US continues to go backward...

[Stillwater Townie]

This article says more about this professor’s character and yours than it does about Kirk. People need to read what Gavin Newsom, Obama, Biden and Clinton wrote about Kirk. They definitely didn’t agree with Kirk’s opinions but they are the appropriate responses to his death.

People need to read how Kirk spoke volumes for himself about the divisive opinions he voiced. For starters, he said the guy who assaulted Pelosi's husband should have been bailed out.

Can anyone name a few positive, uplifting things Kirk stood out for? Or did he take delight in making money to promote the unconstructive agenda that an extremist organization stood for.

 

[PF5]

More people would have egg on their faces if the groceries were less expensive.

 

[PF5]

People need to read how Kirk spoke volumes for himself about the divisive opinions he voiced. For starters, he said the guy who assaulted Pelosi's husband should have been bailed out. Now I guess leftists what Robinson bailed out.

Can anyone name a few positive, uplifting things Kirk stood out for? Or did he take delight in making money to promote the unconstructive agenda that an extremist organization stood for.

pretty sure he demanded the epstein files be released....at least until tRump met with him, then he changed his opinion, saying he would just trust the people in the government to do the right thing...

 

[OrangeFan69]

Until we address why young males, particularly white ones, are so susceptible to being radicalized online, this will keep happening. That's the conversation that needs to happen.

But until we name it and call it what it is, which I don't see happening any time soon, buckle the eff up.

A stagnant economy.
I think a loss of manufacturing jobs, home ownership being more challenging, economic purchasing power being diminished.

People that have good things going on generally don't get radicalized.

The starting QB never shoots up the high school.

I think you see white males doing the violence because this is a predominantly white country.
ISIS doesn't recruit out of Dubai, it recruits out of the most depressing places on Earth.

Some ways to fix these things.
1) Break up monopolies of large companies that stifle competition.
2) Ensure that the wealthy are paying taxes, so that the tax burden doesn't fall on the lower classes.

Now, trusting politicians on either side of the aisle to work with the wealthy and Fortune 500 companies to work on these solutions will present a problem. Neither side seems to have the political gumption to solve the problems.

 

[Stillwater Townie]

A highly paranoid, fast-talking Alex Jones has gone crazy worse than usual over Kirk murder. I busted out laughing when he said, "If you don't want to save the country at this point, then just go home and you guys put on a dress and watch Netflix." He says it's about Antifa and Trans. A high percentage of Antifa are Trans. As usual he says Soros funds Antifa and should be arrested. Jones is really of no help for trying times such as these.

 

[cowboyinexile]

A paranoid, fast talking Alex Jones has gone crazy worse than usual over Kirk murder. I busted out laughing when he said, "If you don't want to save the country at this point, then just go home and you guys put on a dress and watch Netflix." It's about Antifa and Trans. A high percentage of Antifa are Trans. As usual he says Soros funds Antifa and should be arrested. Since he claims to know so much about what is going on I can't help wondering if he is in on this supposed leftist plot to destroy America.

Hes still on the air? Did he ever pay off the damages from the lawsuits?

 

[milehighpoke]

A stagnant economy.
I think a loss of manufacturing jobs, home ownership being more challenging, economic purchasing power being diminished.

People that have good things going on generally don't get radicalized.

The starting QB never shoots up the high school.

I think you see white males doing the violence because this is a predominantly white country.
ISIS doesn't recruit out of Dubai, it recruits out of the most depressing places on Earth.

Some ways to fix these things.
1) Break up monopolies of large companies that stifle competition.
2) Ensure that the wealthy are paying taxes, so that the tax burden doesn't fall on the lower classes.

Now, trusting politicians on either side of the aisle to work with the wealthy and Fortune 500 companies to work on these solutions will present a problem. Neither side seems to have the political gumption to solve the problems.

The shooter at the school in Evergreen came from a very wealthy family, apparently lived in a very nice gated neighborhood.

TBH, to me it's the same exact thing as kids joining gangs. Looking for a sense of belonging and family, people they can "trust" and be themselves around. Whether we like it or not, these online groups provide that for them.

 

[PF5]

maybe I´ve missed something here, but the rifle they say was used by tyler was a mauser bolt action and video shows him jumping from roof, and rifle was later found in woods...that rifle doesn´t break down to fit in a backpack or whatever, so how did it get from the roof to the woods?!...

 

[jobob85]

How recent political violence in the U.S. fits into 'a long, dark history'

The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk follows numerous instances of political violence.

www.pbs.org

I thought this was a good read.

 

[Stillwater Townie]

Hes still on the air? Did he ever pay off the damages from the lawsuits?

Yes, same as before. The latest on his case is that he recently appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court to overturn the $1.4 billion judgment against him.

 

[CowboyJD]

How recent political violence in the U.S. fits into 'a long, dark history'

The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk follows numerous instances of political violence.

www.pbs.org

I thought this was a good read.

It was a good read. Here is another IMO. Particularly the last paragraph.

[td] [td] Charlie Kirk was killed by a meme​ Making sense of our dark new era of extremely online political violence​

​

[/td]​

[td]

[td] [td] ​

[td]

​

[/td]​

[td width="529.55px"]

Ryan Broderick & Adam Bumas​

[/td]​

[/td]​

[/td]

[/td]​

[/td]

[td]

[td]

This morning a suspect was taken into custody in connection with the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The alleged shooter’s name is Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah. Footage of a person of interest matching Robinson’s description was circulated this week by law enforcement, who were offering a $100,000 reward for more information.​

[/td]​

[td]

Robinson is registered to vote in Utah, but is not affiliated with any party. (There is another Tyler Robinson registered as a Republican in Utah that many users are sharing the voter records of currently.) Law enforcement told reporters this morning that they used Discord messages along with the security camera footage to ID him.​

[/td]​

[td]

We still don’t have a clear motive, but we do have a slightly clearer picture of what inspired the attack. As we wrote yesterday, the shooting was obviously staged to maximize impact on social media. And according to the FBI, the attacker’s bullet casings had meme references inscribed on them.​

[/td]​

[td]

[td width="630px"]

​

[/td]​

[td width="630px"]

(Photo by Chris Samuels/The Salt Lake Tribune via Getty Images)​

[/td]​

[/td]​

[td]

The use of memes in political mass violence started in earnest in 2019, when a man filmed himself attacking a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. Just before he started, he told viewers, “Subscribe to PewDiePie.” Months later, in Halle, Germany, an attacker livestreamed the shooting of a synagogue on Twitch. In 2022, an 18-year-old white nationalist livestreamed a shooting in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Investigators later discovered that he was planning it openly on 4chan and Discord, calling it a “real life effort shitpost.” And in the last year, Luigi Mangione allegedly gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson with bullets that read, “deny”, “defend”, “depose.” Days later, a 15-year-old posed for a photo flashing the right-wing “ok” hand symbol before allegedly carrying out a school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. And just last month, Robin Westman allegedly carried out a shooting in Minneapolis with bullets that had a range of messages from all around the political spectrum, including “I’m the woker baby why so queerious”, “skibidi” and the simplified line version of the Loss.JPG meme.​

[/td]​

[td]

According to law enforcement, the messages on the bullet casings believed to have belonged to Robinson were equally politically confusing. The bullet that struck and killed Kirk had "Notices bulge OwO whats this?" written on its casing. A reference to a longtime internet joke that originally comes from text-based furry roleplay. It is not proof, however, that Robinson was a furry. The meme has long since become part of the extremely online canon.​

[/td]​

[td]

The unfired bullet casings had other phrases written on them, including, "Hey fascist! Catch!

,

,

,” "O bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,” and “If you read this you are gay lmao." The first message is a reference to the satirically fascist video game Helldivers 2, the arrow combination triggering the most powerful bomb attack in the game. The second message is a reference to an Italian antifascist folk song, which has gotten renewed interest online and offline after its use in Netflix’s Money Heist. “Bella Ciao” is also used in the video game Far Cry 6. The third is just boilerplate edgelord speak, given extra layers of irony by the much more online jokes on the other casings.​

[/td]​

[td]

[td width="630px"]

​

[/td]​

[td width="630px"]

(knowyourmeme.com/memes/notices-bulge-owo-whats-this)​

[/td]​

[/td]​

[td]

The terminally online nature of the messages does somewhat explain the conflicting reports released yesterday. Conservative influencer Steven Crowder published a screenshot of an email “from an officer at the ATF,” which claimed that the bullet casings were engraved with “transgender and antifascist ideology.” This was then corroborated by The Wall Street Journal, though they eventually walked back their story about it. The New York Times reported that that hadn’t been actually confirmed by law enforcement. Crowder is now claiming that his team is being subpoenaed by the ATF over the leak.​

[/td]​

[td]

The leak and the eventual reveal of what was on the bullet casings is important, if only for illustrating exactly how unprepared for this current moment both law enforcement and the mainstream media are. Two law enforcement sources told CNN they initially believed the Helldivers reference was “a connection to the transgender community.” And making the initial picture of who Robinson is and what he believes even more complicated are photos from his mother’s Facebook page, which are currently being shared on social media as the internet hunts for clues as to why he allegedly carried out the attack.​

[/td]​

[td]

In 2017, Robinson appears to have dressed up in a costume of President Donald Trump, with the Trump’s face painted green. A possible reference to the Pepe the Frog edit of Trump that the president first shared in 2015. And in 2018, Robinson appears to have dressed up as a “squatting slav” Pepe meme. As easy as it is to point to these costumes as proof that Robinson was a far-right extremist radicalized online by 4chan posts, it’s just as likely that he was a teenage boy dressing up as memes he saw online. This kind of content is basically the water young people swim in now.​

[/td]​

[td]

It’s also possible Robinson genuinely believes in antifascist principles. But his alleged use of random internet brainrot is notable. Many extremism researchers this morning are wondering if Robinson is a self-identified “groyper,” or follower of far-right streamer Nick Fuentes. As we wrote yesterday, Fuentes has spent years attacking Kirk online. Groypers believed that Kirk was a sellout and blocking a much more extreme version of Trumpism from taking root. For years, Groypers have been carrying out what they call “Groyper Wars,” attending Kirk’s events and trying to disrupt them. For what it’s worth, 4chan users think Robinson was a Groyper.​

[/td]​

[td]

[td width="630px"]

​

[/td]​

[td width="630px"]

(4chan)​

[/td]​

[/td]​

[td]

But the conflicting tone of the bullet casings’ inscriptions may also point to a connection with the Com network and the 764 terror cell offshoot. We’ve covered these groups several times on Panic World. They primarily exist inside of Discord and Telegram group chats. They recruit vulnerable young people around the internet, including inside of multiplayer games like Minecraft and Roblox. They encourage their members to commit horrible crimes with the promise of internet clout, intentionally using conflicting political messages to obscure any larger motive besides inspiring other members of the group to do the same. A month after a school shooter made an “OK” hand sign post, mentioned above, another teenager in Nashville made the exact same joke before allegedly shooting classmates at their high school. ProPublica found they crossed paths several times in these online communities, and the Nashville shooter was making a deliberate reference to his fellow community member. Which is what is so existentially terrifying about our current political moment.​

[/td]​

[td]

We have let school shootings in America persist long enough that we have created a culture where kids grow up seeing them as a path towards fame and glory. Another consequence of how thoroughly the internet has flattened pop culture, politics, and real life violence. All of it now is just another meme you can participate in to go viral. Made even more confusing by a new nihilistic accelerationist movement that delights in muddying the waters for older people who still adhere to a traditional political spectrum. Many young extremists now believe in a much simpler binary: Order and chaos. And if you are spending any time at all trying to derive meaning from violent acts like this then you are, by definition, their enemy.​

[/td]​

[/td]​

​

 

[Ryno]

He said that:
Kirk suggested that the Bible verse Leviticus 20:13, which endorses the execution of homosexuals, serves as “God’s perfect law when it comes to sexual matters.”

Then he (Kirk) added that people should have “just took care of” transgender people “the way we used to take care of things in the 1950s and 60s.” Let’s be clear about what that meant: the 1950s and 60s were not kind to transgender people. The “standard treatments” were lobotomy, shock therapy, and involuntary institutionalization. Police commissioners openly described queer people as “a cancer in the community” and promoted “vigilant detecting.” Violence was the norm.

Do you agree with those sentiments and think that they are polite and nonviolent?

 

[Ryno]

The gunman is LDS, a registered Republican, son of a sheriff, that posted pepe the frog memes and dressed up as one for halloween. Also had become " more political" as of late per family members and engraved "bella bella ciao" " catch this fascist" and "if you are reading this, you are gay" on the bullet casings.

I gotta say I didn't think think this would be his typology, but it yet again is not super coherent

I haven't read the follow ups after you posted this, so excuse me if I'm repeating things...

He's not a 'registered Republican'. CNN/USA Today/etc have reported he was 'unaffiliated' with any political party and didn't vote.

 

[jobob85]

It was a good read. Here is another IMO. Particularly the last paragraph.

​

[td] [td] ​ Charlie Kirk was killed by a meme​ Making sense of our dark new era of extremely online political violence​

​

[/td]
[td]

​

[td] ​ [td] ​

​

[td]

[/td]​

[td width="529.55px"]
Ryan Broderick & Adam Bumas

[/td]




[/td]​

[/td]

[/td]​

[/td]

[td]

​

[td]
This morning a suspect was taken into custody in connection with the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The alleged shooter’s name is Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah. Footage of a person of interest matching Robinson’s description was circulated this week by law enforcement, who were offering a $100,000 reward for more information.

[/td]
[td]
Robinson is registered to vote in Utah, but is not affiliated with any party. (There is another Tyler Robinson registered as a Republican in Utah that many users are sharing the voter records of currently.) Law enforcement told reporters this morning that they used Discord messages along with the security camera footage to ID him.

[/td]
[td]
We still don’t have a clear motive, but we do have a slightly clearer picture of what inspired the attack. As we wrote yesterday, the shooting was obviously staged to maximize impact on social media. And according to the FBI, the attacker’s bullet casings had meme references inscribed on them.

[/td]​

[td]


[td width="630px"]

[/td]
[td width="630px"]
(Photo by Chris Samuels/The Salt Lake Tribune via Getty Images)

[/td]



[/td]​

[td]
The use of memes in political mass violence started in earnest in 2019, when a man filmed himself attacking a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. Just before he started, he told viewers, “Subscribe to PewDiePie.” Months later, in Halle, Germany, an attacker livestreamed the shooting of a synagogue on Twitch. In 2022, an 18-year-old white nationalist livestreamed a shooting in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Investigators later discovered that he was planning it openly on 4chan and Discord, calling it a “real life effort shitpost.” And in the last year, Luigi Mangione allegedly gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson with bullets that read, “deny”, “defend”, “depose.” Days later, a 15-year-old posed for a photo flashing the right-wing “ok” hand symbol before allegedly carrying out a school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. And just last month, Robin Westman allegedly carried out a shooting in Minneapolis with bullets that had a range of messages from all around the political spectrum, including “I’m the woker baby why so queerious”, “skibidi” and the simplified line version of the Loss.JPG meme.

[/td]
[td]
According to law enforcement, the messages on the bullet casings believed to have belonged to Robinson were equally politically confusing. The bullet that struck and killed Kirk had "Notices bulge OwO whats this?" written on its casing. A reference to a longtime internet joke that originally comes from text-based furry roleplay. It is not proof, however, that Robinson was a furry. The meme has long since become part of the extremely online canon.

[/td]
[td]
The unfired bullet casings had other phrases written on them, including, "Hey fascist! Catch!

,

,

,” "O bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,” and “If you read this you are gay lmao." The first message is a reference to the satirically fascist video game Helldivers 2, the arrow combination triggering the most powerful bomb attack in the game. The second message is a reference to an Italian antifascist folk song, which has gotten renewed interest online and offline after its use in Netflix’s Money Heist. “Bella Ciao” is also used in the video game Far Cry 6. The third is just boilerplate edgelord speak, given extra layers of irony by the much more online jokes on the other casings.

[/td]​

[td]


[td width="630px"]

[/td]
[td width="630px"]
(knowyourmeme.com/memes/notices-bulge-owo-whats-this)

[/td]



[/td]​

[td]
The terminally online nature of the messages does somewhat explain the conflicting reports released yesterday. Conservative influencer Steven Crowder published a screenshot of an email “from an officer at the ATF,” which claimed that the bullet casings were engraved with “transgender and antifascist ideology.” This was then corroborated by The Wall Street Journal, though they eventually walked back their story about it. The New York Times reported that that hadn’t been actually confirmed by law enforcement. Crowder is now claiming that his team is being subpoenaed by the ATF over the leak.

[/td]
[td]
The leak and the eventual reveal of what was on the bullet casings is important, if only for illustrating exactly how unprepared for this current moment both law enforcement and the mainstream media are. Two law enforcement sources told CNN they initially believed the Helldivers reference was “a connection to the transgender community.” And making the initial picture of who Robinson is and what he believes even more complicated are photos from his mother’s Facebook page, which are currently being shared on social media as the internet hunts for clues as to why he allegedly carried out the attack.

[/td]
[td]
In 2017, Robinson appears to have dressed up in a costume of President Donald Trump, with the Trump’s face painted green. A possible reference to the Pepe the Frog edit of Trump that the president first shared in 2015. And in 2018, Robinson appears to have dressed up as a “squatting slav” Pepe meme. As easy as it is to point to these costumes as proof that Robinson was a far-right extremist radicalized online by 4chan posts, it’s just as likely that he was a teenage boy dressing up as memes he saw online. This kind of content is basically the water young people swim in now.

[/td]
[td]
It’s also possible Robinson genuinely believes in antifascist principles. But his alleged use of random internet brainrot is notable. Many extremism researchers this morning are wondering if Robinson is a self-identified “groyper,” or follower of far-right streamer Nick Fuentes. As we wrote yesterday, Fuentes has spent years attacking Kirk online. Groypers believed that Kirk was a sellout and blocking a much more extreme version of Trumpism from taking root. For years, Groypers have been carrying out what they call “Groyper Wars,” attending Kirk’s events and trying to disrupt them. For what it’s worth, 4chan users think Robinson was a Groyper.

[/td]​

[td]


[td width="630px"]

[/td]
[td width="630px"]
(4chan)

[/td]



[/td]​

[td]
But the conflicting tone of the bullet casings’ inscriptions may also point to a connection with the Com network and the 764 terror cell offshoot. We’ve covered these groups several times on Panic World. They primarily exist inside of Discord and Telegram group chats. They recruit vulnerable young people around the internet, including inside of multiplayer games like Minecraft and Roblox. They encourage their members to commit horrible crimes with the promise of internet clout, intentionally using conflicting political messages to obscure any larger motive besides inspiring other members of the group to do the same. A month after a school shooter made an “OK” hand sign post, mentioned above, another teenager in Nashville made the exact same joke before allegedly shooting classmates at their high school. ProPublica found they crossed paths several times in these online communities, and the Nashville shooter was making a deliberate reference to his fellow community member. Which is what is so existentially terrifying about our current political moment.

[/td]
[td]
We have let school shootings in America persist long enough that we have created a culture where kids grow up seeing them as a path towards fame and glory. Another consequence of how thoroughly the internet has flattened pop culture, politics, and real life violence. All of it now is just another meme you can participate in to go viral. Made even more confusing by a new nihilistic accelerationist movement that delights in muddying the waters for older people who still adhere to a traditional political spectrum. Many young extremists now believe in a much simpler binary: Order and chaos. And if you are spending any time at all trying to derive meaning from violent acts like this then you are, by definition, their enemy.

[/td]​

[/td]


​

That is extremely disturbing.

 

[Ryno]

People need to read how Kirk spoke volumes for himself about the divisive opinions he voiced. For starters, he said the guy who assaulted Pelosi's husband should have been bailed out.

Can anyone name a few positive, uplifting things Kirk stood out for? Or did he take delight in making money to promote the unconstructive agenda that an extremist organization stood for.

With AI's help...

1. Founded Turning Point USA
   He co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012 (with Bill Montgomery), when he was 18. (Wikipedia)
   The organization has become one of the biggest conservative youth organizations on U.S. college and high school campuses. (Wikipedia)
2. Youth Mobilization and Engagement
   Kirk helped draw many young people into political activism, particularly conservative politics. (PBS)
   For example, Turning Point USA had chapters on hundreds of campuses, and claimed over 250,000 student members. (Patch)
3. Advocacy for Free Markets & Limited Government (in early career)
   Early Turning Point messaging emphasized free market economics, skepticism of big government, personal responsibility. These ideas resonated with many young people. (PBS)
4. Public Speaking & Debates, Especially on College Campuses
   He was known for engaging in live debate formats (such as “Prove Me Wrong” campus tables), open-air student debates, challenging progressive/liberal ideas on campus. For some, this was viewed as promoting free speech and idea exchange in academic settings. (PBS)
5. Influence in Recent Elections / Political Conversation
   According to multiple accounts, Kirk played a role in mobilizing conservative youth in the 2024 cycle. (WSLS)
   He helped amplify conservative messages, organize events, and gave platforms to conservative voices among younger voters. (PBS)
6. Mentorship & Endorsement of Young Conservatives
   Some young conservative politicians and voices say Kirk believed in them early and gave them visibility or endorsement. (PBS)
7. Organizational Growth & Fundraising
   Turning Point USA grew from a small grassroots group (when he started it) into a well-funded organization with substantial reach. (PBS)
8. Awards / Recognition from Supporters
   Following his death, he is being posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Politico)
   Also, many of his supporters view him as having made a serious mark on political discourse, especially in conservative circles. (PBS)
   
   
9. Mobilizing Faith-Communities & Bringing Them Into Civic Life
   • By encouraging Christians to vote, to participate in societal debates, and to take public roles, he helped faith communities feel more engaged rather than marginalized. For many believers, having a leader who openly encourages political participation from a faith standpoint can be empowering. (NPR)
   • His creating TPUSA Faith gave structure / organization to Christian activism, helping church leaders and congregations to organize around issues they care about. (NPR)
10. Promoting Religious Identity & Meaning for Young People
    • He spoke about the trend of young men returning to church, seeking something lasting, ancient, beautiful – for him, the pull toward established Christian tradition (Catholic, Orthodox) indicated that people are hungry for something more grounded and transcendent. Supporters see this as a positive pushback against superficiality or transitory cultural values. (Christianity Daily)
    • By integrating faith with identity, he gave some Christians a framework to see their beliefs as more than private; that their values could have impact in the broader world. For those who felt alienated by secular culture, this was meaningful. (This benefit is more in perception / spiritual encouragement).
11. Encouraging Moral / Ethical Standards
    • He often emphasized virtues like responsibility, self-control, personal morality. For example, in some of his remarks he urged young people to abstain from things he viewed as distractions or harmful: excessive partying, pornography, etc. Supporters believe this kind of moral urging can help individuals live more disciplined lives. (Christianity Daily)
    • His messages about traditional family structures, strong work ethic, stability, etc., appealed to people who believe such values help societal cohesion.
12. Providing a Sense of Purpose & Community
    • His religious messages, speeches, events often build community among Christians who share his values. That can offer social support, identity, encouragement.
    • For people seeking meaning, Kirk’s framing of activism as spiritual (a “calling”, a “spiritual battle”) might motivate deeper engagement and a sense that what they do matters beyond just politics. (NPR)
13. Advocacy for Religious Freedom
    • He repeatedly defended the right of churches to worship, assemble, and be part of public discourse without (in his view) being silenced. Supporters of religious liberty see this as a defense against secular overreach. (MovieGuide)

 

[CowboyJD]

That is extremely disturbing.

Yeah, it is.

It's leading me down a rabbit hole I probably should go down right now.

What if all (or a lot) of this violence isn't really about traditional political stances....left vs. right.....and more about nihilism/chaos v. order?

 

[GratefulPoke]

It was a good read. Here is another IMO. Particularly the last paragraph.

​

[td] [td] ​ Charlie Kirk was killed by a meme​ Making sense of our dark new era of extremely online political violence​

​

[/td]
[td]

​

[td] ​ [td] ​

​

[td]

[/td]​

[td width="529.55px"]
Ryan Broderick & Adam Bumas

[/td]




[/td]​

[/td]

[/td]​

[/td]

[td]

​

[td]
This morning a suspect was taken into custody in connection with the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The alleged shooter’s name is Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah. Footage of a person of interest matching Robinson’s description was circulated this week by law enforcement, who were offering a $100,000 reward for more information.

[/td]
[td]
Robinson is registered to vote in Utah, but is not affiliated with any party. (There is another Tyler Robinson registered as a Republican in Utah that many users are sharing the voter records of currently.) Law enforcement told reporters this morning that they used Discord messages along with the security camera footage to ID him.

[/td]
[td]
We still don’t have a clear motive, but we do have a slightly clearer picture of what inspired the attack. As we wrote yesterday, the shooting was obviously staged to maximize impact on social media. And according to the FBI, the attacker’s bullet casings had meme references inscribed on them.

[/td]​

[td]


[td width="630px"]

[/td]
[td width="630px"]
(Photo by Chris Samuels/The Salt Lake Tribune via Getty Images)

[/td]



[/td]​

[td]
The use of memes in political mass violence started in earnest in 2019, when a man filmed himself attacking a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. Just before he started, he told viewers, “Subscribe to PewDiePie.” Months later, in Halle, Germany, an attacker livestreamed the shooting of a synagogue on Twitch. In 2022, an 18-year-old white nationalist livestreamed a shooting in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Investigators later discovered that he was planning it openly on 4chan and Discord, calling it a “real life effort shitpost.” And in the last year, Luigi Mangione allegedly gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson with bullets that read, “deny”, “defend”, “depose.” Days later, a 15-year-old posed for a photo flashing the right-wing “ok” hand symbol before allegedly carrying out a school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. And just last month, Robin Westman allegedly carried out a shooting in Minneapolis with bullets that had a range of messages from all around the political spectrum, including “I’m the woker baby why so queerious”, “skibidi” and the simplified line version of the Loss.JPG meme.

[/td]
[td]
According to law enforcement, the messages on the bullet casings believed to have belonged to Robinson were equally politically confusing. The bullet that struck and killed Kirk had "Notices bulge OwO whats this?" written on its casing. A reference to a longtime internet joke that originally comes from text-based furry roleplay. It is not proof, however, that Robinson was a furry. The meme has long since become part of the extremely online canon.

[/td]
[td]
The unfired bullet casings had other phrases written on them, including, "Hey fascist! Catch!

,

,

,” "O bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,” and “If you read this you are gay lmao." The first message is a reference to the satirically fascist video game Helldivers 2, the arrow combination triggering the most powerful bomb attack in the game. The second message is a reference to an Italian antifascist folk song, which has gotten renewed interest online and offline after its use in Netflix’s Money Heist. “Bella Ciao” is also used in the video game Far Cry 6. The third is just boilerplate edgelord speak, given extra layers of irony by the much more online jokes on the other casings.

[/td]​

[td]


[td width="630px"]

[/td]
[td width="630px"]
(knowyourmeme.com/memes/notices-bulge-owo-whats-this)

[/td]



[/td]​

[td]
The terminally online nature of the messages does somewhat explain the conflicting reports released yesterday. Conservative influencer Steven Crowder published a screenshot of an email “from an officer at the ATF,” which claimed that the bullet casings were engraved with “transgender and antifascist ideology.” This was then corroborated by The Wall Street Journal, though they eventually walked back their story about it. The New York Times reported that that hadn’t been actually confirmed by law enforcement. Crowder is now claiming that his team is being subpoenaed by the ATF over the leak.

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The leak and the eventual reveal of what was on the bullet casings is important, if only for illustrating exactly how unprepared for this current moment both law enforcement and the mainstream media are. Two law enforcement sources told CNN they initially believed the Helldivers reference was “a connection to the transgender community.” And making the initial picture of who Robinson is and what he believes even more complicated are photos from his mother’s Facebook page, which are currently being shared on social media as the internet hunts for clues as to why he allegedly carried out the attack.

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In 2017, Robinson appears to have dressed up in a costume of President Donald Trump, with the Trump’s face painted green. A possible reference to the Pepe the Frog edit of Trump that the president first shared in 2015. And in 2018, Robinson appears to have dressed up as a “squatting slav” Pepe meme. As easy as it is to point to these costumes as proof that Robinson was a far-right extremist radicalized online by 4chan posts, it’s just as likely that he was a teenage boy dressing up as memes he saw online. This kind of content is basically the water young people swim in now.

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[td]
It’s also possible Robinson genuinely believes in antifascist principles. But his alleged use of random internet brainrot is notable. Many extremism researchers this morning are wondering if Robinson is a self-identified “groyper,” or follower of far-right streamer Nick Fuentes. As we wrote yesterday, Fuentes has spent years attacking Kirk online. Groypers believed that Kirk was a sellout and blocking a much more extreme version of Trumpism from taking root. For years, Groypers have been carrying out what they call “Groyper Wars,” attending Kirk’s events and trying to disrupt them. For what it’s worth, 4chan users think Robinson was a Groyper.

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(4chan)

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But the conflicting tone of the bullet casings’ inscriptions may also point to a connection with the Com network and the 764 terror cell offshoot. We’ve covered these groups several times on Panic World. They primarily exist inside of Discord and Telegram group chats. They recruit vulnerable young people around the internet, including inside of multiplayer games like Minecraft and Roblox. They encourage their members to commit horrible crimes with the promise of internet clout, intentionally using conflicting political messages to obscure any larger motive besides inspiring other members of the group to do the same. A month after a school shooter made an “OK” hand sign post, mentioned above, another teenager in Nashville made the exact same joke before allegedly shooting classmates at their high school. ProPublica found they crossed paths several times in these online communities, and the Nashville shooter was making a deliberate reference to his fellow community member. Which is what is so existentially terrifying about our current political moment.

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We have let school shootings in America persist long enough that we have created a culture where kids grow up seeing them as a path towards fame and glory. Another consequence of how thoroughly the internet has flattened pop culture, politics, and real life violence. All of it now is just another meme you can participate in to go viral. Made even more confusing by a new nihilistic accelerationist movement that delights in muddying the waters for older people who still adhere to a traditional political spectrum. Many young extremists now believe in a much simpler binary: Order and chaos. And if you are spending any time at all trying to derive meaning from violent acts like this then you are, by definition, their enemy.

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This is a good read. where is it from?

 

[CowboyJD]

This is a good read. where is it from?

It's a newsletter I just started getting sent to me.

I was prepared to delete as spam but decided to give it a few days before ejecting it.

Apparently, the have a podcase called "Panic World" about the interaction and danger of technology/social media and society.

 

[Polds4OSU]

maybe I´ve missed something here, but the rifle they say was used by tyler was a mauser bolt action and video shows him jumping from roof, and rifle was later found in woods...that rifle doesn´t break down to fit in a backpack or whatever, so how did it get from the roof to the woods?!...

There is video of him jumping off the roof and it looks like he has the rifle in a soft side zip bag and is running with it and got off the roof with it ...and in the video when he jumps off the roof it looks like the gun almost falls out of the bag and he has to stuff it back in before running off

 

[CowboyJD]

This is a good read. where is it from?

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