this is "nightline." >> tonight, the battle with truths online. alex jones, the man who once claimed sandy hook was a hoax, banned from youtube. now there's a new figure of internet intrigue. >> q's playing save the world. >> i am 100% behind q. he's working for the president, he's working for our country. >> inside the q-amon community. devoted followers looking for answers and an end to government corruption. plus -- ♪ you made me a believer >> love loud. the lead singer of imagine dragons, raised a true mormon believer, now using religious beliefs to promote acceptance. >> to our lgbtq yous, we love you. we accept you.

>> headlining an lgbtq festival in the heart of utah, and calling for change in the church. but first -- ♪ you make me a believer >> the "nightline 5." >> bye-bye. >> you good? >> yeah. >> alexa? turn it up. ♪ >> here's your reminder. laura says the teething ring is in the freezer. laura scheduled a play date for 3:00 p.m. i'm reminding you, laura loves you, and you're doing a great job. >> number one in just 60 seconds. (sound of footsteps) (sound of car door opening) (car door closes) (sound of engine starting)

♪ ♪ (sound of footsteps) (sound of car door opening) (car door closes) (sound of engine starting) ♪ ♪

good evening. thank you for joining us. amidst the maga hats and american flags a new symbol is popping up at president trump's rallies, "q" for q-anon. an anonymous internet personality claiming to be a government insider working with the president to purge the so-called deep state. tonight abc's david wright takes us inside the minds of some true q believers. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. >> reporter: pay close attention next time president trump holds one of his big campaign rallies. >> hello, florida. >> reporter: you'll notice certain signs, t-shirts that stand out, references to "q." the 17th letter of the alphabet. a cryptic salute to an elusive character. wod. >> not a conspiracy. it's fact. >> reporter: q-anon, an anonymous internet user supposedly with a high-level security clearance, posting online. >> i am 100% behind q. he's working for the president.

he's working for our country. >> reporter: q's subversive message, crowd sourced and embellished by a growing group of followers offering an alternative explanation of everything. >> it involves the whole space force, possible alien life, pedophiles, you know. it seeks to tie all of that together. >> reporter: melissa dietrich and her husband dave were at the trump rally last week in wilkes-barre, pennsylvania. >> i loved it. i've never been to a rally. it was exciting. >> reporter: they're q followers who have 20,000 followers themselves. we caught up with them today in reading. is q-anon a person? >> obviously it's at least one person. it could be more than one person. some of the posts are signed q-plus which would seem to indicate that it's more than one person. >> he doesn't tell you what to think. he leads you to information, you can read it and decide yourself what you think. bread crumbs, you follow them. >> you call them bread crumbs.

you bake the bread crumbs? >> yes, so they will take the bread crumbs and actually make bread with them. >> some of this comes out, though, pretty half-baked. jfk jr.? really? >> i don't know that -- in terms of the jfk jr. possibly being alive, again, i think different people interpret the bread crumbs very differently. >> reporter: some q-anon believers seized on this post from q in april. potus and jfk jr., relationship. some q followers ran with it speculating that jfk jr. faked his death in that plane crash off martha's vineyard nearly 20 years ago and he's now secretly helping donald trump behind the scenes. how did we go from q-anon to jfk? >> reporter: bloggers like this guy from the mile high podcast crowd sourcing the tea leaves, trying to make the case jfk jr. is q. do you buy that?

>> no, i don't know. the thing is, i don't have to know. q doesn't have to be right about everything. i'm not quite about everything. i'm betting you're not right about everything. >> absolutely not. >> i know damn well the media's not right about everything. >> reporter: the movement has already had an impact in the real world. there was this bizarre standoff in june. an armed man in an armored vehicle, believed to be a q-anon supporter, blocked a highway near the hoover dam. melissa and david see that as an anomaly. >> q-anon is not violent. he says stay away from it. things go down, just let it happen, it's all part of the plan. >> reporter: q-anon started in the dark corners of cyberspace. this thought to be one of the origin posts by q from october of last year. >> they're very quip tick sort of messages that require a level of deciphering. we do some of that. but a lot of times we just rely on people that we call the anons. >> reporter: from there q made

the leap to more mainstream sites like reddit, youtube, onto the twitter feed of public figures like roseanne barr. >> she tweeted, for example, last year, who is q? or, i want to meet q. stuff like that. >> reporter: this roseanne barr tweet from march 2018, since deleted, tapped into one q-anon's core beliefs that president trump is breaking up child sex trafficking rings. what first attracted melissa and david that is they share a deep distrust of politics as usual. bordering on disgust. >> i think we've been let down by both parties. to me i don't even see two parties, i see one establishment party. there's us and there's them. >> reporter: she supported obama back in 2008 and was a bernie sanders voter in 2016. sounds like you're suspicious of everybody except q and trump? >> that's what you want it to sound like, that's not what it is. >> reporter: they also share an

equally deep distrust of the mainstream news media. >> they are a new fringe conspiracy theory group -- >> people who believe in the q-anon conspiracy theory -- >> now that q is actually starting to come out into the mainstream, what's the first thing you see in most news agencies? they're trying to debunk it. because they don't want you to listen. >> reporter: the president hasn't been asked directly, but q-anon followers believe trump winks at them from time to time with a word or a turn of phrase borrowed from q. one example they say came at the white house easter egg roll. q requested a particular phrase. >> the term "tip-top shape." if he could use the term "tip-top shape." >> we keep it in tip-top shape. we call it sometimes tippy-top shape. >> so you saw that to be a nod that i'm with you? >> they've asked him -- they asked him to say it, and shortly thereafter, he did. >> reporter: white rabbit is big with q followers. so is this scene from "the

matrix." >> you take the red pill, you stay in wonderland. and i show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. >> so the red pill is like to swallow a red pill means to be kind of woken up -- >> that's from "the matrix." >> there are a lot of references, q makes references to different movies. >> reporter: they insist it's harmless stuff, but other crowd source conspiracies have had consequences. most famously, pizzagate. in 2016, edgar welsh turned up at comet pizza in washington, d.c. with an ar-15 and started shooting because he believed the false story a pedophile ring connected with the clintons was operating inside the restaurant. >> what happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories come with consequences. >> freedom is back on the march! >> reporter: this week social media companies took aim at another internet conspiracy theorist, alex jones. youtube and facebook pulled his videos, accusing him of

violating community standards. jones famously claimed the sandy hook school shooting was a hoax. he's being sued by the parents of some of the victims, some of whom say they've had to move seven times because internet trolls were harassing them. alex jones has denied the allegations and is seeking to have the case dismissed. >> breaking news, a horrific scene in charlottesville, virginia -- >> reporter: and there's brennan gilmore who's also suing jones for whipping up an online fury against him. gilmore is the guy who captured the video in charlottesville one year ago this weekend of the moment heather heyer was killed, run over by a while supremacist. >> i immediately shared it with police. i thought it was important to share it with the world. >> reporter: soon after, things got out of hand. >> people on the internet had started looking into my background and constructed this completely false narrative that i had somehow organized the attack. >> reporter: in his defense, jones claims his diatribes about gilmore were opinions, not

statements of fact. >> you think it's right that these social media companies pulled the plug on him? >> i think, again -- short of him advocating for violence against somebody, i think he should be free to speak as he chooses to speak. >> reporter: it's certainly not going to deter them from what they see as their pursuit of the truth. does it worry you at all, the idea that a portion of the people watching this will be picturing you in a tinfoil hat? >> do you know how many of my friends have told me that? >> i've seen enough evidence of the correlation between president trump and q, and q always tells us to trust the plan. and i do trust the plan. i believe there is a plan. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm david wright in reading, pennsylvania. next, the lead singer of imagine dragons doing whatever it takes to promote lgbt acceptance. behind the scenes, the love loud festival.

♪ whatever it takes because i love the adrenaline in my veins ♪ drenaline in my veins ♪ adults with moderate is for to severe plaque psoriasis. i'm ready. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. tremfya® works better than humira® at providing clearer skin, and more patients were symptom free with tremfya®. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. ask your doctor about tremfya®. tremfya®. because you deserve to stay clearer. janssen wants to help you explore cost support options.

digestive advantage probiotics have a strong natural protein shell. so while other brands may have billions of probiotics many can struggle in stomach acid. ours survive 100 times better. let our strength help you stay strong. ayep, and my teeth are yellow.? time for whitestrips. crest glamorous white whitestrips are the only ada-accepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. and they whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. could help them save money on car insurance? yea,that and homeowners, renters, motorcycle and boat insurance. huh.that's nice. what happens when you catch a fish? gecko: whoa. geico. more than just car insurance.

see how much you could save at geico.com. ! designed to save you money. wireless network geico. more than just car insurance. even when you've got serious binging to do. wherever your phone takes you, your wireless bill is about to cost a whole lot less. use less data with a network that has the most wifi hotspots where you need them and the best 4g lte everywhere else. saving you hundreds of dollars a year. and ask how you get xfinity mobile included with your internet. plus, get $300 back when you buy a new smartphone. xfinity mobile. it's simple. easy. awesome.

click, call or visit a store today. monitor their blood glucose every day. which means they have to stop. and stick their fingers. repeatedly. today, life-changing technology from abbott makes it possible to track glucose levels. without drawing a drop of blood, again and again. the most personal technology, is technology with the power to change your life. life. to the fullest.

growing up, he volunteered as a mormon missionary, preaching that homosexuality was a sin. now dan reynolds is one of the world's biggest rock stars with a huge lgbtq following. and he says it's made him confront what he used to believe. abc's abbie boudreau spoke with him at the love loud festival in utah about changing himself and his religion. ♪ i was lightning before the thunder ♪ >> reporter: known for monster

hits like "thunder." ♪ thunder thunder thunder >> reporter: and the anthemic "whatever it takes." ♪ whatever it takes take me to the top i'm ready ♪ >> reporter: imagine dragons is the massively successful band that has sold more than 10 million albums in the u.s. alone. but now frontman dan reynolds has taken on a surprising cause. >> love the rolling stones. >> thanks, man. >> colorful rolling stones. >> inspiration, man. >> reporter: as a mormon he's fighting for lgbtq rights in the restrictive religious community that raised him. >> there's a real problem here. and i have been -- i'm about as privileged as you get. i'm a white man who is heterosexual, raised in a middle-class home, who is now a rock star. so it's like, i don't know that there's more of a golden ticket that you could be given from birth. >> reporter: and so that's why he started the love loud festival. a celebration of the lgbtq

community right here in salt lake city, utah. the mecca of mormonism, which is opposed to homosexual behavior and same-sex marriage. >> music is the great unifier. we can get the lgbtq community out, the far left. we can get the far right out because they like music and they're like, i'll come to the music thing. gay rights festival? oh, man, i'm not sure about that but i'll come to the music thing. they come in and we're like, lock the gates! then we have people get up on stage and share their message. >> you know that your sexuality is pure. >> reporter: sprinkled in between big acts like zed playing "clarity." ♪ why are you my clarity >> reporter: prestigious and aspirational speakers like apple ceo tim cook. >> i stand before you tonight as

an uncle, a sports nut, a ceo, a lover of the beautiful utah outdoors, and a proud gay american! >> these kids need to hear that. because what they hear every day is, you are broken. you are flawed. if you don't change that, you're not going to have the spirit with you. >> reporter: this new mission, a far cry from the one of his youth. at 18, reynolds spent two years on a mormon proselytizing mission in nebraska. >> you're given a handbook. when someone asks you a question, oh, there's an answer for everything. why are we here? hold on one second, we're here because god sent us here, this is our test, and -- i don't want to tell my mom about this missionary guy, hey, missionary man who has all the answers, what's the answer? it's a sin to be gay. so i taught that for two years on my mission. and that's something i'm going to have to live with for the

rest of my life. >> look where it's led you. >> yeah, you know -- i think part of the reason i'm so passionate about this now is because i've put enough time in where i've sat with enough parents who have lost their child to suicide because they were gay and they had religious guilt. >> reporter: according to a cdc report from 2015, the youth suicide rate in utah was more than double the national average. dan reynolds believes the strict mormon moral code could be one of the factors driving lgbtq youth to the brink. but it wasn't until his hit song "it's time" -- ♪ i'm never changing who i am >> reporter: was featured on "glee" that he felt motivated to act. >> i would get letters from fans saying, you know, you're mormon, i know that mormons don't support lgbtq rights and equal marriage. that was heartbreaking for me. >> what was that it made you say, i'm going to do something about it?

>> i think from a young age my mom taught me, you stand up for those who are underprivileged and stigmatized. and at-risk. >> reporter: "love loud" is in its second year. the genesis of last year's festival chronicled in the hbo documentary "believer." reynolds says he will hold the festival every year for the sake of kids like savannah caster. >> when i came out, i was 12 years old. >> i believe i was made the way i am -- >> reporter: when she stood in front of her mormon congregation to give her testimony -- >> a testimony is like a speech of when you're trying to tell what you believe in your religion. >> so this is a big moment? >> it is. >> i want to love myself and not feel ashamed of being me -- >> how has the church reacted to you? are you still mormon? >> i am -- i do consider myself a mormon. but i do not attend church. because i don't feel very accepted in my neighborhood anymore. >> did you ever feel alone? did you ever feel lost? >> oh, definitely. i always thought being gay was a sin. and that i was not normal.

and this is why i want to be here for those people that do feel alone. >> reporter: that sentiment was echoed throughout the festival. >> nice to have like a thing where you can go to to celebrate being yourself, and like being out and proud without worrying about it. >> i love that they are giving this night to the youth. >> reporter: teigen, half of twin lesbian indy pop duo teigen and sarah, known for songs like "back in your head." ♪ i just want back in your head ♪ >> love loud! let's hear you! >> reporter: took to the stage with reynolds. >> this means so much to me. this is life changing for a lot of the people here. and you are awesome for doing it. seriously. >> i believe dan is the real deal. we have pride but this is different. this is about bringing our allies together with us, helping us raise money to give back. it's just a brilliant, simple idea. >> reporter: last year the festival brought in less than $10,000. this year it's secured big

corporate sponsors and a bigger turnout and is donating 100% of its profits, more than $1 million, to boots on the ground lgbtq charities. lance laury is love loud's executive director. >> a year ago we didn't have a venue. we didn't have sponsors. we didn't have anything. one year later, here we are. we've already done one love loud and we're in a sold-out stadium. it's like, if you're crazy enough to think you can change the world, you just might be able to. ♪ it's time to begin isn't it >> reporter: at the end of the day, imagine dragons took the stage to perform. ♪ i'm never changing who i am >> reporter: reynolds was overcome with emotion while addressing the audience. >> to our lgbtq youth -- stay with us. every day. we need you. we love you. we accept you. ♪ i'm fired up and fired all the

way that things have been oh ♪ >> reporter: a steadfast believer that fundamental change is due and can come. ♪ you made me you made me a believer believer ♪ >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm abbie boudreau in salt lake city, utah. >> we'll be right back. searching for answers may feel overwhelming.

so start your search with our teams of specialists at cancer treatment centers of america. the evolution of cancer care is here. learn more at cancercenter.com/experts but one blows them all out of the water. hydro boost from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic so it bounces back. neutrogena® with our largest variety of crab all year! like new crabfest combo. your one chance to have new jumbo snow crab with tender dungeness crab. or try crab lover's dream. but hurry in. 'cause crabfest will be gone in a snap. my gums are irritated. i don't have to worry about that, do i?

actually, you do. harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line. crest gum detoxify works below the gum line to neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. and, now there's new crest gum & enamel repair. it gives you clinically proven healthier gums and helps repair and strengthen weakened enamel. gum detoxify and gum & enamel repair, from crest. gums are good, so is my check-up! crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life.

thank you for watching "nightline." as always, we're on "nightline" facebook page. thanks for the company, america. good night. - ( phone ringing ) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. visit right now or call during business hours. ...you discover paint bleed you under your tape...... not with frogtape! frogtape is the only painter's tape

treated with patented paintblock technology. paintblock reacts with the water in latex paint to form a micro-barrier against paint bleed, giving you the sharpest lines possible. get professional results with frogtape... no messy lines, no paint bleed. for sharp lines every time, frog it!