Richard Mack, a former Arizona county sheriff and leader of a far-right sheriffs organization, appeared on a podcast alongside a QAnon figure known online as Juan O. Savin. During the appearance, Mack asked Savin for advice on what to “tell sheriffs to do to be ready,” and asked the host to share his contact information with Savin. Savin also claimed he had previously funded some of Mack’s efforts. 

In recent years, some QAnon figures have claimed that they have funneled supposed information from other supporters of the conspiracy theory to law enforcement, and Mack’s August 31 interaction with Savin fits into this trend. Both Mack and Savin have also been involved in the election denial movement.

Richard Mack is the founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, an organization which falsely asserts that sheriffs are the highest law of the land and have ultimate authority to decide whether a law is constitutional, superseding any federal or state authority. CSPOA has pushed election denial and attempted to partner with election denial organization True the Vote during the 2022 midterm elections. True the Vote’s founder later claimed the effort “kind of disintegrated.”

Savin (whose real name is Wayne Willott) is a QAnon figure who some followers of the conspiracy theory wrongly believe is the late John F. Kennedy Jr. He has collaborated with election denier Patrick Byrne and helped lead an effort to recruit and run election denial candidates for election administration positions during the 2022 midterm elections.

On August 31, Mack and Savin appeared on the podcast of QAnon-supporting host David Niño Rodriguez. During the podcast, Mack told Savin that he had “heard so much about” him, and Savin said to Mack that he had “funded a couple of the things that you’ve done.”

Later in the episode, they speculated on a possible future terrorist attack in the United States, suggesting that there might be a large-scale “event that makes Kamala come in as looking presidential in which they can install her into the White House before the election,” and implying that the government might be involved in such an event. Savin falsely suggested that the United States government had some involvement with the September 11 attacks — a conspiracy theory he’s invoked before.

During the discussion, Mack mentioned CSPOA’s conference on September 6 and 7, which was reportedly designed to train sheriffs on how to respond during a “large scale event,” and suggested that sheriffs should start working with other agencies to provide security for infrastructure. 

Mack later asked Savin what he would “suggest that I tell sheriffs to do to be ready, to be prepared.” In response, Savin suggested to keep an eye out for those who “would come to cause trouble,” people who he claimed will “stand out.”

At the end of Mack and Savin’s appearance together, Mack suggested that Savin could “help financially” with his activities, and asked Rodriguez to “give Juan my phone number” and for Savin to “call me anytime.” Rodriguez in response said he would do so.

Mack’s connection with Savin did not come out of the blue. QAnon and its supporters have demonstrated a growing influence on law enforcement in recent years. In 2022, the leaders of election denial organization True the Vote indicated they had been or would be passing along material from the QAnon community to law enforcement, which may have played a role in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s indictment of an election software company CEO. (The charges were later dropped and a settlement was reached after the CEO sued the Los Angeles County district attorney.) And earlier this year, a QAnon influencer who sits on the board of Michael Flynn’s America’s Future claimed the organization was sending “leads” from QAnon supporters to law enforcement. What’s more, some officers themselves have expressed support for or publicly associated with QAnon.

Correction (12/4/24): This piece originally misidentified the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association as the Constitutional Sheriffs and Police Officers Association.