Have you ever heard of a game called “CAPTURE THE FLAG?”
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT THAT GAME AND HOW its players became the very first anons Q listened to.
BACKGROUND:
The actor SHIA LaBeouf (who began acting in the early 2000s with his role in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, before going on to feature in a number of Hollywood films such as the Transformers and Indiana Jones series) later joined two other artists who created a kind of performance art with exhibits they showed in several countries. One of the more notable art projects was called “He Will Not Divide Us,” a participatory performance installation designed to coincide with President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2017.
At 9 a.m. on January 20, 2017, the trio launched this website: HEWILLNOTDIVIDE.US
They set up a camera on a wall outside the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, with the words “He Will Not Divide Us” written directly above.
Passersby were invited to deliver these words into the camera “as many times, and for as long as they wish,” in what the artists described as “a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community.” The footage was live-streamed on a 24/7 feed, which the artists announced would run for four years, or the duration of Trump’s presidency.
On February 10, 2017, the Museum of the Moving Image announced that it had ceased its involvement with the project, citing public safety concerns.
On March 8, 2017, the stream resumed from an “unknown location”, with the artists announcing that a flag emblazoned with the words “He Will Not Divide Us” would be flown for the duration of the presidency. The camera was pointed up at the flag, set against a backdrop of nothing but sky.
Within 38 hours of resuming transmission, the flag was located by a collaboration of 4chan users, who used airplane contrails, flight tracking, celestial navigation, and other techniques to determine that it was located in Greeneville, Tennessee.
In the early hours of March 10, 2017, a 4chan user took down and stole the flag, replacing it with a red ‘Make America Great Again’ hat and a Pepe the Frog shirt. These were later removed, and the stream continued broadcasting an empty flag pole.
Following escalating threats coordinated via 4chan and 8chan, and after a field at the location was set on fire, the artists were again forced to relocate the project.
How 4Chan’s Worst Trolls Pulled Off the Heist of the Century
This article first appeared in VICE Canada. March 11, 2017
In the latest act of the universe proving to us that we are nothing but side characters living within a poorly written movie, 4Chan just pulled off one of the most impressive, and pointless, internet heists of all time.
The plot, like a goddamn Oceans-[insert number here] flick, involves CIA level research of flight and star patterns, a man in the field driving a car honking non-stop, and a Trump hat hanging on a flagpole. However, much like the Ocean movies, there is a backstory that must be explained in order for you to fully enjoy the insanity of the heist.
The folks of 4Chan had, for some time been systematically fucking with Shia Labeouf for his “He Will Not Divide Us” art/protest project. The project first started with Labeouf setting up a webcam in New York. It was supposed to be a permanent live feed for the duration of Trumps presidency, one where people could look into the camera and chant the saying—this obviously did not end well.
The non-stop bullshit surrounding his art project seemingly got to some people and it was shut down by the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, where it was located. Shia, not to be deterred, then moved the exhibit to El Rey Theater in Albuquerque in mid-February, but the fuckery continued. The live stream was spray painted and it was eventually shut down when gunshots were reported in the area.
Still though, Shia, ever the trooper, carried on. This time the HWNDU project featured a livestream of a flag waving in the air. The stream contained only the sky and the flag as not to give away its location to the trolls.
‘Yes,’ Labeouf must have thought, ‘there is no way they’re shutting this one down. I, Big-Daddy Shia, did it.’
Big Daddy Shia would be proven wrong once again—instead of vanquishing the trolls, he started the most intense game of capture the flag ever.
The trolls, using only the live stream of the flag, started studying flight patterns to try and pinpoint a general area. Using the knowledge gleaned from the flight patterns, they found that the location was near Greeneville, Tennessee.
They turned to studying the star patterns and their movements, plus a tweet that Labeouf sent out from a Tennessee diner, the trolls were able to narrow the area even further—to a small patch of land between a house and a river.
This is when their man on the ground came into play. The 4channers were able to enlist a local troll to drive around the area and repeatedly honk his horn. I would like you, my fair reader, to imagine a man driving around a small Tennessee town in what I assume to be, a 1994 Toyota Tercel just blaring the horn repeatedly while rocking a (again I assume) soundtrack from a Metal Gear Solid game, all in an attempt to fuck with Shia Lebeouf—this actually happened.
But then, the trolls’ magic happened. In the dead of night the horn was picked up on the live stream and the troll posted his location to 4Chan. In probably the sweetest moment of his life, the channer made his way to claim his prize. Down went Shia’s white flag of defiance, up went a red Trump hat. And the most pointlessly convoluted game of ‘capture the flag’ of all time came to an end.
It seems that the troll who successfully stole the flag now has it proudly hung, fittingly, in his basement. The latest iteration of He Will Not Divide Us Lasted a little over 37 hours.
From TMZ
Shia LaBeouf’s ‘He Will Not Divide Us’ Flag Gets Trump Makeover
3/10/2017 6:55 AM PT
https://www.tmz.com/2017/03/10/shia-labeouf-he-will-not-divide-us-flag-trump/
Shia LaBeouf keeps getting trolled by Trump fans … even when he tries keeping the protest covert.
Shia — whose “He Will Not Divide Us” stream in Albuquerque, NM was taken down after shots were fired a block away from the protest — moved his demonstration to a mystery location.
Problem is … Trump fans thwarted Shia’s plan after somehow pinpointing the location — we still don’t know where — and replaced the flag with a Trump shirt and hat.
Trolls 2, Shia 0.
NYLON – 3/9/2017
Last month, “He Will Not Divide Us,” an art installation by Shia LaBeouf, Nastja Säde Rönkkö, and Luke Turner was suddenly shut down. The controversial political installation was initially removed from New York City’s Museum of the Moving Image after becoming a “threat to public safety,” due to the presence of neo-Nazis, who created an unsafe environment for art-goers.
LaBeouf, Rönkkö, and Turner moved the exhibit to a space just outside of the El Rey Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but the turmoil continued and gunfire ensued.
“He Will Not Divide Us,” which had initially intended to provide a platform for people over a four-year run to express their political opinions in a safe space, seemed to be gone for good. But now, after roughly two weeks of inactivity, LaBeouf announced in a tweet with a photo that the installation had risen again from an “unknown location.”
The latest format shows a white flag that reads “he will not divide us” in black all-caps letters. The HEWILLNOTDIVIDE.US website states that the flag will be flown for the duration of Trump’s presidency. While you can’t hear anyone chanting the mantra at this current time, there are some birds chirping in the background.
In tumultuous times like these, it’s encouraging to see that art finds a way to exist and artists find a way to create, even when their work and message are under attack. Watch the live stream from the undisclosed location here.
https://www.nylon.com/articles/he-will-not-divide-us-secret-location
How Q First Arrived on 4chan By Archive Anon
https://archiveanon.substack.com/p/how-q-first-arrived-on-4chan
Who is Q?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Give up, Shia, you pussy.
Those delicate snowflakes at Vice need to go find their safe space and shaddup. Losers doin’ what losers do …
Glory be to the 4chan’ers!!