Community first. Cause Second.
Community first. Cause second: Making sense of the bullet engravings
--"Hey fascist! Catch!" followed by an up arrow symbol, a right arrow symbol, and three down arrow symbols
--"Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao"
--"If you read this, you are gay LMAO"
--"Notices, bulges, OwO what's this?"
So by now, pop culture folks, deep in the lore, have deciphered these phrases for all of us. Some come from video games, others from Italian anti-nazi rhetoric, others from furry communities, etc. And I think it’s clear what they mean. They are phrases that, when put together, might indicate anti-fascist ideology (antifa). There is just not enough evidence to indicate this. Also it’s important to note that the radical right often adopts language from other movements (the use and abuse of “woke” and “dei” for example) to distort their actual intent.
Some are wrongly reporting that this is transgender ideology. Trangender is an identity not an ideology.
But I think it’s more important to understand their significance. Some might see these phrases as a signfier that there is some ideological singularity, when seemingly disparate movements and groups of people are sharing the same language (radical right and radical left using the same language). There are some folks reporting that these phrases indicate he is part of the radical left. I would argue there is no unifying phrasing or logic that connects the so-called radical left in ways that we’ve seen more widespread adoption of a few ideas and topics from the radical right (great replacement, nazi logic, etc).
But the pattern that seems to be emerging is that they want to assign blame and assign it early and placing blame on gaming culture is a template that exists already so the cultural script would be a seamless adoption by the public (to probably not understand the person who committed this crime… but create a moral panic around what many think is the radicalization of youth online. Gaming. As opposed to truly examining how an influencer creates the panic through sensational rhetoric and it gets exported to gaming to adopt).
I don't want to understate the importance of online safety and how some youth and other cultures are radicalized by internet / digital technologies. But radicalization happens earlier than internet adoption. The earliest indicator for adopting radical ideologies is the primary institution for these young folks - their homes. Their families.
If their families have extremist thinking, they are more than likely going to engage in extremist behavior in some form (and this is not always violent). The early years, our brains are more than sponges, soaking up information. That occurs later. In early development, our minds are like clay that is molded for certain things early on.
So do we hear soothing music, or loud voices, or sounds of war outside our walls… how brains are growing and developing under these conditions. This helps us understand radical, extremist behavior more than someone’s internet decisions.
Yes these things (algorithmic bias, constantly inundated with extremist content and messages, etc) indicate some things, but they don’t tell the whole story.
For those who are radicalized by streamers, influencers, gamers, etc… they find community first.
Community first. Cause second.
Without question. These young folks want to be heard. Understood. Not judged or made fun of. Because their hyperfocus might just be nerding out but if they are shut down, or ignored, or don't have healthy relationships and boundaries growing up, they will seek out affirmation in unhealthy ways.
Does that make sense?
So they find each other in gaming. Or in their favorite streamers chat. Or in the deep recesses of internet cafes.
And once they find each other, they develop or adopt language to speak and communicate either through textual, visual, or oral means.
They will adopt language that connects them to other causes (Ciao Bella) - solidarity. Community. Phrases to indicate to others where you stand on things.
Many use gaming references because they can shield and protect their radical activities from their parents or teachers. (from another story, the islamophobic phrase “tralalero tralala”
They will say certain things to gauge the room around safety - safety for their own queer identity or safety to express homophobic statements. ("If you read this, you are gay LMAO")
Or they’ll use other phrases to express more sensual or sexual things - and to see if anyone might catch the bait. ("Notices, bulges, OwO what's this?")
I’ve also read where these kinds of phrases might appear to be innocent and juvenile but they are meant to be predatory, and grooming in nature. I don't want to associate that with this story or case. Especially in seeing the harmful framing of people who identify as transgender being associated with gun violence from the last shooting.
But these folks are looking for community and connection. A basic human need. And when they have been conditioned by certain cultural scripts (immigrants are taking over, take our country back, black lives matter, but yours don't, they took your jobs, etc), it might become easy for them to adopt more radical ideologies that lead violence against folks they have constructed as the enemy other (and this work in the reverse order as well. You look the person who is taking away my rights, so i’m going to destroy you and reclaim what’s mine).
: Like harming the people who look like they are benefitting from your pain : Or killing people who espouse beliefs that are incongruent with yours :
While this is extreme (although it seems they are occurring more frequently )... it is possible and does happen. But there is no one single thing that leads to it. Its a culmination of factors, internal and external…
