The perpetrator of the terror attack (yes, it was a terror attack) in Toronto deliberately targeted women and affiliated himself with one of the fringes of the alt-right movement. Most of the victims were women.
I cannot even write that I am surprised that, while this is being reported, the media, from Toronto Star to Washington Post, bury the lede — after all, the perpetrator was white, non-Muslim, and was allowed to surrender to authorities rather than shot dead (excellent work, Toronto police, by the way, but I digress).
Washington Post:
Toronto police are investigating a Facebook post that suggests misogyny may have been a motive for the driver in a van attack that left 10 dead and 14 injured, with most of the victims women.
The Hill:
The suspect in Monday's Toronto van attack referenced an extremist "men's rights" movement and praised a 22-year-old mass shooter in a Facebook post made before the attack.
Business Insider:
- Alek Minassian's Facebook account posted about an "incel rebellion" hours before the Toronto van attack took place.
- An "incel," or "involuntary celibate," usually refers to a man who lacks romantic relationships with women.
- The post also hailed Elliot Rodgers, a man who identified himself as "incel" before killing six people and himself.
Vancouver Sun:
In a Facebook posting from the day of the massacre, Minassian refers to the rebellion of ‘incels.’
He wrote: “The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys!”
Chad refers to men who are sexually active.
Minassian added: “All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!”
Rodger was a 22-year-old California student whom women found wanting. At the University of California in 2014, he slaughtered six people before fatally shooting himself.
[...]
Reddit banned a 40,000-member incel community for troubled posts soaked in violence, hatred of women and that even encouraged rape.
Heavy.com:
Shortly after Minassian’s name was made public, a Facebook post spread online that was apparently written by the suspect. The posting read, “Private (Recruit) Minassian Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt. 4chan please. C23249161. The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!”
[...]
The Guardian reported in November 2017 that Reddit had banned a subreddit named, Incels. At the time it was removed, there were over 40,000 members of the page. A common theme on those Reddit pages were “Chads,” men who have casual sex with women.
Most importantly (same source, bolding here and in quotes above mine)...
According to a study from Grinnell College… many in the Incel Movement subreddit were also active in alt-right pages such as “The Red Pill,” “Mens Rights” and “Men Going Their Own Way.” A Quartz piece included words such as “femoids” and “Chad” as being part of a new alt-right dictionary. That same article mentions that some on the subreddit referred to Elliot Rodger as “Saint Elliot” because he “martyred” himself for the Incel cause.
I must add here — there still is an incel-themed subreddit with lots of traffic (I will not link it), and the language of the discourse there is very much alt-righty, including the bashing of “normies,” referencing “cucks,” “genetic cleansing,” etc.
Misogyny begat terrorism — and terrorists should be called terrorists regardless of their ethnicity and religious affiliation.
The authenticity of the post was strongly questioned, both by academics and in online comments. Media manipulation experts warned that online hoaxes are extremely common in the wake of mass murders, particularly when it comes to stories involving 4chan — a notorious messaging site associated with troll culture, which is mentioned in the Facebook post attributed to Minassian.
Please regard this as a cautionary note, but also do consider that Facebook reportedly confirmed the authenticity of the post to several news services.
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2018 · 1:33:25 AM +00:00 · kalmoth
Final update. From The Globe and Mail…
While it remains unclear exactly how Mr. Minassian fits into these online communities of anti-feminist trolls, many self-styled incels spent Tuesday celebrating the attack he is alleged to have carried out. The incel community exists in a dark corner of the internet, infamous for its sexist, racist and homophobic language, where cyberbullying and posts normalizing rape are common.