French child kidnap plot shows global sway of QAnon style

By LORI HINNANT
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The beliefs of the U.S. far-right extremist movement QAnon are finding a foothold abroad – especially the tenet that government workers are part of a cabal of child traffickers. A young French mother who lost custody of her daughter blamed the child protective services that gave her to her grandmother. So she got in touch with a French QAnon-style group that planned and funded the 8-year-old’s abduction. QAnon influence has now been tracked to 85 countries, and its beliefs have been adapted to local contexts and languages from Hindi to Hebrew. Authorities say those beliefs are translating into real-world violence outside the United States, where QAnon traces its origins. The mother was freed Monday but remains under judicial supervision, awaiting trial with the others.