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Broken Arrow State Rep Allegedly Spread QAnon Conspiracy Content, Tagged Hate Group On Social Media

Oklahoma House of Representatives
Oklahoma State Rep. Kevin McDugle (R-Broken Arrow).

A member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from Green Country spread debunked conspiracy theory content and tagged a hate group in posts on the social media app Parler, according to reporting in the Norman Transcript.

Rep. Kevin McDugle (R-Broken Arrow) "shared multiple posts on Parler containing QAnon content," according to Transcript reporter Reese Gorman. 

The far-right QAnon hoax, which holds that President Trump is running a top-secret battle against Satanist pedophiles, was classified a domestic terror threat by the FBI last year.

The Transcript also reports that McDugle, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story, tagged the Proud Boys, a sometimes-violent far-right organization designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center who Trump told to "stand by" at a presidential debate, in a post to Parler. 

In a Facebook post Tuesday, McDugle did not deny the reporting outright, instead attacking "liberal media hacks" for covering the matter rather than reporting on "crooked politics and lying politicians."

"I’m sick of these so called 'journalists' who have never served their country, have never fought for freedom, and who want people to think there is actually a story in which Republicans create Parler accounts," McDugle wrote.

In another Facebook poston Wednesday, McDugle wrote, "Why does anybody read trash from these media hacks??"

Parler is an "alternative" social media platform favored by some conservative figures like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

In a Tuesday tweet, Rep. Monroe Nichols (D-Tulsa) slammed McDugle, writing, "Spreading conspiracy theories & courting racist white supremacist is a bridge too far. If we ever speak again, it’ll be too soon. I don’t really care if you make sure they kill my bills, have at it."

State Sen. Mary Boren (D-Norman) also addressed the matter in a tweet, writing "It is very newsworthy for Oklahomans to know which lawmakers are sympathetic to the agenda of white supremacy & are prone to assist them in private spaces."

McDugle was identified last month by Oklahoma Watch as a member of the state legislature who has shared misinformation to social media in the past.

Chris joined Public Radio Tulsa as a news anchor and reporter in April 2020. He’s a graduate of Hunter College and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, both at the City University of New York.
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