QAnon conspiracy theorist Romana Didulo heads a group of followers who have been travelling around Canada in motorhomes and cars for the past few years..Her group has now moved into a former school in the Saskatchewan village of Richmound (80 km northeast of Medicine Hat), which has a population of about 150 people..They have been at the site for just over a week, according to Thomas Fougere of Community TV..Village residents have been pushing for them to leave Richmound since their arrival..On Sunday, about 100 people from the area used tractors, big trucks, and other vehicles to circle the school. They wanted the newcomers to leave, Fougere said.."It's the only place in the village where there's a playground and where kids can safely ride their bikes away from the highway," said Fougere. ."It's become a high-tension situation. The town doesn't want them.”.Didulo, 48, came to Canada from the Philippines when she was a teenager. She started a few businesses and then created a small fringe political party in 2020..After getting support from QAnon leaders, she gathered many followers. .Didulo claimed she took over Canada's government and said she was the "Queen of Canada." She believes secret US military groups support her claim..She has told her more than 36,000 followers on her Telegram channel they do not have to pay their bills or debts..Because of what Didulo said some followers have lost their houses, cars and other possessions. .Christine Sarteschi, an expert on extreme groups at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, said these groups are against the government, avoid taxes and create their own made-up legal systems..Didulo and her group believe in the idea of being their own rulers, not getting vaccines based on conspiracy theories and QAnon beliefs. .QAnon is a theory that says former US President Donald Trump is secretly fighting against powerful pedophiles in the government, business and news..Even though QAnon's theories are about people in the US, some people in Canada and other countries believe in them..In 2022, Didulo’s followers tried to arrest police officers in Peterborough, ON, because of their “crimes against humanity.” Instead, six of Didulo’s followers got arrested.."She's the ultimate antigovernment person," said Sarteschi, as Didulo says she will execute her opponents.."This is not a harmless cult.”."Too often, these kinds of things are ignored until something bad happens," said Sarteschi. ."I don't know how this ends... I don't know if anything horrible will happen, but I pray that it doesn't.".The group has been in Saskatchewan for a few weeks now..Earlier in September, many people from a small town called Kamsack, which is in a different part of the province, made them leave..However, Didulo’s looking for tradespeople to volunteer to help with building projects and other followers are planning to travel there in mid-October to establish a larger group..Richmound might not have a lot of power to remove the group as the government sold the school and nearby land to a private owner, making it harder to get the group to leave without the owner’s cooperation.
