Avowed QAnon disciple and confessed felon retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has called for a Myanmar-like military coup in America.
“It should happen,” Donald Trump’s former national security adviser said in an astonishing declaration at a QAnon conference Sunday.
Myanmar’s military violently seized control of the country from its civilian government in late January, detained democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and top party members, and killed more than 700 protesters as of early this month. The military justified its action by claiming unproven “election fraud.”
Flynn presented his dark vision of a military coup and dictatorship in the U.S. in response to a question from the audience at the conference.
“I wanna know why what happened in Myanmar can’t happen here?” an unidentified member of the audience asked Flynn, though he pronounced the nation as “Minnimar.”
“No reason,” Flynn responded to wild screams of approval. “It should happen.”
It’s not the first time Flynn has called for a military takeover of a democratically elected government. He retweeted a message in December after Trump lost the election that called on the president to declare martial law and keep the White House by force.
It’s been a wild ride this week for Flynn, the star speaker at the four-day, ironically named “For God & Country Patriot Roundup” QAnon conference at the Omni Dallas Hotel.
Conspiracy theorist attorney Sydney Powell, who’s being sued for $1.3 billion for lies about Dominion voting machines, was another featured speaker.
Earlier in the conference, Flynn insisted that he’s “not a conspiracy theorist,” but then declared: “Trump won! He won! He won the popular vote, and he won the Electoral College vote.” (He didn’t.)
Flynn resigned after just 22 days as Trump’s national security adviser following reports that he had lied about his contact with a Russian official. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his secret dealings with Russian ambassador to the U.S. and suspected spy Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition, a felony. He then battled to withdraw his plea.
Trump pardoned Flynn in November after he lost the election.
Trump granted him an extremely broad reprieve from “any and all possible offenses” he might have committed linked to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Kremlin interference in the 2016 election.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan angrily dismissed the case against Flynn following the pardon.
“A pardon does not necessarily render ‘innocent’ a defendant of any alleged violation of the law,” Sullivan noted in a 43-page memorandum. “Indeed, the Supreme Court has recognized that the acceptance of a pardon implies a ‘confession’ of guilt.” He called the pardon a “political” decision, not a legal one.
Flynn retains his military title and is collecting a full military pension even as he promotes a military coup against the democratically elected and constitutionally protected government.
Critics on Twitter were appalled by Flynn’s call for violence against the government.
