ReportWire

Tag: hate

  • Commentary: MAGA’s ‘big tent’ is burning down amid explosion of antisemitism, racism

    South Asians have played a prominent role in President Trump’s universe, especially in his second term.

    Second Lady Usha Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants who came to California to study and never went back. Harmeet Dhillon, born in India and a devout Sikh, is currently his U.S. assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. And the head of the FBI, Kash Patel, is (like potential New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani,) of Indian descent by way of Uganda.

    Some Republicans have taken pride in this kind of diversity, citing it for the gains Trump made in 2024 with Black and Latino voters.

    But these days, the MAGA big tent seems to be collapsing fast.

    Last week, MAGA had a total anti-Indian meltdown on social media, revealing a deep, ugly racism toward South Asians.

    It comes amid the first real rebellion about rampant and increasingly open antisemitism within the MAGAverse, creating a massive rift between traditional conservatives and a younger, rabidly anti-Jewish contingent called groypers whose leader, Nick Fuentes, recently posted that he is “team Hitler.”

    Turns out, when you cultivate a political movement based on hate, at some point the hate is uncontrollable. In fact, that hate needs to be fed to maintain power — even if it means feasting on its own.

    This monster of white-might ugliness is going to dominate policy and politics for the next election, and these now-public fights within the Republican party represent a new dynamic that will either force it to do some sort of soul searching, or purge it of anything but white Christian nationalism. My bet is on the latter. But if conservatives ever truly believed in their inclusive talk, then it’s time for Republicans to stand up and demand the big Trump tent they were hailing just a few months ago.

    Ultra-conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who opposes much of Fuentes’ worldview, summed up this Republican split succinctly.

    Fuentes’ followers “are white supremacists, hate women, Jews, Hindus, many types of Christians, brown people of a wide variety of backgrounds, Blacks, America’s foreign policy and America’s constitution,” Shapiro explained. “They admire Hitler and Stalin and that splinter faction is now being facilitated and normalized within the mainstream Republican Party.”

    MAGA’s anti-Indian sentiment had an explosive moment a few days ago when a South Asian woman asked Vice President JD Vance a series of questions during a Turning Point USA event in Mississippi. The young immigrant wanted to know how Vance could preach for the removal of nearly 18 million immigrants? And how could he claim that the United States was a Christian nation, rather than one that valued pluralism?

    “How can you stop us and tell us we don’t belong here anymore?” the woman asked. “Why do I have to be a Christian?”

    Vance’s answer went viral, in part because he claimed his wife, although from a Hindu family, was “agnostic or atheist,” and that he hoped she would convert to Christianity.

    “Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that,” he said.

    Vance later tried to do some damage control on social media, calling Usha Vance a “blessing” and promising to continue to “support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife.”

    But many South Asians felt Vance was dissing his wife’s heritage and attempting to downplay her non-whiteness. They vented on social media, and got a lot of MAGA feelings back.

    “How can you pretend to be a white nativist politician who will ‘bring america back to it’s golden age’ … when your wife is an indian immigrant?” wrote one poster.

    Dhillon received similar feedback recently for urging calm and fairness after a Sikh truck driver allegedly caused a fatal crash.

    “[N]o ma’am, it is CRYSTAL CLEAR that sihks and hindus need to get the hell out of my country,” one reply stated. “You and your kind are no longer welcome here. Go the [expletive] home.”

    Patel too, got it, after posting a message on Diwali, a religious holiday that celebrates the victory of light over darkness. He was dubbed a demon worshipper, a favorite anti-Indian trope.

    Perhaps you’re thinking, “Duh, of course MAGA is racist.” But here’s the thing. The military has been scrubbed of many Black officers. The federal workforce, long a bastion for middle-class people of color, has been decimated. Minority cabinet members or top officials are few. Aside from another South Asian, Tulsi Gabbard, there’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez‑DeRemer and HUD head Scott Turner.

    South Asians are largely the last visible sign of pluralism in Republican power, an erstwhile proof that the charges of racism from the left are unfair. But now, like Latinos, they are increasingly targets of the base.

    At the same time anti-Indian hate was surfacing last week, a whole load of MAGA antisemitism hit the fan. It started when Tucker Carlson, who in his post-network life has re-created himself as a hugely popular podcaster with more than 16 million followers on X, invited Fuentes on his show.

    In addition to calling for the death of American Jews, Fuentes has also said women want him to rape them and should be burned alive, Black people belong in prison and LGBTQ+ people are an abomination.

    Anyone who is not his kind of Christian “must be absolutely annihilated when we take power,” he said.

    Turns out far-right Charlie Kirk was a bulwark against this straight-up American Nazi. Kirk’s popularity kept Fuentes — who often trolled Kirk — from achieving dominance as the spirit guide of young MAGA. Now, with Kirk slain, nothing appears to be stopping Fuentes from taking up that mantle.

    After the Fuentes interview, sane conservatives (there are some left) were apoplectic that Carlson would support someone who so openly admits to being anti-Israel and seemingly pro-Nazi. They demanded the Heritage Foundation, historical backbone of the conservative movement, creators of Project 2025 and close allies of Tucker, do something. The head of Heritage, Kevin Roberts, offered what many considered a sorry-not-sorry. He condemned Fuentes, saying he was “fomenting Jew hatred, and his incitements are not only immoral and un-Christian, they risk violence.”

    But also counseled that Fuentes shouldn’t be banished from the party.

    “Join us — not to cancel — but to guide, challenge, and strengthen the conversation,” Roberts said.

    Are Nazis really all bad? Discuss!

    The response from ethical conservatives — Jewish and non-Jewish alike — has been that you don’t politely hear Nazis out, and if the Republican Party can’t clearly say that Nazis aren’t welcome, it’s got a problem.

    Yes, the Republican Party has a problem.

    The right rode to power by attacking what it denigrates at “wokeism” on the left. MAGA declared that to confront fascism or racism or misogyny — to tell its purveyors to sit down and shut up — was wrong. That “canceling,” or banishment from common discourse for spewing hate, was somehow an infringement on 1st Amendment rights or even terrorism.

    They screamed loud and clear that speaking out against intolerance was the worst, most unacceptable form of intolerance itself — and would not be tolerated.

    You know who heard them loud and clear? Fuentes. He has checkmated establishment Republicans with their own cowardice and hypocrisy.

    So now his young Christian white supremacists are empowered, and intent on taking over as the leaders of the party. Fuentes is saying what old guard Republicans don’t want to hear, but secretly fear: He already is dangerously close to being the mainstream; just read the comments.

    Roberts, the Heritage president, said it himself: “Diversity will never be our strength. Unity is our strength, and a lack of unity is a sign of weakness.”

    Trying to shut Fuentes up or kick him out will likely anger that vocal and powerful part of the base that enjoys the freedom to be openly hateful, and really wouldn’t mind a male-dominated white Christian autocracy.

    The far right has free-speeched their way into fascism, and Fuentes is loving every minute of it.

    So now this remaining vestige of traditional conservatives — including senators such as Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell — is faced with a painful reckoning. Many mainstream Republicans for years ignored the racism and antisemitism creeping into the party. They can’t anymore. It has grown into a beast ready to consume its maker.

    Will they let this takeover happen, call for conversation over condemnation to the glee of Fuentes and his followers?

    Or will they find the courage to be not just true Republicans, but true Americans, and declare non-negotiable for their party that most basic of American ideals: We do not tolerate hate?

    Anita Chabria

    Source link

  • Opinion | The New Right’s New Antisemites

    Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation flounders in the Tucker Carlson-Nick Fuentes fever swamps.

    The Editorial Board

    Source link

  • FBI cuts ties with Southern Poverty Law Center after criticism from conservatives

    FBI Director Kash Patel says the bureau is cutting ties with the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which has tracked domestic extremism and racial and religious bias for decades.It comes after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and increased attention on the group he founded, Turning Point USA. SPLC included it as a “case study in the hard right” in its report titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024.”Video above details the charges against the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s death.Patel said on Friday that the FBI would sever its relationship with the SPLC, asserting that the organization had been turned into a “partisan smear machine” and criticizing it for its use of a “hate map” that documents alleged anti-government and hate groups inside the United States. Criticism of the SPLC escalated from some conservatives and prominent allies of President Donald Trump in the weeks after Kirk’s assassination. Prominent figures including Elon Musk condemned the SPLC this week for its descriptions of Kirk and the organization.Many of those political figures were also connected to the group in the Turning Point USA case study.”Charlie Kirk’s TPUSA is a well-funded, hard-right organization with links to Southern Poverty Law Center-identified hard-right extremists and a tremendous amount of influence in conservative politics,” the SPLC case study states. “While the group was previously dismissed by key figures within the Republican National Committee (RNC), Trump attended several TPUSA events across the country throughout 2024, and several of his nominees have ties to the organization.”The case study characterized the organization as “authoritarian, patriarchal Christian supremacy dedicated to eroding the value of inclusive democracy and public institutions.” It stated that Turning Point USA exploited fear and “embraced aggressive state and federal power to enforce a social order rooted in white supremacy.”The August 2025 Intelligence Project Dispatch also named a leader of Turning Point Action, stating that former Arizona Rep. Austin Smith had been charged with election fraud.Video below: Charlie Kirk’s widow vows to continue his mission after his murderA spokesperson for the SPLC, a legal and advocacy group founded in 1971 as a watchdog for minorities and the underprivileged, did not directly address Patel’s comments in a statement Friday but said the organization has for decades shared data with the public and remains “committed to exposing hate and extremism as we work to equip communities with knowledge and defend the rights and safety of marginalized people.”The FBI also cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish advocacy organization that fights antisemitism. It faced criticism on the right for maintaining a “Glossary of Extremism.” The organization announced this week that it was discontinuing that glossary because a number of entries were outdated and some were being “intentionally misrepresented and misused.”What is the SPLC?The Southern Poverty Law Center was created by lawyers Morris Dees and Joe Levin in Montgomery in 1971.Civil Rights Activist Julian Bond was named the first president and people from across the country created the financial base for the organization, according to the SPLC website.”In the decades since its founding, the SPLC shut down some of the nation’s most violent white supremacist groups by winning crushing, multimillion-dollar jury verdicts on behalf of their victims,” the website states about the organization’s history. “It dismantled vestiges of Jim Crow, reformed juvenile justice practices, shattered barriers to equality for women, children, the LGBT community and the disabled, protected low-wage immigrant workers from exploitation, and more.”During the 1980s, the SPLC began monitoring white supremacist activity and what is now known as the Intelligence Project tracks hate and extremist groups across the country. This report is known around the world.

    FBI Director Kash Patel says the bureau is cutting ties with the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which has tracked domestic extremism and racial and religious bias for decades.

    It comes after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and increased attention on the group he founded, Turning Point USA. SPLC included it as a “case study in the hard right” in its report titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024.“

    Video above details the charges against the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s death.

    Patel said on Friday that the FBI would sever its relationship with the SPLC, asserting that the organization had been turned into a “partisan smear machine” and criticizing it for its use of a “hate map” that documents alleged anti-government and hate groups inside the United States.

    Criticism of the SPLC escalated from some conservatives and prominent allies of President Donald Trump in the weeks after Kirk’s assassination. Prominent figures including Elon Musk condemned the SPLC this week for its descriptions of Kirk and the organization.

    Many of those political figures were also connected to the group in the Turning Point USA case study.

    “Charlie Kirk’s TPUSA is a well-funded, hard-right organization with links to Southern Poverty Law Center-identified hard-right extremists and a tremendous amount of influence in conservative politics,” the SPLC case study states. “While the group was previously dismissed by key figures within the Republican National Committee (RNC), Trump attended several TPUSA events across the country throughout 2024, and several of his nominees have ties to the organization.”

    The case study characterized the organization as “authoritarian, patriarchal Christian supremacy dedicated to eroding the value of inclusive democracy and public institutions.” It stated that Turning Point USA exploited fear and “embraced aggressive state and federal power to enforce a social order rooted in white supremacy.”

    The August 2025 Intelligence Project Dispatch also named a leader of Turning Point Action, stating that former Arizona Rep. Austin Smith had been charged with election fraud.

    Video below: Charlie Kirk’s widow vows to continue his mission after his murder

    A spokesperson for the SPLC, a legal and advocacy group founded in 1971 as a watchdog for minorities and the underprivileged, did not directly address Patel’s comments in a statement Friday but said the organization has for decades shared data with the public and remains “committed to exposing hate and extremism as we work to equip communities with knowledge and defend the rights and safety of marginalized people.”

    The FBI also cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish advocacy organization that fights antisemitism. It faced criticism on the right for maintaining a “Glossary of Extremism.” The organization announced this week that it was discontinuing that glossary because a number of entries were outdated and some were being “intentionally misrepresented and misused.”

    What is the SPLC?

    The Southern Poverty Law Center was created by lawyers Morris Dees and Joe Levin in Montgomery in 1971.

    Civil Rights Activist Julian Bond was named the first president and people from across the country created the financial base for the organization, according to the SPLC website.

    “In the decades since its founding, the SPLC shut down some of the nation’s most violent white supremacist groups by winning crushing, multimillion-dollar jury verdicts on behalf of their victims,” the website states about the organization’s history. “It dismantled vestiges of Jim Crow, reformed juvenile justice practices, shattered barriers to equality for women, children, the LGBT community and the disabled, protected low-wage immigrant workers from exploitation, and more.”

    During the 1980s, the SPLC began monitoring white supremacist activity and what is now known as the Intelligence Project tracks hate and extremist groups across the country. This report is known around the world.

    Source link

  • White supremacists, death threats and ‘disgust’: Charlie Kirk’s killing roils Huntington Beach

    People mourning the killing of Charlie Kirk carried candles and American flags in a solemn memorial last week at the Huntington Beach Pier, long a destination for conservative gatherings ranging from protests over pandemic-era lockdowns to rallies in support of President Trump.

    But on this night, things took a dark turn when dozens of men joined the crowd, chanting, “White men fight back.”

    Then on Saturday, a white nationalist organization, identified by experts as Patriot Front, showed up at another beachside memorial for Kirk. The men, wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and white gaiters concealing their faces, marched down Main Street toward the beach holding a picture of Kirk. “Say his name!” they yelled. “Take back our world! Take back our land!”

    By Sunday, key political leaders in the conservative Orange County city known as a hotbed for the MAGA movement were fighting to contain the situation, issuing a statement denouncing violence. Kirk’s assassination, City Hall said, “serves as a stark reminder of the devastating outcomes that can result from vitriol and violent rhetoric.”

    “I despise them,” Councilman Butch Twining said of the white nationalists who disrupted the vigil. “There is no place for them here, and they disgust me.”

    Huntington Beach is one of many communities grappling with the aftermath of the shooting of Kirk, a beloved activist in the conservative movement and close ally of President Trump.

    Since his killing, conservatives have demanded the firing of people who posted online comments about Kirk they considered offensive. There have been debates over whether to lower flags to half-staff. One U.S. congressman is asking his colleagues to force social media platforms to kick off users who celebrated the killing. Vice President J.D. Vance encouraged people to take it a step further: “Call them out, and hell, call their employer.”

    Huntington Beach is in a unique position because of its history of fringe white supremacist activity that goes back decades.

    In the 1980s and 1990s, skinheads converged on Main Street throwing Nazi salutes and intimidating people of color. In 1995, a pair of white supremacists fatally shot a Black man after confronting him outside a McDonald’s restaurant on Beach Boulevard.

    Huntington Beach leaders have fought to rid the city of that image and tried to make clear that hate is not welcome in Surf City. But events of the last week have made these efforts more difficult.

    “Typically, when there’s an opportunity like this, white supremacists and far-right folks more generally are very good about inserting themselves and seeing it as an opportunity to pull things in their direction and shift the narrative,” said Pete Simi, a professor of sociology at Chapman University in Orange County who studies extremist groups.

    This is happening as Huntington Beach has emerged as a West Coast beacon for Trump and MAGA. The city has made headlines in recent years for removing the Pride flag from city properties, rewriting a decades-old human dignity resolution — deleting any mention of intolerance of hate crimes — and wading into fights with state officials over issues like transgender student privacy.

    Brian Levin, the founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino, said the U.S. is witnessing not just polarization between left and right, but a splintering within both the left and right. And that polarization, he said, is being exploited by extremist groups seeking to advance a certain message.

    “The notion that these camps are unified teams just simply isn’t true,” Levin said. “I think what’s happening is we’re seeing the exploitation of civic discourse by people who are trying to outdo each other as being more authentic and how they do that is by being more eliminationist and more aggressive. Aggression and being an edgelord is considered currency.”

    Barbara Richardson, who has lived in the city since the early 1970s, criticized city leaders for extending the mourning period for Kirk, flying flags half-staff through sundown on Sept. 21 — the day of his memorial service — saying that it will only contribute to rising tensions in the city.

    Over the weekend, Richardson watched the videos of the white supremacists chanting downtown in horror. The moment was an unwelcome reminder of what residents grappled with decades ago.

    “It’s disheartening,” Richardson said. “I think what happened at the Charlie Kirk rallies was a real black eye for Huntington Beach and it hurts tourism. It made me not want to go downtown. I remember the city in the 1980s and it was scary. I didn’t want to be around skinheads then and I still don’t.”

    Last week’s memorials were for Kirk as well as Iryna Zarustka, the woman killed while riding a train in Charlotte, N.C., in a brutal attack captured on video.

    Twining attended the event on Wednesday and was disturbed at what he heard from the white supremacists. He said he left quickly after they arrived and started chanting.

    “They ruined a perfectly nice vigil where we recognized two people — Iryna [Zarustka] and Charlie—and prayed for them and sang Amazing Grace and had our own conversations about how much they meant to us,” he said.

    He and others have stressed the vast majority of those who attended the vigils were there simply to mourn.

    Twining said he and his wife have been accosted in a restaurant and at the grocery store over his presence at the vigil and the incorrect assumption that he’s supportive of white nationalists. There have been calls for him to resign and he’s even received death threats that have warranted police protection, he said.

    “I reject the presence of hate groups loudly and unequivocally,” Twining said. “Their attempts to corrupt our democratic spaces will not succeed. As a leader in this community, I will not allow my voice to be twisted for extremism. I remain committed to preserving inclusive, respectful, and peaceful spaces where dialogue and remembrance can flourish untainted by hate.”

    Videos of Saturday’s gathering show some attendees waving flags associated with Patriot Front, a white nationalist organization founded in 2017 by Thomas Rousseau after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.

    “They were intentionally generated to try and distance themselves from that violence and present themselves as pro-American,” Simi said. However, Simi noted, the group has also been accused of racial violence. In 2022, the Patriot Front was sued for a racist attack on a black musician in Boston and ordered to pay $2.75 million in damages.

    On Saturday in Huntington Beach, resident Jerry Geyer was riding his bicycle in downtown watching as the group marched toward the pier chanting and decided to push back. He positioned his bicycle on the sidewalk in front of them in an effort to block their path. He rode next to them, shouting expletives.

    “I cannot allow that to run through the streets of Huntington Beach,” he said in an interview with KCAL News. “That’s not what we are. That’s not who Huntington Beach is.”

    Hannah Fry, Jenny Jarvie

    Source link

  • What we know about Tyler Robinson, the suspect who allegedly killed Charlie Kirk

    Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, grew up in a quiet, close-knit community in Washington, Utah, where most neighbors attended the same neighborhood church and know each other by their first name.

    “I’m shocked,” said Kristin Schwiermann, a 66-year-old neighbor. “That’s not the kid I knew.”

    Like most of the people in the community, Robinson, his parents and two brothers attended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints church less than a mile away, Scwiermann said.

    So it was strange to Schwiermann and others when the quiet neighborhood became filled with strange vans, SUVs and other unmarked police cars at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday. She wondered if it had anything to do with the shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, but she had no inkling it would involve Tyler Robinson.

    Three doors down, inside the Robinson home, a drama was unfolding.

    Tyler Robinson’s father, Matt, came to realize his son was the focus of a desperate manhunt as images of him in a long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans began flashing across television and computer screens nationwide.

    The family called their church bishop — also a neighbor — when Robinson threatened to take his own life, according to a law enforcement source who was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

    This photo released by the Utah Governor’s Office shows Tyler Robinson.

    (Utah Governor’s Office via Associated Press)

    Robinson had been close to his parents and two brothers growing up, and would often go on outings camping or hunting, Schwiermann said. According to public records, both of his parents held hunting licenses.

    “They’re close, hardworking and smart,” she said.

    Robinson attended Riverside Elementary, about a half-mile away from the family home, and where Schwiermann also worked as head custodian.

    “He was quiet, but he had friends in school, and he never caused problems,” Schwiermann said.

    He had been regularly active in the church when he was a child, but she said he attended less as he grew older.

    He graduated from Pine View High School in St. George in 2021, and Schwiermann described him as bright and good with his schoolwork, which helped him earn a scholarship.

    His mother, Amber Robinson, wrote on her Facebook page in 2020 about her son’s college aptitude test score, and posted a video of Robinson reading a letter for a scholarship.

    Robinson attended Utah State University in 2021, where he majored in engineering, but took leave after one semester.

    He later attended Dixie Technical College, where school officials said he was in his third year of study in the electrical apprenticeship program.

    There are no signs that Robinson has a criminal record in the state of Utah, based on his name and birth date.

    Robinson had registered as nonpartisan in Utah, while both of his parents were registered Republicans, according to registration data reviewed by The Times. His father worked with granite countertops and his mother was a licensed social worker.

    A well-wisher prays at a makeshift memorial in Phoenix after the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.

    A man prays at a makeshift memorial set up at Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix after the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.

    (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)

    At a press conference announcing Robinson’s arrest Friday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said a family member told investigators, “Robinson had become more political in recent years,” and expressed dislike for Kirk, who Robinson said was “full of hate” and “spreading hate.”

    Investigators are still looking through evidence and trying to determine a motive in the slaying.

    Along with a bolt-action rifle that was abandoned in a wooded area, investigators also recovered ammunition that bore various markings, according to authorities.

    Engraving on one bullet casing in the rifle read, “Hey fascist! Catch!” according to Cox.

    Other casings bore references to memes from online chat rooms, including “notices, bulges, OwO, what’s this?” and “If you read this, you are gay LMAO.” One was etched with lyrics from an Italian antifascism song from World War II

    When asked about the motive of the gunman, Cox suggested the “Hey fascist” marking clearly showed the gunman’s intent: “I think that speaks for itself,” he said.

    But experts in extremism said it was too early to ascribe a motive, especially based on the markings on ammunition.

    “It is increasingly difficult to immediately ascribe motivation as many lone young assailants are often a mix of grievance, mental distress and aggressions picked up in social circles and online,” said Brian Levin, professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino and founder of its Center for the Study of Hate.

    “Verbiage, memes, targeting, crude humor and cultural references that are immediately available often telegraph motives for violent symbolic attacks, but can also be amorphous or disjointed,” he said.

    Joan Donovan, assistant professor of journalism at Boston University and an expert on extremism, said the initial rumors about the bullet casings being marked with Antifa or trans ideology symbols seemed too obvious.

    The messages on the casings reminded Donovan of other recent manifestos and mass shooters who used memes, like the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand, shooter who killed 51 people in a mosque and an Islamic center.

    “With memes the message was really about talking to other would be shooters,” Donovan said. “It wasn’t about communicating to the media or communicating even a serious message.”

    The engravings on Robinson’s bullet casings come across as a hodgepodge of messages that don’t fit together comfortably, Donovan said. In online misogynistic circles, someone who trades in these types of cynical messages could be described as “black pilled” according to Donovan.

    “It’s both impostor and mocking at the same time,” Donovan said. “When we’re talking about ‘black pilled’ youth and those that are just upset with the entire system, it does make sense that you’d have someone engraving bullets with very nihilistic hubris.”

    Los Angeles Times staff writers Anita Chabria and Jenny Jarvie contributed to this report.

    Nathan Solis, Terry Castleman, Salvador Hernandez, Richard Winton

    Source link

  • Americans Agree They Hate Each Other – Dave Henry, Humor Times

    Americans Agree They Hate Each Other – Dave Henry, Humor Times

    A new survey has found that Americans are overwhelmingly united on how much they hate each other.

    “People say America is a divided country, but our data shows that’s not true,” said Tom Andjerry, pollster with Suffolk University in Boston. “They are in almost complete agreement in how much they hate each other.”

    Americans hate each other - Younger cable TV showSpecifically, the poll shows that 98 percent of Americans agree that they hate people that think differently about politics than they do, while 96 percent hate people that think differently about religion.

    Further, 95 percent hate people that think differently about society and culture, while 97 percent hate people who look differently than they do.

     

    The fastest growing segment of people who are united in their hate are fans of TV shows and movies.

    Some 95% agree that they can’t stand people who don’t like the same shows as them, with 93% saying they wouldn’t be seen with them and 90% agreeing they wouldn’t be caught dead with them. That comes out to like 300%, but it just shows you how much people are in agreement on this subject.

    The unity is even higher on social media where 100% of people agree that they want to gouge their eyes out with a fork rather than read political opinions from idiots in the opposing party.

    “It’s really a Kumbaya moment in America. Everyone can agree on how much they hate each other. In these divisive times, it’s heartening to see that there are still things that we all have in common, and that we can rally around as a people,” said Andjerry.

    “It’s just a great big melting pot of people who can’t stand one another.”

    Dave HenryDave Henry
    Latest posts by Dave Henry (see all)
    ShareShare

    Dave Henry

    Source link

  • A Business Owners Guide to Taming Trolls on Social Media | Entrepreneur

    A Business Owners Guide to Taming Trolls on Social Media | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Working in an online space or being a public figure means you will be dealing with trolls. Even the most beloved public figures have people who inexplicably harass them. A Pew survey from a few years ago shows that 41% of Americans have experienced online harassment. I’d be willing to bet that when you talk about public figures, that number goes up to around 100%, as trolling has become so common in online culture.

    As somebody who talks openly about turning $583 into over $10 million to over one million subscribers on YouTube, and as the owner of Warrior Trading, I’m enough of a public figure that I’ve dealt with my fair share of trolls. I’d like to share with you what I’ve found is the best way to disarm the trolls. But first, I think it’s essential to establish some baseline assumptions.

    Related: 3 Options for Dealing With Internet Trolls

    Who are the trolls?

    My definition of a troll is someone who posts/comments/ or otherwise publicly communicates hateful, derogatory or defamatory messages on social media pages in a persistent and harassing way.

    To understand how to respond to trolling, we must understand the mindset of a troll. Trolling is so pervasive there have been numerous studies on the topic. Studies show that individuals who regularly engage in this type of behavior online are maladjusted and often suffer from various personality disorders in their real lives.

    Looking at the behavior of trolling through this lens, that it is a symptom of a deeper psychological struggle that somebody is experiencing, has helped me take the comments a bit less personally.

    Naturally, some comments will be easier to brush off than others, but trolling can be deeply triggering and painful for anybody who grew up with self-esteem issues. So much so that we routinely hear about influences saying they must take mental health breaks from social media. I recognize that I don’t have it nearly as bad as others, but as a small business owner, I also can’t afford to take breaks.

    Here’s how I’ve handled trolling:

    Don’t feed the trolls

    We must remember that the goal of a troll is to elicit a reaction and a response. The moment you start engaging, they’ve won. I would say 99.9% of trolling doesn’t warrant a response. The best practice with most trolling is to mute, block and delete.

    For business owners, it’s essential to know that up-and-coming businesses in your space may try to leverage your name to amplify their own voice. It’s called “trend jacking”. For example, Mr. Beast is the #1 content creator on YouTube. I often see new content creators struggling to gain an audience using “Mr. Beast’s” name or his picture to try to piggyback off his audience. If you make a salacious post about Mr. Beast, it will probably get a lot of views, right? In fact, one of the easiest ways for anyone to spur engagement on social media is to trigger emotion with divisive, exaggerated, salacious and triggering content. Tabloids still sell copies in the grocery store, right? Even though most people know it’s not credible, it’s a form of entertainment.

    Related: Why the Most Successful People Have the Most Haters

    Hire a professional “Troll Patrol” to deal with the most offensive comments

    It’s important to engage on social media with your most loyal subscribers. It’s not only good for the algorithm; it’s what creates that brand loyalty. It’s also worth noting that these subscribers will come to your rescue and be some of your fiercest defenders when you become the victim of trolling. As my business has grown, I have hired people to clear trolls/spam comments before I sit down to answer comments.

    That way, I can spend my time responding to the good comments and engaging with my fans without losing any mental bandwidth to negativity. It took me a long time to figure out that I needed to do this, but it is necessary. If you are the face of your business or it’s something you’ve put your blood, sweat, and tears into, it’s hard to have a level head when it comes to responding to trolls.

    Have an easy and nonpublic way for customers to give you feedback

    There are certainly people who exhibit trolling behavior who are not malicious but merely frustrated. For businesses, you need to have a way for your customers to obtain (good) customer service and also give feedback. When customers feel ignored, they often take their grievances to social media to make themselves heard. I’ve invested heavily in customer service for my business, and I think it is enormously important. My team is also trained to take public grievances offline ASAP and find a solution for the customer via email if possible. The saying “the customer is always right” is good to remember.

    Have a good lawyer on standby when things cross the line

    There is a fine line between trash-talking, trolling, harassment and defamation. As your business grows, or as your personal influence grows, you will likely face a troll that crosses the line. Now, the question is whether you respond publicly or privately. A public response gives the troll exactly what they want. A private direct response is how I respond. And I do it via legal counsel.

    When faced with a cease and desist letter written by your attorney, most trolls will realize the anonymity of the internet has not protected them from potential liability. This usually will stop the behavior. In the rare case it doesn’t, the legal system offers court-ordered restraining orders and permanent injunctions. Sadly, I’ve had to use these remedies at Warrior Trading. Most other large businesses do, too.

    I believe when somebody crosses the line, it’s better to be known for being aggressive than to be known as a pushover. But when considering this step, it’s essential to consider the time, effort and cost it will take and if it is worth it to your business. Luckily, my wife, Lauren Cameron, is meticulous about getting our lawyers what they need to do the job, and I do not have to waste my time on the craziness.

    The choice is yours

    Public figures, including entrepreneurs and business owners, will have detractors that create persistent, derogatory, misleading, false, nasty and malicious content on social media. To a certain extent, consider it a badge of honor that you have become significant enough to attract trolls. However, how an individual or business deals with these trolls, either engaging with them or ignoring them, will impact public perception of your brand and your personal image. This choice is yours to make and must be carefully calculated.

    Ross Cameron

    Source link