousAda’s posts about her candidacy on social.quodverum.com appear to spawn conversations among other QAnon-linked commenters regarding how they can join the movement to enter local elections and become members of local political committees:
As a final point of interest, Ms. Nestor’s solicitations for campaign donations on this site appear to have been successful, as indicated by the below response to her post, in which a commenter pledges to donate $20 based on Ms. Nestor’s objections to the 1619 Project. It is unclear whether this donation was ever made, because it is not itemized in Ms. Nestor’s campaign finance reports.
As information comes to light, it has become increasingly clear that the threat to our community by conspiracy theorist candidates -- and those who support them -- is serious and intentional.
Thank you for reading our first blog post. We'll be working to update this site with more information, resources, and the history of our group. November may feel like a long way away, but we don't have time to lose. We are calling all concerned constituents to join your fellow friends and neighbors in this important cause by sharing this post and subscribing to our blog. As we continue to form our plans and grow our community, we will be in touch with concrete ways that you can help.