Mel Gibson says he would "kill someone" during viral QAnon rant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago

Actor Mel Gibson (r.) is being accused of spreading QAnon conspiracies after he gave a speech threatening to "kill" sex traffickers during a Donald Trump event.  © Collage: Nic Antaya & Cindy Ord / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

On Tuesday, the conservative non-profit organization America's Future held a Champions for America Celebration Gala at the incoming president's home to honor a handful of MAGA stars, including musician Kid Rock and political commentator Tucker Carlson.

At one point, Gibson gave a speech in which he described Trump's incoming administration as a "four-year grace period."

He went on to say Trump has "a big job" ahead of him because President Joe Biden has done "a lot of damage," including starting fires "around my house" – seemingly implying Democrats started wildfires in California.

Gibson then praised Trump's former National Security Advisor and America's Future co-founder, Michael Flynn, for his work fighting sex trafficking by "exposing all these wolves in sheep's clothing that prey upon our young."

"I have nine kids. If one of them got stolen or trafficked or something, I'd have to kill someone," Gibson said, garnering applause from the crowd.

Clips of his speech have been getting a lot of attention online, as some critics have argued Gibson and America's Future are guilty of spreading QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theories.

A supporter of former US President Donald Trump holds a sign associated with the Qanon conspiracy theory outside his Mar-A-Lago residence in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 15, 2022.  © Giorgio VIERA / AFP

According to Media Matter for America, QAnon began as a far-right conspiracy theory after an anonymous internet user, known only as Q, began sharing the unsupported claim that Trump was secretly enacting a plan to expose the "deep state" and massive pedophilia and sex trafficking rings that would supposedly implicate a number of high-profile politicians and celebrities.

QAnon has since grown into a heavily Trump-loyal movement, while concerns and conspiracies of such large-scale rings have become common among the right, including with members of the board of America's Future.

In recent years, Gibson – who has an infamous history of making racist and antisemitic comments – has become an ardent supporter of Trump, and in 2023, he was an executive producer on the movie The Sound of Freedom.

The Christian thriller film starred self-described QAnon believer Jim Caviezel as a federal agent who travels to Columbia to save a trafficked child. It received heavy praise from Republican politicians and QAnon believers, and Trump loved the film so much that he held a private screening at his golf club in New Jersey.