QAnon leader who encouraged the belief that JFK Jr. walks among us has died

60-year-old Michael Protzman — a Trump supporter and leader of a group of QAnon members who believe that both JFK and JFK Jr. are still alive — died last Friday from “multiple blunt force injuries.” In a report from the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office obtained from Vice News, Protzman’s injuries were the result of losing control of his dirt bike while riding at the Meadow Valley Motocross track in Millville. Following his accident, he was taken to Mayo Clinic in Rochester but did not gain recovery.

Known within the QAnon community as Negative 48, Protzman was most infamous for herding his flock to Dallas in 2021 for the purpose of welcoming a long-deceased JFK Jr. to Dealey Plaza, the location of former President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. According to The Dallas Morning News, the gatherers at this unusual event believed it heralded the reinstatement of Donald Trump as president. Vice reported on this Dealey Plaza gathering at the time, giving insight into Protzman’s strange belief that “John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy are the physical second incarnation of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, while JFK Jr. is the Archangel Michael, and Donald Trump is the Holy Spirit.”

“When JFK failed to materialize in Dealey Plaza . . . Protzman and many of his followers went to a Rolling Stones concert, where many claimed they met Michael Jackson in disguise,” wrote Senior Reporter David Gilbert. “I hope he’s finally at peace,” Rachel Boullion, whose mother left her family to follow Protzman, said in a text message obtained from The Dallas Morning News in response to his death. “Clearly, a person who enjoys taking advantage of the vulnerable and feeding them false promises and lies is someone who isn’t right within themselves.”