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Stew Peters

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Stew Peters
Born (1980-04-01) April 1, 1980 (age 44)
Minnesota, U.S.
OccupationInternet personality
Known forPromotion of conspiracy theories
Notable work
Movement
Children3
Websitestewpeters.com

Stewart Peters[1] (born April 1, 1980) is an American alt-right internet personality. He is known for promoting COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories,[7] as well as anti-LGBTQ, antisemitic, and white supremacist beliefs.[8]

Having previously been a rapper and bounty hunter,[9][10] Peters launched the Stew Peters Show in 2020, which airs on weekdays. His show routinely features conspiracy theories about governmental organizations, such as the CDC. His guests have included established proponents of conspiracy theories such as Paul Gosar[11] and Mark Meadows.[12] In 2022, Peters released the anti-vaccine film Died Suddenly, and a subsequent 2023 film titled Final Days.

Early life and education

Peters grew up in Minnesota.[13] Initially, Peters thought he would become a police officer or an entertainer during high school.[14] As a teenager, Peters was convicted for stealing stereo equipment from a RadioShack he worked at.[10]

Career

Entertainment

After high school, Peters moved from Minnesota to Los Angeles, Florida and New York while pursuing a career as a rapper named Fokiss. As a rapper, he performed at several night clubs and bars around Minneapolis and Duluth including 7th St. Entry at the landmark 1st Avenue.[14] He briefly interned at 101.3 KDWB-FM in 1998.[9]

In 2000, he auditioned for a film directed by Tyrel Ventura, the son of then-Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. After obtaining a lead role in the film, Peters lied to Ventura that his brother was a teen heartthrob who starred in a popular 1990s sitcom. Tyrel invited Peters to stay at the governor's residence in St. Paul during filming. Peters went home to Apple Valley, a suburb 16 miles away, and later moved into the guest room of the governor's residence for several weeks, until he was evicted by the state troopers providing security for the governor.[1][9]

Bounty hunting

Peters was a bounty hunter before producing internet content.[10] He started moonlighting as a bounty hunter after he met someone in the business.[9]

Peters claims to have headed a bounty hunting agency named Twin Cities Apprehension Team for several years.[15]

In 2006, Peters was arrested in Florida for falsely impersonating an officer, unlawfully using a blue light and stealing less than $300 using a weapon. The charges were later dropped.[10]

In 2015, Minnesota Law was changed to limit what bounty hunters can wear and drive, a change apparently aimed specifically at Peters, who dressed to resemble law enforcement officers.[16]

On May 30, 2017, Peters' agency was involved in a shootout that left two agents and the fugitive dead. TCAT had tracked Ramon Hutchinson, wanted for failure to appear for a DUI court date, from Minnesota to Greenville, Texas. TCAT used an automobile tracking device to find Hutchinson. When two agents (Gabriel Bernal and Fidel Garcia Jr) approached Hutchinson, he pulled out a gun and opened fire. Both agents and the fugitive died.[17]

Peters' bounty hunting agency closed in 2021 after Peters was found guilty of disorderly conduct related to a domestic disturbance situation and was sentenced to probation.[10][13]

Online personality

Peters launched The Stew Peters Show as a podcast in 2020, commenting on criminality and related topics, also giving air time to figures of the American far-right and the anti-vaccination movement (such as Del Bigtree).[13] Peters uses his show to initiate or amplify a large number of rumors and fabrications widely known to be disinformation. He uses violent rhetoric against marginalized groups, most notably Jews, Hindus, and the LGBT community. He promotes concepts linked to QAnon and white supremacy, and has expressed support for Pizzagate and flat earth conspiracy theories.[13][18][19] Because of his ability to incite his numerous followers to harass those he targets, extremism researcher Katie McCarthy has compared him to Alex Jones.[13]

Peters was a speaker at the 2022 America First Political Action Conference, where he called for the murders of Anthony Fauci (lynched by hanging), and Vernon Jones (executed by electric chair).[20]

In February 2023, following the Ohio train derailment, a tweet by Peters claiming that "journalists covering the story have been arrested" and dead fish and cattle were being found "as far as 100 miles away from the site" went viral, attracting about half a million likes. Only one journalist had been arrested.[21]

In the summer of 2023, Peters claimed that the wildfires in Canada and the ones in Hawaii were the result of attacks by orbital energy weapon platforms, similarly to Marjorie Taylor Greene's statement about "Jewish space lasers". Experts have explained why this statement by Peters is clearly incorrect.[22][23]

Peters has called for the execution of Hunter Biden, Dr Anthony Fauci, Catholic Charities workers, Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce for reasons ranging from Kelce promoting COVID-19 vaccines and the Catholic Charities workers aiding migrants to Biden being a "presidential failson" and Swift promoting "witchcraft".[24][25] According to Peters' executive producer Lauren Witzke, "It's not a Stew Peters rally unless we're calling for executions."[26]

Peters is identified as the communications director of a militia movement headed by one Edward Lang, who is serving a prison sentence for assaulting a police officer during the January 6 United States Capitol attack. The North American Patriot and Liberty Militia was organized in 2024 in order to be ready to take action during the 2024 United States presidential election.[27] The same year, he called on his supporters to start gathering books they dislike from public libraries in anticipation of a book burning event he plans to organize.[28]

Promotion of white supremacist and antisemitic rhetoric

Peters has promoted many white supremacist and antisemitic conspiracy theories and talking points.[29] He has referred to Judaism as a "death cult built on the blood of murdered babies".[18] He claimed that the Titan submersible implosion was intentionally caused by the Federal Reserve to prevent investigations into the Titanic, and agreed with a guest who blamed the Rothschild family and claimed they control the Federal Reserve.[30] He has repeatedly promoted the white genocide and Great Replacement conspiracy theories.[18] He has falsely claimed that Black people are genetically prone to committing crime,[18] and has referred to Somali refugees in Minnesota as "double-digit IQ savages" who are "conquering" the state by "replacing" its flag, referencing perceived similarities to the flag of Jubaland.[31] Peters has hosted noted white supremacists and antisemites such as Nick Fuentes, Peter Brimelow, Cynthia McKinney, and Steven Anderson on his show.[18]

In January 2024, Peters published a series of tweets insulting Martin Luther King Jr., including a claim that he "stud[ied] Jewish Bolshevism", a common antisemitic conspiracy theory,[32] and baselessly claimed that the New York City synagogue tunnel incident was a coverup for child sex trafficking.[33][34] He has also claimed that Jews and Israel orchestrated the January 6 attack in the U.S. in order to discredit American nationalists,[35] and has promoted the neo-Nazi propaganda film Europa: The Last Battle.[36]

On September 13, 2024, Peters posted on X a photo of himself holding a copy of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, with the caption "Visionary leadership".[37] He later deleted the post.

COVID-19 misinformation

From early in the pandemic, Peters joined other conspiracy theorists in peddling disinformation about COVID vaccines and public health measures.

Peters misrepresents scientific communications, and presents baseless theories as fact, to promote common conspiratorial disinformation narratives; COVID vaccination is part of an attempted genocide,[38] military personnel get HIV from the vaccine,[39] and that vaccinated people are frequently victims of strokes[40] and penile rot.[41]

In 2022, Peters started to produce long videos: These Little Ones, promoting the QAnon conspiracy about elites kidnapping children to drink their blood;[13] Watch the Water, which claims that COVID-19 vaccines are derived from snake venom in order to transform people into "a hybrid of Satan",[42][4][43] and Died Suddenly, which promotes misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and Great Reset conspiracy theories.[5][44][43] Peters publishes the videos on Rumble, using Twitter and Facebook to amplify their distribution.[13][2]

Peters' Twitter account was suspended for a few months for breaching the platform's content policies, but was reactivated in mid-December 2022. Spotify and iHeartRadio have removed his content from their platform.[13][2]

Final Days

On May 30, 2023, Peters released a film titled Final Days on Twitter. The film features Karen Kingston, a former Pfizer employee and anti-vaccine activist[45] who is presented as a biotech analyst and legal advisor.[46] However, Lead Stories found that Kingston sold Viagra and did not work on the Pfizer vaccine.[47]

In the film, Kingston promotes various false claims, including that the mRNA vaccines are bioweapons and that the COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide. David Martin, a conspiracy theorist YouTuber and financial analyst, falsely claims that the SARS-CoV-1 virus was developed at the University of North Carolina. The film implies that Event 201 shows that the COVID-19 pandemic was known about beforehand, and includes footage from the far-right activist group Project Veritas in which an alleged Pfizer executive talks about gain-of-function research at Pfizer. It ends with Kingston claiming that World War III has started, and that the culprits are the World Economic Forum and the Great Reset.[46]

Political involvement

Starting in 2022, Peters has been speaking at political events, favoring the more extreme varieties of American conservatism. He endorsed the unsuccessful candidate Kandiss Taylor in the Republican primary for the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election, and also supported Janice McGeachin and Wendy Rogers.[13]

Peters is being sued by the General Manager of the London Bridge Resort in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Cal Sheehy, who is also Mayor of Lake Havasu City, alleges Peters defamed him on his show in September 2022, over a drag show that was due to be held at the resort in February 2023. Peters allegedly shared Sheehy's contact information with his viewers, which resulted in threatening calls against him. As of August 2023, the case is due to be heard by an Arizona court.[48][49][50][51]

In February 2024, Peters falsely accused gay influencer José Rolón of sexually abusing his own children in several videos. Peters's followers subsequently sent threatening messages to Rolón. In June, Peters took down the videos after Rolón sent a cease and desist and threatened to sue Peters for defamation.[52][53] That August, Rolón filed a defamation lawsuit against Peters.[54]

In April 2024, Peters sued the producers of Died Suddenly, including Lauren Witzke, for allegedly acting as its owners, falsely advertising a sequel and collecting donations on his behalf. Witzke, Edward Szall, Matthew Skow, and Nicholas Stumphauzer were identified as the defendants.[55]

Personal life

Peters has two sons and a daughter. He has coached his sons' hockey teams.[9]

In February 2021, Peters was arrested after his wife called the police, saying that he had come home drunk and started throwing things around the house. Peters later pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct and was sentenced to probation.[10][13] Peters abandoned his bounty hunting business in this period.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Impostor lived at governor's mansion". Brainerd Dispatch. Associated Press. June 19, 2002. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Petrizzo, Zachary (February 3, 2022). "Spotify Booted Far-Right Podcaster Stew Peters Over COVID Lies". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Stew Peters, a right-wing shock jock known for making inflammatory and false claims, including baselessly calling the COVID-19 vaccine a "bio-weapon,"...
  3. ^ Spocchia, Gino (February 23, 2022). "Trump's Truth Social snubbed for censoring radio host's death threats". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Mr Peters, who has fiercely pushed conspiracy theories about Covid in recent months...
  4. ^ a b McCarthy, Bill (April 21, 2022). "Radio host Stew Peters' 'Watch the Water' film ridiculously claims COVID-19 is snake venom". Poynter Institute. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022. The video is an interview between far-right radio host Stew Peters, who has a history of using inflammatory rhetoric and spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories...
  5. ^ a b "'Died Suddenly' film amplifies false Covid-19 vaccine claims". Agence France-Presse. November 29, 2022. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Peters, a far-right talk show host, regularly promotes conspiracy theories and false claims about the coronavirus and vaccines on his program "The Stew Peters Show."
  6. ^ "Died Suddenly: A tsunami of antivax misinformation and conspiracy theories". Science-Based Medicine. December 5, 2022. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. Two weeks ago, COVID-19 conspiracy theorist Stew Peters released an antivaccine pseudodocumentary on Rumble titled Died Suddenly.
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  25. ^ "Right-wing media have repeatedly launched wild attacks against Taylor Swift". Media Matters for America. December 23, 2023. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
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  27. ^ Gilbert, David (June 12, 2024). "A January 6 Rioter Is Leading an Armed National Militia From Prison". Wired. Archived from the original on June 14, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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  31. ^ Pleat, Zachary; McCabe, Audrey; Armstrong, Payton (December 20, 2023). "Right-wing media attack Minnesota's state flag redesign with "great replacement" theory rhetoric". Media Matters for America. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
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  34. ^ "'It's Wild Fantasy and Malevolence': Fracas Over Tunnel Beneath Brooklyn Synagogue Leads to Torrent of Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories". The New York Sun. January 10, 2024. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  35. ^ "West Virginia GOP congressional candidate Derrick Evans agrees that Israel "had a whole lot to do with" January 6". Media Matters for America. February 15, 2024. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  36. ^ Hananoki, Eric (June 12, 2024). "Trump-backed House candidate Mark Burns is self-described "friend" of Holocaust denier Stew Peters, who has portrayed Hitler as "a hero"". Media Matters for America. Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  37. ^ "Stew Peters on X: "Visionary leadership."". X. September 13, 2024. Archived from the original on September 13, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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  40. ^ Peterson, Kate S. (March 23, 2023). "Fact check: Video of fainting doctor in China predates COVID-19 vaccine". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 15, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  41. ^ Wang, Macrina; Pavinolis, Valerie; Fishman, Zack; Brewster, Jack (April 7, 2023). "Verified Misinformation: 'Blue Check' Twitter Accounts are Flooding the Platform with False Claims". Newsweek. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  42. ^ Merlan, Anna (April 18, 2022). "COVID Conspiracy Theorists Wreak Havoc With a Story About Snake Venom". Vice. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022. The documentary, titled Watch the Water, was produced by a far-right podcaster and COVID conspiracy theorist named Stew Peters.
  43. ^ a b Gore, D'Angelo; Robertson, Lori; Farley, Robert; MacDonald, Jessica; Hale Spencer, Saranac; Kiely, Eugene; Jaffe, Alan (December 15, 2022). "The Whoppers of 2022". FactCheck.org. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  44. ^ "We fact checked claims made in new anti-vax film Died Suddenly. Here's what we found". ABC News Australia. December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  45. ^ Jarry, Jonathan (June 2, 2023). "Stew Peters' Final Days Is an Anti-Science Satanic Panic". Office for Science and Society. University of McGill. Archived from the original on June 24, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  46. ^ a b Haag, Christian; Kristensen, Nikolaj; Faerseth, John (June 5, 2023). "Conspiracy film 'Died Suddenly: Final Days' filled with falsehoods". Logically. Archived from the original on February 10, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  47. ^ Thompson, Sarah (August 6, 2021). "Fact Check: Vaccines Do NOT Contain Graphene Oxide As Claimed By Ex-Pfizer Employee". Lead Stories. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  48. ^ Zogg, Michael (June 4, 2023). "Havasu Mayor Sheehy sues podcaster Stew Peters over drag show comments". Mohave Valley Daily News. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  49. ^ Zogg, Michael (July 25, 2023). "Judge rules Arizona has jurisdiction to hear Sheehy's defamation lawsuit against national podcaster Stew Peters". Today's News-Herald. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  50. ^ Zogg, Michael (June 4, 2023). "Havasu Mayor Sheehy sues podcaster Stew Peters over drag show comments". Today's News-Herald. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  51. ^ Zogg, Michael (October 19, 2022). "Lake Havasu City mayor receiving death threats over drag show". The Miner. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  52. ^ Adamczeski, Ryan (June 17, 2024). "Right-wing host forced to remove vids after calling gay dad 'pervert'". The Advocate. Archived from the original on August 12, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  53. ^ Crimmins, Tricia (June 17, 2024). "A far-right streamer tried to sic the cops on a queer dad influencer—it backfired". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  54. ^ Adamczeski, Ryan (August 1, 2024). "Gay dad called 'pervert homo' by right-wing host files suit". The Advocate. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  55. ^ Crimmins, Tricia (April 10, 2024). "Prominent conspiracy theorists are going to court over the rights to the anti-vax film 'Died Suddenly'". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
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