Universities in the Philadelphia area were on high alert today after a threat directed at them was posted on 4chan’s /r9k/ board. The anonymous threat (everything is anonymous on 4chan) deliberately called to mind the threat/warning posted on the same message board last week, the day before a gunman shot and killed eight students and one professor at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.
“The first of our kind has struck fear into the hearts of America,” the writer of the new threat declared.
His cries have been heard, even by the president. This is only the beginning. On October 5, 2015 at 1:00 PM CT, a fellow robot will take up arms against a university near Philadelphia. His cries will be heard, his victims will cower in fear, and the strength of the Union will decay a little more. …
Martyr yourself for the cause or support those who have the courage to do so. We have the chance to make the world a better place for betas everywhere.
The deadline passed without incident — as did the deadline for a similar threat directed at schools in Edinburgh. Scotland, posted shortly after the Oregon shootings — but not without shaking a lot of people up.
Now the most malevolent trolls on the /r9k/ board, knowing that they have the attention of the world, are rhapsodizing about the coming “beta rebellion,” gleefully mocking the victims of the Oregon shootings, and posting threats aimed at an assortment of schools around the world, from Texas to the Netherlands.
And so, alongside more traditional /r9k/ topics as “Post your waifu” and “DAILY REMINDER THAT ALL FEMALES ARE DECEIVING SUBHUMAN WHORES,” the board today is filled with simultaneously ridiculous and chilling messages like these:
4chan being what it is, other anons are posting ironic “threats” aimed at, among other places, the moon, Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, and Whoville — the latter a reference to a news reporter who mistook the board’s meme mascot, a frog called Pepe, for the Grinch.
In the wake of a mass shooting that left ten people dead, this is all a good deal less than hilarious. Yes, yes, 4chan apologists, I know that the anons writing the “real threats” are most likely shitposters, like the anons joking about shooting up the moon, in that they most likely have no intention of carrying out their threats.
But at the same time it’s clear they do intend to terrorize real people with their probably fake threats. As they know well, we have to take them seriously, given that a similar threat on the same message board only a few days ago was followed by an actual, real-world massacre.
This isn’t shitposting so much as it is terrorism, a form of terrorism enabled and in some ways encouraged by 4chan’s anonymous nature.
It’s also clear that the “beta uprising” the /r9k/ regulars are joking about — and designing flags for — isn’t altogether a joke to them either.
Aside from the picture of Hitler, there’s not much deliberate irony in this discussion. These are two people discussing the future of a would-be political movement, in the wake of an act of terrorism that may be tied to the message board they are posting on. One thinks the terror caused by the shootings in Oregon will lead people to take their “issues” seriously; the second sees to think that continued violence is the only answer.
I’m not seeing a joke here.
@dahg85. …Honestly, since I’ve been following the blog since late last year, I probably should have caught that before someone pointed it out to me.
Well, least I’ve learned to think a little harder before posting.
There was a young man who pulled a gun at a Philadelphia junior college today, gawker has the story. Not sure if it’s related to the threat, but they have the guy in custody. Also: the Oregon shooter’s manifesto contains information saying part of his reason for the attack was his inability to have a girlfriend – so it does look like he was incel.
Re: the 14-year-old:
Good*.
* I don’t want the kid to be incarcerated – that almost never does good things – but a little creative sentencing (working in shelters, something) might do the kid some good and get him out of his bubble / his head out of his arse.
scribbles – Quick reply (made a promise to the youngest re: a pre-naptime activity): I disagree that the 1st amendment’s uneven implementation makes it not worthwhile.
I’d rather change the bathwater (attitudes/prejudices) than throw out the whole tub.
Pushing generally shitty, hateful speech underground through overzealous enforcement = martyrs and a group with an embattled mentality being able to latch on to an actual wrong (rather than writhing about imagined or overblown issues).
Trite reply: Sunlight’s the best medicine.
gtg, restless toddler.
@EJ
No, it’s fine. If I saw someone else say that I probably would have reacted similarly.
mockingbird, pulling out my -current-fictional character crush(es) just for you: light miyagami, and L from deathnote. my husbandos. one will not do. must have both sides of the coin!
Mockingbird, I disagree. When you provide a platform to neonazis because “they’ll be resentful or whatever and go underground” if you don’t is a terrible reason to actively promote nazism. That’s actually what we’re doing by providing them a platform. The discussion on that political ideology is over. It’s been done. We decided to kill the little fuckers almost a century ago because this isn’t a discussion. They want to kill the rest of us because we’re apparently not human. You won’t convince them with reasonable debate. Allowing them to argue and promote their cause is idiotic at best and genocidal at worst. Other first world countries were smart enough to realize this. What’s even worse is that because we’re a capitalist nation, corporations are given more rights than any individual in regard to speech. That amendment, as it is written and (broadly) interpreted effectively silences people.
This country was founded by and for propertied white men and it will always be for propertied white men.
This site is certainly not in favour of gulags. Our bonbon mines are run on sound humanitarian principles, and are consistently rated among the top ten re-educational facilities by survivors. Did I say survivors? I meant “graduating clients”.
@scribbles
I heartily disagree that 14-year-olds don’t know right from wrong. They don’t have the same capacity as adults but they certainly are well aware that murder is wrong. It should follow that threatening murder is wrong, too.
Sometimes juvie is needed to ensure public safety. I don’t know that this case merits incarceration, though.
Hey, if we get another book as good as “a day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch” gulags are a small price to pay.
I once met Moazzem Begg and he gave me a signed copy of his book about Guantanamo. He’s not exactly a feminist though.
Re: kids and culpability
We used to have a thing called Doli Incapax. That was a rebuttable presumption that kids under 10 couldn’t know right from wrong, and that between 10 and 14 the prosecution had to prove they did as part of their case.
That’s gone now though so any kid over 10 can be prosecuted. Normally there’s a special youth court but for offences that can attract a sentence of more than 2 years they can be tried in the regular Crown Court if it’s deemed appropriate.
@Josh
Thanks for acknowledging your mistake. I will acknowledge that there was in fact more than one person that made that comment along those lines, so I was mistaken as well.
@ Mooncow
I’m just glad people were fair enough to accept my apologies.
There’s a similar attitude in the US that it should be possible to try kids as adults if they commit particularly heinous crimes. But I think juvie is fine if someone made threats with no intention of carrying them out.
@Josh
We’re all human here. 😛 Well, actually, some of us might be cats. I’m not entirely sure…
*suspicious squinty-eyed glare*
@ History Nerd
One factor here is that the youth court has limited sentencing powers in relation to custody.
Mind you, the adult court is not bound to impose a more serious sentence anyway. In fact there’s a general perception that it’s better to be the least serious case in the Crown Court than the most serious case on the Youth Court, as the adult court is often more lenient anyway.
@Moocow
…says the person with the username “Moocow“.
@Verily Baroque
http://www.caseyscowtown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Funny-Cow-3.jpg
Shit! I’ve been unmasked!!
How would we even fix 4chan? The predecessor to /pol/ was shut down for basically the same reason /pol/ is a shithole now (/news/ or whatever it was called had become a board for white nationalists). /pol/ and /r9k/ have to go, but what’s the next step? I post mostly on /tg/, which is about boardgames and tabletop RPGs, but every couple of days there’s a thread along the lines of “Why doesn’t Dungeons and Dragons give -2 Strength to female characters?” How do you prevent /pol/’s hatred from just taking root on another board?
http://www.cracked.com/article_21722_5-kinds-pop-culture-news-stories-that-are-always-bs_p4.html
Hey David
You’re in a Cracked story!
See above
I suppose the statement “they have serious issues that do in fact need to be addressed” is more true than they know.
The problem is the whole alpha male vs beta male paradigm. Ironically, despite the fact that they reject certain elements (or rather that they don’t like alpha males and ostensibly don’t want to be alpha males) they unquestioningly accept the idea that you’re one or the other. They try to find empowerment in the Beta male stereotype, but obviously they can’t since it is based on the idea of a dis-empowered male.
A few rare alpha-male types might make it work if they also have lots of got tenacity and charisma, but most men realize that the dichotomy is nonsense. Some apparently just fall into this beta male camp and stew in self pity and misogyny.
There is often a correlation between failure in romance and sex and failure in other areas. Unfortunately there is a strong idea in the culture that there is a causal relationship. That is, the belief that women want men specifically for their list of appropriate accomplishments, and in some cases the belief that a man who can’t get laid will inevitable fail at other things.
To be honest, I can empathize with these men. Between Autism and Depression I have no “luck” with women. The thought that “I have to be some ultra-manly alpha male to have a happy relationship, but I’m not so I’m doomed,” sometimes sneaks into my brain, though on a conscious level I know it is nonsense. It’s weirdly tempting to believe in the alpha-beta male pardigm, because if you’re alpha you can rest assured in your inherent superiority, and if you’re beta you can wallow in self-pity all you like, and then blame the alphas and women for your problems.
@Alan
Kinda disappointed that Cracked’s buying into the “MRAs and PUAs are totally different!” lie, though. They’re usually pretty good at seeing through MRA bullshit.
Ugh. I am so sorry that some peoples’ fantasy mellows are harshed by the idea that girls have identical fantasy mellows.
No, wait. I am not sorry. Those people need to grow up.
@ SFHC
I’m just impressed they did an article that wasn’t “5 Insane ways…”
@ SFHC
On more important matters, do we know yet whether our gooey friends are animals, plants or something totally new?