A White House summit on hate-fueled violence and another QAnon murder

Will Carless, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The White House held a summit addressing hate-motivated violence and promoting new efforts to keep Americans safe from domestic extremism. Four days earlier, a man reportedly obsessed with QAnon shot his wife and daughter – killing his wife and leaving his daughter hospitalized – in the latest murder connected to the antisemitic conspiracy theory.

It's the week in extremism.

Kamala Harris addresses the 113th National NAACP Convention.
Kamala Harris addresses the 113th National NAACP Convention.

White House summit tackles hate

Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a summit at the White House on Thursday aimed at addressing and countering "the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety."

A slew of initiatives was announced including:

  • Funding for educational establishments to counter hate-based threats.

  • The creation of a new website for institutions and government to find federal resources to prevent violence. Read the full details here (scan to the end)

Also at the summit:

  • Almost 150 mayors renewed a 2017 pledge to combat hate, extremism and bigotry in their cities, in an effort organized by the Anti Defamation League.

But not everyone agrees with the approach: 

  • Ahead of the summit, 50 civil rights and civil liberties groups sent a letter to President Biden raising concerns about the troubled legacy of the federal government's "Countering Violent Extremism" program, now known as "CP3." The program, the main federal effort to tackle domestic extremism, is deeply flawed and furthers white supremacy, the letter states.

More on extremism: 

Boogaloo back on Facebook: Extremist Boogaloo Bois back on Facebook since Mar-a-Lago raid as anger toward feds mounts

Social media surveillance by the FBI: FBI agents monitor social media. As domestic threats rise, the question is who they're watching

Another QAnon-related murder?

The QAnon conspiracy cult appears to have spawned another murderer. Igor Lanis, a 53-year old man from Walled Lake, Michigan, shot his wife, his 25-year-old daughter and the family dog on Sunday, before dying in a shootout with police officers. Only the daughter survived.

Lanis had gone down a "rabbit hole" of conspiracy theories in recent years, another of Lanis' daughter told reporters:

  • The Daily Beast's Will Sommer interviewed 21-year-old Rebecca Lanis, who said her father had become obsessed with QAnon and other conspiracy theories ever since Donals Trump lost the presidential election in 2020. He was also a fan of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, she said.

This is just the latest murder committed by a follower of QAnon.

  • In a horrific incident last year, a surf instructor from Santa Barbara, California, obsessed with QAnon, murdered his 2-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter in Mexico.

More: California QAnon follower indicted on charges of killing his 2 kids with speargun in Mexico

  • Way back in 2019, a QAnon-obsessed 24-year-old man shot and killed a leader of the Gambino crime family in New York. QAnon had played a large part in the man's descent into mental illness, his lawyer told the court.

  • Crime Map: You can view a map of QAnon-related violence here.

Last week's update: Boogaloo on Facebook, Kiwi Farms and police in the Oath Keepers: Explaining the week in extremism

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: QAnon murder alleged in Michigan; White House summit on extremism