Transcripts For LINKTV Witness 20240703

Fueled by the lockdowns during covid19. Male to achieve this victory against the greatest force of evil the world has ever known. Jitarth jadeja i really look at it as like a force of nature. Its like a coronavirus of the mind. Louise in america, qanons dark and divisive politics have fueled ugly conflict. In australia it has led to families being split apart. Val stewart weve watched the change over these last years be quite dramatic. Thats what raises our concern, that we do have Family Members who are involved. Louise the Stewart Family in sydney are among those deeply concerned over qanons spread, as theyve watched their son and brother tim stewart become immersed in its beliefs. Karen stewart tim believes that the world has really been taken over by satanic pedophiles, or luciferian pedophiles they call them, and that is represented by the left, so the radical left. And if you dont believe in the qanon perspectives, then youre a pedophile enabler. Louise tim stewart has been a close family friend of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and has reportedly boasted about his access to the pm. Miles taylor i would think that someone in a position like Prime Minister morrison would wanna condemn those views and indicate strongly to the public that they have no bearing on his official actions, on his responsibilities, nor on his worldview. Prime minister Scott Morrison i find it deeply offensive that there would be any suggestion that i would have any involvement or support for such a dangerous organization. I clearly do not. Louise tonight, on four corners, we hear for the first time from a family who have watched with alarm as their son has descended into an extremist political conspiracy, and they share their concerns about his relationship with the Prime Minister of australia. Louise on sydneys suburban fringe, the stewart clan sits down to dinner. Val first toast of the evening. Heres to lifes journey still going on and were all in it. Female we sure are. Val its good to be together. Louise over recent years the conversation during these family gatherings has often been tainted by a dark topic, the apocalyptic ideology of the farright Conspiracy Theory qanon, which has split this family. Val weve watched the change over these last years be quite dramatic and a lot of that was to do with qanon. Louise you are a mother who still loves her son. Val yes. Louise and would like to maintain a relationship with him. How is it, as a mom, watching this . Val its not pleasant and, you know, the relationship has become quite strained over this last year. Karen its like a conversion. And there is that religious undertone to qanon, and so constantly donning the armor of god and things like that because they are out there having to fight against the satanists that have taken over the world. Louise val and Brian Stewart and their daughter karen have decided to speak out as a warning to others. What has prompted them is witnessing 51yearold tim stewart descend into the world of qanon. Karen tim believes that the world has really been taken over by satanic pedophiles, or luciferian pedophiles they call them, and that is represented by the left, so the radical left. Male keeping the public informed when the deep state war breaks out onto the surface. Karen they believe theres a spiritual warfare being waged and that they have knowledge of this, and so that theyre on a crusade to make sure that the satanists are overthrown and things like that. Male the world is currently experiencing a dramatic covert war of biblical proportions, literally the fight for earth, between the forces of good and evil. Miles qanon really came onto the radar screen in october of 2017 on a website called 4chan. Male may god bless america. Miles where individuals propagated this Conspiracy Theory that the United States government was secretly being run by a cabal of satanworshipping, cannibalistic child predators, who were running a global sextrafficking ring and were hellbent on undermining donald trump while he was in office. Now, this Conspiracy Theory was not only untrue. It was, in my view, indiscriminately crazy. Male thats why we have q. Louise the Conspiracy Theory was started by an Anonymous Online figure known as q, who has never been identified. Male came to be called the great awakening. Elise thomas someone started posting as a secret insider in the u. S. Government, calling themselves q as a reference to the qlevel security clearance, which doesnt actually exist outside of the department of energy. And in the initial q drop saying that Hillary Clinton would be arrested the next day, which obviously did not happen, but over time this individual, or this group of individualsand its still not clear who exactly it wascontinued to post and continued to gather a following. Louise miles taylor was the chief of staff at the u. S. Department of Homeland Security in the trump administration. Miles it was clear to me in late 2018 and early 2019 that these Conspiracy Theory trends, like qanon, were a danger to the country and that the vitriolic rhetoric on some of these Message Boards could jump the tracks into violence very, very easily. We were worried about that, and it wasnt just a Law Enforcement concern. We started to view it as a Real National security threat. Louise in the United States, the fbi has declared qanon a potential domestic terrorism threat, but that hasnt happened in australia. According to the institute for strategic dialogue, australia is the fourth largest country for qanonrelated activity online. Elise in march 2020 we had, obviously, the outbreak of covid19 and along with that came a lot of, sort of, associated Mental Health pressures, and we know belief in conspiracy theories is quite closely linked to, you know, various Mental Health stressors. And so, we saw an explosion of conspiracy activity around the world, including in australia, and as part of that we did see qanon come to australia in a more significant way than it had been before. Jitarth i think people forget that coronavirus, initially when it first came out, it was very traumatic for a lotta people. No one knew where this virus had really come from, right . There was very little information. It came on so fast. Governments were shutting down. People were scared. It was traumatic, and they go searching for answers. Louise recent University Graduate Jitarth Jadeja is a moderator of an online forum for people whove lost Family Members to what they call the qult. The qanon casualties reddit group has about 160,000 members, including in australia. Jitarth the power of qanon is not even really about the beliefs. The power is the behavioral change that it causes in a believer. Its destructive to the person themselves and their relationships, their family and friends. Every day i see stories of families being ripped apartpeoples children being kicked out of the house by their parents, people having to call off marriages after decades, peoples parents, you know, accusing them of wanting their children to dieso it is the saddest place in the internet. Louise jitarth was completely engrossed in the Conspiracy Theory for a year and a half. One of his biggest regrets is that he got one of his relatives involved. Jitarth we would talk for hours, four, five hours just sitting and standing in front of thestanding in the kitchen just talking, and the moment i got out i realized like, what have i done . What have i done . And i tried. Ive tried to talk to him. Ive tried to get him out. Doesnt work. Louise tim stewart, a town planner and former bankrupt, was an early follower of qanon in australia. Around 2017, he started a blog called sideways step for expansive thinkers and spiritual explorers. One of the posts is titled the reason for the treason a conversation for the great awakening. Male the great awakening is revealing that dark forces have found their way into the highest levels of influence. Elise so, the idea of the great awakening and also of the storm is, sort of, linked to the idea that therell be some sort of cataclysmic awakening of all the people around the world as, sort of, the scales drop from their eyes and they see this global satanic pedophile cabal for what they truly are. And the idea is that donald trump, in some way, was going to bring on the storm, which would lead to the great awakening. Louise tim stewarts blog lays out a central belief of qanon, that leftist elites are running a pedophile ring that harvests childrens blood. Male the true nature of these crimes shows that humans are being treated as a commodity and human energy is being harvested without permission. Furthermore, it is focused on children, who are more innocent and unaware. Why do evil people wish to rob a young child of their virginity . Why do they drink blood . Why do they need to sacrifice humans . Louise in australia, Tim Stewart Rose to prominence in local qanon circles when his twitter account burnedspy34 was included in a post by q, known as a q drop, that users have to decode. Elise thats how a lot of these qanon influencers got their start and, sort of, first came to the attention of the rest of the qanon community. And so, we know from archived versions of the burnedspy twitter account that in early 2019 he had, sort of, around 1700 followers, and that by late 2019 had, you know, 20,000 odd followers. Louise the Stewart Family watched in alarm as tims beliefs became an obsession. Karen its really outlandish, and weve heard things from the queen being a shapeshifting lizard to all sorts of things where a being might come down and do some training and astral projection and time traveling and things like that. Louise your son believes that donald trump is saving the world from leftist pedophiles. Val yes, that is so. Louise and your son believes and has said to you that he believes that both jacinda ardern, the new zealand Prime Minister, and michelle obama, the former first lady, are actually men. Val yes, that has been said to me, yes. Karen if people wear red shoes, then thats theyre wearing red so that when babies are slaughtered and the blood falls on the ground that no one will see the blood spatter. And theres been tweets from them that say if you dont believe in the qanon perspectives, then youre a pedophile enabler. Louise at the same time that tim stewart was descending into qanon, one of his old friends ascended to the highest office in the land. Scott morrison became Prime Minister in august 2018. Tim stewarts wife, lynelle, has been best friends with Scott Morrisons wife, jenny, for decades. The two couples cemented their friendships at their local Baptist Church in the early 1990s. Brian stewart well, its a close one. Theres no doubt about that. The two girls in particular have known each other from high school onwards, and then the two men who married the two girls became friends as well along the way. Val theyve had a lifelong friendship together. Louise would you say best friends . Val oh, yes, i would say best friends, yes. Jenny was lynelles maid of honor, and lynelle was jenny and scotts bridesmaid. Louise Jenny Morrison describes Lynelle Stewart on her Facebook Page as her dear old friend. Lynelle says jenny is a precious treasure and a forever friend. When mr. Morrison entered parliament, the stewarts were delighted. Brian tim was invited to attend scotts maiden speech. He was excited, so was i, when scott was elected. House speaker the member for cook. Prime minister morrison mr. Speaker, it is with humility brian i thought it was rather a privilege that tim was one of those who received the invitation. I would imagine that any incumbent for thespeaking for the first time would ask people to attend who were in some way special to him. Louise when tim and Lynelle Stewart celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary in august 2017, thentreasurer Scott Morrison sent his congratulations on lynelles Facebook Page. Happy anniversary guys still remember you telling jen and i a very long time ago in our little flat in bronte that you had an amazing guy you were right. These photos which they shared on facebook are from the following year, when the Morrison Family holidayed with the stewarts on the New South Wales south coast. When the morrisons moved into the Prime Ministers residence in sydney, kirribilli house, Lynelle Stewart was hired to work as a household attendant. Karen lynelle was looking after the children and the dog even before she was employed, so certainly was helping out. Shes technically employed by Prime Minister and cabinet and her role has been to assist in looking after the children and things like that. Louise Lynelle Stewart has frequently posted photographs from kirribilli on her social media, including this one of her and her husband tim stewart in 2018. The families even celebrated new years eve together at the Prime Ministers residence. In january 2019, tim stewart shared these photos from kirribilli saying he was house sitting. The little boy is his son. Karen i dont think it was an uncommon thing for them to be there. Not at all. I can see theres photos from new years eve there and things like that. Weve seen that, yep. Louise tim stewart liked to boast about his friendship with Scott Morrison. One associate who says he heard these boasts was eliahi priest, a selfstyled online anticorruption crusader who was questioned by Counterterrorism Police after social media posts where he said hed successfully hacked the Prime Ministers office. Priest, who met tim stewart once in 2018, claims stewart said he could pass information to the pm. Eliahi priest tim had said that he could make evidence i had about government corruption available to the Prime Minister and have the Prime Minister of australia act on that evidence. Louise priest says tim stewart sent him this picture of tim and Scott Morrison together. Eliahi i cant emphasize enough how close tim said the families were, which was why he said there was a way, due to that closeness, that he could influence the Prime Minister. Louise at the time, Scott Morrison was preparing for one of his first acts as Prime Minister, a National Apology to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. Eliahi priest set up a meeting with tim stewart and others. The group wanted the phrase ritual sexual abuse included in the National Apology. Dr. Michael salter so, when the qanon conspiracy is using the term ritual abuse, theyre using it as synonymous with child torture, cannibalism, really the most gross and vivid and graphic allegations of child abuse that you can imagine. It has been folded into a set of beliefs about the United States government, in which there are highpowered, highprofile individuals who secretly engage in these strange satanic ceremonies. Louise eliahi priest showed four corners messages he says tim stewart sent him referring to his attempts to get the words ritual abuse into the apology. Male i am organizing an intimate strategy for the pm re the ritual phrase. Ok mate. Im just preparing a message to scott now re monday. Once hes awake mate he will kick a. Louise priest says he also received a text message tim stewart said he had sent to his wife lynelle. Male an army of victims and therapists would specifically love it if scotts apology referenced ritual abuse victims. this exact wording is a key phrase for victims. Think of this like a code that sends a direct and clear message that they have been heard by scott specifically. Female hundreds of survivors of child sexual abuse in the nations institutions will gather at Parliament House in canberra this morning for an apology from the Prime Minister. Louise on the 22nd of october 2018, Parliament House opened its doors to abuse survivors and their supporters for the apology by Scott Morrison. Hetty johnston there was a lot of people waiting for a long time for this apology. We felt like we were a part of history. We wanted it to be the moment of change. We really believed that this was the turning around of the tragedy of Sexual Assault against children in the nation. Louise that morning, tim stewarts text to eliahi priest suggested he was feeling confident. Male good morning mate. I think scott is going to do it pretty sure speech is at 11. I hope he says it. Scott is very aware of the enormity of today Parliament Clerk government business notice number 1, motion relating to the National Apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. Louise at 11 a. M. , the Prime Minister rose to deliver the historic speech. Prime minister morrison i move that the house apologize to the victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. It happened anywhere, a predator thought they could get away with it, and the systems within these organizations allowed it to happen and turned a blind eye. It happened day after day, week after week, month after month, decade after decade. Unrelenting torment. Dr. Salter the speech was received, i think, tremendously well. It was taken in the spirit that it was offered, which was, i think, a spirit of generosity, a spirit of repentance and regret, and thats something that survivors of sexual abuse dont often get. They dont often get someone saying, im sorry that this has happened to you. I regret that this has happened to you. Prime minister morrison the crimes of ritual sexual abuse happened in schools, churches, youth groups, scout troops, orphanages, foster homes. Louise but close observers of the process were taken aback by the use of the phrase ritual sexual abuse. Dr. Salter ritual child sexual abuse wasnt a focus of the royal commission. It wasnt evident in the reports or in the recommendations, and so certainly there were questions about where did this phrase come from . How did it arise . How did it come to be in the Prime Ministers speech in the manner that it was . Im in contact with International Networks of Mental Health workers particularly who treat children and adults who have been subject to sexual exploitation, and i was contacted. I was emailed. People reached out about this phrase. It is a phrase that were aware of. Its a very sensitive phrase. Elise the use of the phrase ritual sex abuse would have been taken as validation of the Conspiracy Theory by qanon followers, because its a person in authority using this phrase, which appears to directly reference the Conspiracy Theory. Louise despite being asked repeatedly, the Prime Minister has not answered four corners questions on the record about whether tim stewart passed on information to him about the wording of the apology. Immediately after the apology, tim stewart began tweeting triumphantly using his twitter account burnedspy34. Male what a great speech scottmorrisonmp acknowledging the victims of ritual abuse. A new conversation began today in australia. It was a stepping stone to be sure, but we took the step. scottmorrisonmp took control of the narrative powerfully and commenced phase 1 of our restoration. Louise tim stewarts son jesse, who is also a qanon follower, celebrated on twitter using qanon codes and hashtags. Male you know thegreatawakening is in full swing when the australian Prime Minister scottmorrisonmp mentions ritualabuse. Scott is a patriot. Jitarth so, within the qanon community, when it was first reported that burnedspy and Scott Morrison had some kind of relationship or moved in the same social cycles, that was taken as a tacit approval or tacit proof of this plan, of the conspiracy of the great awakening of where the good guys will take over. That maybe Scott Morrisons on board, you know . And as much asi wish i didnt have to say this, but its true. That the lack of condemnation and the lack of response to that relationship by Scott Morrisonand i dont like saying that because i donti actually like him. That was, like, people just thought that it was lowkey approval. Thats it, and it boosted the authenticity of the movement. Louise eliahi priest texted tim stewart about other issues he wanted stewart to raise with the Prime Minister, such as his claim that School Students were being taught about homosexual sex. Tim stewart replied male i am in shock. This is going straight to scott. Louise the Prime Minister did not respond on the record to four corners questions about why the words ritual abuse were included in the apology. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister has previously said male the term ritual is one that the Prime Minister heard directly from the abuse survivors and the National Apology to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse Reference Group he met with in the lead up to the apology. And refers not just to the ritualized way or patterns in which so many crimes were committed but also to the frequency and repetition of them. Louise four corners has spoken to most of the members of the Reference Group and seen their formal written advice. The phrase ritual abuse is not mentioned. Prime minister morrison we honor every survivor in this country. We love you, we hear you, and we honor you. Louise watching Scott Morrisons apology at home was tim stewarts sister karen, who had their parents, val and brian, by her side. Karen when i heard the word ritual in that speech, my phone next to me buzzed, and it was a Family Member saying, did you hear that . Did you hear that . Thats the first time thats ever been said in the australian parliament. Louise the apology had particular significance for karen stewart, who says she was sexually assaulted when she was a child. Karen a speech that was to empower us, to make us feel like wed been heard, to take us seriously, we achieved all that. So, in the one speech i received that, and then the word ritual pops in there, and i felt that that snatched it away because it was a signal to another group of people that are not there for my healing. Louise Karen Stewarts experience echoes that of so many survivors, in both the abuse and how the institution responded. Karen was 14 when she says she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by 2 young men from her church community. She told her parents and her brother tim, who supported her through the aftermath. Val even though we didnt know the details, the details at the time didnt matter to us. What mattered was something horrible had happened that was emotionally destroying. Brian i noticed a girl who had lost a softness of character that had previously been there, somebody who became hard, somebody who sought values that were not those that wed instilled within her. There was a change that took place. Louise and looking back on it now, like, as an adult who, sort of, knows a lot more about the world, what do you think that young girl was going through . Karen trauma. Trauma that i didnt understand. [tearing up] sorry. Im doing what i dont wanna do, so just give me a moment. Louise the pastor of the church eventually conceded that a serious crime was committed against karen. In 2011, karen reported the assaults to police. They decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed. Val the emotional effect and the trauma, we have since learned, is never out of her mind, and for us as a whole family weve had now 30 years of what has been trauma and traumatic. Its huge. It doesnt go away ever. Louise Karen Stewarts experience as a survivor has amplified her distress over her brothers obsession with qanon and its discredited theory about ritual sexual abuse. Karen they talk about saving the children, but i was that child. I was once the child that they claim theyre saving. My life is the worse for having qanon in it. That was one of the moments where i recognized that my brother cared more about qanon than about the healing of people