Earlier today, British politician Jo Cox — a Labour party member of Parliament — was brutally murdered during a meeting with constituents.
While many have been quick to dismiss the horrific attack as the work of a deranged loner, it’s hard not to suspect a political motive: Cox fought against bigotry and was a staunch opponent of Britain leaving the European Union; the man arrested for the crime had connections to a far-right group that defended South Africa’s apartheid government and that has campaigned hard in favor of what’s known as Brexit.
While we still don’t know for sure what the killer’s motives are, that hasn’t stopped some of the most fervent supporters of Brexit are celebrating Cox’s death.
While many of the internet’s most terrible people have been leaning hard on the utterly unsubstantiated notion that the murder was a “false flag” by leftists opposed to #Brexit, others haven’t even bother to pretend that they felt bad about Jo Cox’s violent death.
Naturally, this response hs been most pronounced amongst those on the far right. In the US, that means some of the same people who have been trying their best to whip up anti-Muslim anger in the wake of the Orlando massacre.
It will be no shock to readers of this blog to discover that some of these repugnant alleged humans are also big fans of one Donald J. Trump. Tommy Grooves, a self-described “constitutionalist, Patriot, Libertarian, AltRight, Defender of LIBERTY” actually appended a #Trump2016 hashtag to this horrendous tweet:
https://t.co/YE5R8c2TbX The fate of all the political Traitor all over the world in every country.There day of reckoning ! #Trump2016
— Tommy Grooves (@Tommygrooves) June 16, 2016
In the tweet immediately preceding that one, for what it’s worth, he suggested that a writer for Vox needed to be taken on a “TRUMP HELICOPTER RIDE,” presumably a reference to Chilean dictator’s Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s practice of murdering people by throwing them from helicopters into the ocean. (See CORRECTION note below.)
#WhiteResistance, a frequent sharer of Trump’s tweets, as well as those of right-wing internet celebrities like Lauren Southern and Vox Day, had a similar reaction:
(These tweets were removed while I was writing this post, hence the screenshots.)
And there were many others — not all of them Trump fans, but most of them from the far right.
https://twitter.com/NANorthEast_/status/743473897828409344
https://twitter.com/NANorthEast_/status/743497714353246209
https://twitter.com/Fckislam10/status/743528636771270657
https://twitter.com/Fckislam10/status/743531853265543168
https://twitter.com/Steve_Crawford1/status/743543766020042753
https://twitter.com/KerrierKernow/status/743457087917854720
https://twitter.com/BodoKnerz/status/743515167732940800
https://twitter.com/Brassidi/status/743505912401432576
https://twitter.com/franz_soapbar/status/743497007881400320
Over on the rabidly pro-Trump internet Nazi tabloid The Daily Stormer, editor Andrew Anglin and most of his followers seem to be leaning towards the “false flag” theory. Other commenters had a rather different take:
While some celebrated today’s murder, one fellow predicted future murders — some of them possibly carried out by him.
Yet more reminders of how ugly politics have gotten in this misbegotten Year of Trump.
EDIT: Added link to Daily Stormer discussion (archived) and additional comment from there.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post suggested that the reference to “Trump helicopter rides” was an allusion to a famous scene in Scarface in which a man is murdered by throwing him from a helicopter; it’s far more likely that it was a reference to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s practice of murdering people by throwing them from helicopters into the ocean.
I stand corrected on the helicopter thing. When the Trump fan who celebrated the murder of Jo Cox suggested that a Vox writer should be killed by getting thrown from a helicopter, it was a reference to Pinochet’s practice of murdering people by throwing them from helicopters and not a reference to the scene in Scarface in which a man is murdered by throwing him from a helicopter.
1)Hey, Breitbart? Save it
2)Brassidium’s parentheses are appalling
3)Please explain, Frank, how she could’ve deserved this
4)@BreakfastTroll: no vitriol from me. Please leave tho. Thanx
Kat:
That’s a bit of a stretch, I think.
While I’m generally unhappy with the state of politics in the UK, one of the good things about our system is that people have easy access to their constituency MP. MPs hold regular “surgeries”, where people can talk to their MP, air grievances, ask for help with problems etc. Frequently, the MP does help them: it’s an unglamorous and seldom headline-grabbing part of the job, but important. This means that angry people can easily get to their MP, and violence isn’t unheard of, though it rarely rises above scuffles. A few years ago, someone was killed in a sword attack at such a surgery.
It’ll be a shame if, as a result of this attack, it becomes harder for constituents to get a one-to-one with their MP.
I see a good number of “hahaha, how’s that gun control working out for you?” posts, too. Probably by people who either don’t know, or (more likely) don’t care that more people were shot by one person in one day in Orlando last week than will likely be shot in the whole of the UK in the whole of this year.
Stay classy, folks.
Hey folks, I’m back from my parental visit (which went well, but I’ll save that for an open thread).
Anyway, I’m hearing this persistent, high-pitched whine. Do I need to find some more citronella tiki torches for you guys?
I am from the UK, where we are facing the vote to stay or Leave the European Union, with much of the argument to leave being based on peoples fears about immigration. A witness heard this guy say Britian First, when he attacked her. A racist right wing group. Or Put Britain first. Her husband and friends are asking for people to continue the approach she had and fight the hatred that killed her and I for one hope that this wakes people up as to where a vote for BREXIT (British Exit from Europe) would lead and get them out to vote rather than being apathetic. Just going to share a couple of her posts. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157036001700464&set=a.10150937104050464.750246.542885463&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/PressAssociation/photos/a.534649333266368.1073741827.102435209821118/1146066872124608/?type=3&theater
Nequam:
But my bingo card is almost full!
Oh look: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/06/14/pastor-refuses-to-mourn-orlando-victims-the-tragedy-is-that-more-of-them-didnt-die/
@Blueberrypacakeswmaplesyrup
Wow. What a hot mess of ableism and just all-around conspiracy bullshit. No vitriol here, just sadness over the lack of any kind of critical thinking on your part. Let’s examine some highlights in your post:
Read the actual article. Many of the tweeters who celebrate the death of Jo Cox are self-admitted Trump fans, proving in part that the values Trump fans hold dear are the same that inspired the murderer. This is what nationalism and white supremacy does. I’m frankly stunned that anyone would be ignorant enough not to see the connection between a politician using violent, xenophobic language and his fans liking vilent, xenophobic things.
Ummm… what? First of all, Bilderberg establishment? I would fancy a group whose themes include “bolstering a consensus around free market Western capitalism and its interests around the globe” would be on Trump’s side. Get your conspiracies straight.
Second, Trump is considered a misogynist, racist homophobe because he says misogynist, racist and homophobic things. No conspiracy needed. Have you ever actually listened to what he lets out of his mouth? Don’t give me that bullshit about him being “misinterpreted” or anything like that. A person who says terrible things is not “demonized”, he’s a person who says terrible things. This whole “they took it out of context” doesn’t fly when he’s consistently being horrible.
“I know you are, but what am I?” Trump is the one upping his fascist language to cater to white nationalists, not Obama or “SJWs” (seriously, why are people who fight for equity your personal boogeymen?). The irony here is that you associate fascism with the non-existent characteristics that you personally ascribe to people while insisting that a person who talks and acts like a fascist could not possibly be a fascist (is that irony, or just a coincidence? I honestly can’t tell anymore. All I know it’s not like raaaaiiiin on your wedding day).
Wow, what a load of crap. Did I misread you, or did you write that Stalin and Mao executed primarily Christians? Also, “PC” culture (what a fucking disingenous term) has not been behind colossal genocides. Pretty much every genocide in history has been preceded by hate speech and the demonization of a minority group. The dominant group in a given culture, such as straight white cis men here, have never been targets of genocide, because it doesn’t work that way. Trump fans are not a persecuted underdog, they’re the ones calling for the persecution of others. Do you just not read what they write, or do you believe whatever you want to believe and then blame others for not thinking?
In case it’s not clear to you, the so-called “PC culture” is not a way to silence dissent. You are still allowed to talk bullshit all you want. People are just going to call you out on it and refuse to listen to you, as is their right. Just like I’m doing now. That’s not anti-free speech; your insistence that you should be allowed to speak without criticism is what’s anti-free speech. So no, don’t worry: you will not be rounded up and taken to a camp. You will, however, continue to be laughed at by people who stick their head outside of bubbles every once in a while.
First of all, by saying “r***rd” you’re not only associating people being horrible with neuroatypicality, which is a shitty thing to do and will win you no friends, but it’s also against the comments policy here. Which you’d know if you’d have bothered to read, but we have established that you don’t.
Second, there we go with the black and white worldview again. Nobody is saying that Hilary is perfect, far from it. She has received a fair amount of criticism for her flip-flopping and conservative politics. The fact that she’s still a far better alternative than Trump does not mean she’s above criticism. What does she have to do with this, anyway?
Third, again, nobody is demonizing Trump fans, and there is no conspiracy against Trump. Still, saying that they’re innocent victims “compelled to vote for Bush” is just infantilizing them. Trump fans are responsible for their own words and deeds. Don’t paint them as victims.
Being from a European country that’s been leaning heavily to the right in recent years, I can confirm that our white nationalists have been just as sad as you that there has indeed not been a rape epidemic by immigrants, since the facts go completely against their ridiculous, racist worldview that immigrants are a bunch of rapists and criminals. And, just as you, they choose to believe that it’s all been “covered up” by the press. Gotta cling to the idea that it’s only rape if a non-white person does it, right?
Lastly, I just find it sad that you repeat the word “demonize” without understanding that one of the points of conspiracy theories is drumming up a sense of underdoghood so that you can demonize the opposition easier. Your belief in a vast conspiracy that targets you for your heroic, nonconformist ideas and brainwashes all the sheeple around you guarantees that you will be the one ignoring any facts if they don’t fit your worldview.
Oh, wait, but you’re not a Trump fan, you just spent the entire post defending him, his fans and their ridiculous victim complex while blaming “the left” for all the ills in society, just like they do. Gotcha.
This is a rather touching tribute from one of Jo’s political rivals with whom she worked.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/16/my-fearless-friend-jo-cox-a-five-foot-bundle-of-yorkshire-grit/
@Blueberrypancakeswmaplesyrup
Weird. Because this is what the Guardian says on my computer:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jun/16/labour-mp-jo-cox-shot-in-west-yorkshire
Do you get a different version of the Guardian where you live?
I would think that a person who loved pancakes wouldn’t tell such stupid lies.
See? I can make just as much sense as a fascist.
I’m frankly baffled by those. I’ve seen a lot of people who have “echoed” their names or handles to show solidarity with the targets of antisemitic harassment, but I doubt that’s Brassidium’s intent. But they’re not supposed to use it on their own name if they’re using it seriously. I’m just confused.
I see a lot of the gloating assholes calling Cox a traitor. I’m sure that means that the US based ones were cheering last year when the flag of actual treason was removed from a government building, right? They surely weren’t throwing giant tantrums over it.
@ pie
Obviously details are still sketchy at this time, but a number of witnesses are describing the gun as “homemade” and stating that the shooter had to reload between shots.
This gave time for attempts at intervening, initially by a 77 year old man, but he was driven back by a knife. It’s probably worth noting that the shooter only managed to fire 3 times over the course of a few minutes and he was able to be taken down by two unarmed police officers. At the risk of speculating that is consistent with a homemade gun or a ‘reactivation’ of an antique.
As a Brit, I can honestly say this has shocked the nation. I live in a rural community in Lancashire, that isn’t dissimilar to Jo Cox’s constituency, and people are genuinely gobsmacked.
The police are keeping mum about motive right now, but if he really did shout out ‘Britain First’ during the attack and his arrest, it’s a sad sign of the times.
So much hate has been whipped up during the referendum campaign by the Brexiters, and it culminated in Nigel Farage’s disgraceful poster, which was essentially a visual representation of Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
Jo Cox was an amazing woman. She dedicated her life to people less fortunate than herself, and was universally respected in Parliament.
As for the neo-Nazi trolls? Merely children pushing boundaries because they can. Best ignored. They believe their memes and twitter comments represent some kind of warped social revolution.
Stoopid kids.
This whole thing makes me really sick. Not so much people’s responses (I’ve got to the point where I can’t even be shocked at shitty people on the internet) but just the act itself. After Orlando and now this and the fear of Brexit in general and the refreshed stirring up of islamophobia due to misappropriated motives my anxiety has racked up to unbearable, can’t-leave-the-house, constant nausea levels and I’m just so sick and tired and scared to my soul, it’s been such a bad week for human fucking decency. Which isn’t to say there hasn’t been more good than bad in people’s responses, there always is, I still believe that people almost always want to do good, but it’s just. Um. After Orlando a friend of mine in the States called me in tears, she said I know there’s more good than evil in the world but what’s so good about that if one act of cruelty can destroy so much that can’t be fixed. And I’ve heard so much vitriol and bigotry rise to the surface lately through the Brexit campaign, even from people I liked and trusted, it’s hitting home now how easy it is to mislead people and guide them into a situation of violent bigotry, culminating in this.
I’m scared because over the last year both in the UK and the US it seems terrifyingly like we’re witnessing a slide into violent fundamentalism that started with the War on Terror. The seeding of islamophobia and xenophobia that 9/11 allowed for is paying out with something that’s terrifyingly reminiscent of the historical rise of fascism and dictatorship in many countries. I know, Godwin’s law, but the demonising of the Other (in this case the Muslim community), the violent rhetoric and violent reprisal against political and social opponents, the fear tactics used to dehumanise and to convince people they need to fight back against an imagined enemy, the associated rise in nationalist sentiment, the treatment of demonised groups (look at the way Europe as a whole behaved about the Syrian refugee crisis, look at shootings and firebombings at mosques and synagogues and black churches, look at Orlando, not to mention government action in the UK deliberately making support and necessary healthcare for the poor and disabled increasingly hard to access) … maybe I’m overplaying it but I’ve never been as scared as the last week or so that this is a time future people will look back on and say WHY DIDN’T THEY STOP IT, HOW COULD THEY BE COMPLICIT? the way we do now with Nazi Germany. I used to be afraid the UK was returning to the 80s (speaking as someone from a former mining village in the north east) but honestly recently I’m afraid it’s going to be even worse.
I’m sorry if I’m driving the thread off topic, I’m just freaking out right now. I’m usually pretty good at keeping my distress at the news under control enough to stay functional, but on top of the stuff that’s been building for years, this week has been one sucker punch after another and I’ve never felt so scared and useless. I’m a Quaker, I believe completely in “that of god in everyone”, but I also know that you don’t have to be a bad person to believe terrible things, you just have to be scared and blinkered, and that’s terrifyingly easy. These attacks are from an extreme and violent end of the group but they’re not alone in their sentiment and it’s an increasingly and distressingly common school of thought. I don’t know. Sorry to wall-o-text, I just get nauseous whenever I think about it and my suicidal ideation is through the roof and i figured you guys would understand.
This is so distressing. First murder of a sitting MP since 1990 I believe. I am apolitical myself, because my extreme left wing views have left me with no major party to support. But I just knew people online would be celebrating this, I’m pleased the EU referendum campaigning has been suspended for a bit. Our despicable newspapers have whipped up such a frenzied atmosphere of hysteria and hatred around the issue that this almost felt inevitable.
I had to leave a thread I was following on another site as well, because he was being referred to as a “nutter” and they were speculating about possible “mental health issues” every other post and I just couldn’t be bothered to tell them that maybe, just maybe he was just an awful person incited to violence by the febrile atmosphere around the EU campaigns. At least here I know people get smacked down for that.
@Vampy
Hugs n Hearts. And no need to apologize. Better you write your text wall and go off topic than keep it bottled up and go it alone 🙂
@Dan
sarcasm: He’s mocking the support movement and tripping us up. See, by wrapping his name in the Jewgina, he’s putting the Social Justice Hoplites in a totes clever catch22 situation
He’s free and clear to spout that nonsense under the veil of leftist ‘compassion’. Anyone has a problem with it, well he’s just 1 of those regressive tumbots, so blame them. Checkmate, white genociders! If we call out his bullshit, we’ll be attacking our own. But that doesn’t win us any social justice points (which is what we really care about), so we’re in quite the bind. There’s obviously no way to separate decent people and fascist assholes! He got us but good *grumble, grumble*
http://i.imgur.com/0VuU90E.gif
/sarcasm
Or maybe he just likes Jewish, Hebraic semites and hates Muslim, Arabic semites. Still an asshat. The conspiracy is more fun anyway 🙂
Also, is it ironic that the Brassidium is an interbred plant? The wily, Cultural Marxist, miscegenetic plot is everywhere, people!!1!!
@ varalys
Indeed; and that was a bombing by PIRA (as were the two before that) so not quite the same.
The nearest analogue to this (MP attacked at a surgery) was the attempted murder of Stephen Timms in 2010.
I’m glad to see that the general consensus amongst MPs is that this won’t have an effect on their regular surgeries. It’s an essential part of democracy that constituents can have regular access to all MPs, including the Prime Minister, to discuss issues that directly affect them.
In the grand scheme of things a particular individual asking their MP to sort out rubbish collection may seem trivial, but the fact that people can do that and MPs try to assist even if the constituent didn’t vote for them goes some way to mitigating the general disconnect that seems to be growing between voters and politicians.
More than a decade ago I threw in my lot with the UK (and by extension the EU). Now I’m wondering if I could have made a better decision. (Not with the information and resources I had then…but still, wondering.)
What’s all this hoopla about white genocide? What’s so bad about Caucasians being a minority in a few years? It’s not like minorities are treated any less fairly, after all! Oh, wait…
Anyway, I’ll be voting Remain next Thursday as a matter of course. Those trolls don’t deserve as much as a two-finger salute.
This is very OT.
I just wanted to share with our vegetarian and veg-friendly commenters that last night I had probably the best vegetarian food of my life. We went to a higher end place, Restaurang Koka, here in Gothenburg. It’s been Michelin starred since 2008 and has received all kinds of awards, including Swedish Restaurant of the Year in 2015. It’s a set menu kind of place, and we had to call ahead to request a vegetarian 5 course dinner. The food was EXCELLENT. Every single course was incredibly creative, with a combination of tastes I’d never even considered before, and perfectly executed. By far my best restaurant related experience ever.
Since we had a specialized menu, I don’t actually have any food descriptions in writing. I’m typing this out from memory, even though I couldn’t hear absolutely everything the waitress said. Also, we were given two small “starters” that weren’t included in the 5 courses, as well as a small extra dessert after the actual dessert. We also received a plate of cheese and flatbread between the 4th and 5th course. Here’s what I can remember about the food:
– A cup of some kind of mushroom broth with lovage. I’ve never tasted anything like it before.
– Sourdough bread and sourdough flatbread, with butter
– Tiny bowl of toasted (bright green) breadcrumbs made with garlic and some herbs (can’t remember), and chunks of radish.
– 1st course: Highly creative salad with super thinly sliced, sweet green tomatoes, chopped asparagus, caramelized yogurt (is that even possible?), and some other things which I can’t remember.
– 2nd course: Fresh green peas and other greens, on top of a poached egg, with a spinach/citrus broth/soup poured on top.
– 3rd course: A bed of soft goat cheese, with white asparagus, walnuts, pine needles, and probably more.
– 4th (main) course: Giant king oyster mushrooms, indescribably good new potatoes (tasted like they were covered with melted cheese, but I don’t think they were), tagetes and other greens on top, with a mushroom type broth.
– Plate of cheese, served with poppy seed flatbread
– 5th course: Marjoram ice cream with crunchy toffee inside of it, two types of strawberries on top, as well as mint leaves.
– Tiny, crunchy, cookie-like sweet (tasted somewhat like gingerbread), with blackberry jam filling, whipped cream and juniper berry jam on top.
Including a bottle of wine, we paid about $250 for two people, and that’s with tips included. Not bad at all! I know it’s still a lot of money, but it was a special occassion and I’m so pleased with everything.
TL;DR: If you ever happen to travel to our tiny city in some weird country far away, consider visiting this restaurant. :p
SPLC claims Thomas Mair snagged a ‘homemade gun guide’ from the Adolf-loving National Alliance back in the day. Plus a pile of self-help titles for the enthusiastic national socialist…
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jun/17/jo-cox-suspect-thomas-mair-bought-gun-manuals-from-us-neo-nazis-group-claims
It’s positively asinine that there are people who think that saying (typing) “Well, Trump hasn’t stated he supports >racist/misogynist/homophobic/violent hate group idiots who shitpost/tweet/blog/podcast their shitty beliefs which they tie in to voting for Trump” is some sort of *defense*. (!!!!)
Let’s call a spade a spade and get down to brass tacks – he doesn’t have to state anything of the sort, Trump not saying *anything* is taken by the shitty people on the internet as his support, him being the candidate who will bring about the return to shitty times they so long for and everyone else hopes he won’t get anywhere close to an actual opportunity. Instead of coming out with a strong statement denouncing all the shit the shitpeople have eagerly jumped at the chance to pile up on the internet which they consistently love to do while also mentioning that Trump is their pied piper taking them down the road to “Shit Town” with his campaign to “Make America go all to shitty hell…again” – Trump says nothing to indicate he disagrees with these jerks’ actions/tweets/gleeful hate, and often gets so close to saying the same shitty shit or implies similar shit.
Strangely enough, the assholes in support of Trump for president have managed to delude themselves that sure – he’s part of the 1%, successful (snork!) businessman who earned that status – but he’ll be the one who will follow through on every campaign promise if elected, the one who will restore America to the sitcom it never was, the one who will give those poor unhappy white men their constitutionally granted rights and everyone else gets none…the “good” old days. I’m not even going to go into what’s wrong with the people who are so anti-Hillary that they’ll vote for anyone but her.
But it’s those who will allow themselves to indulge in apathy on election day who can consider themselves complicit in helping ‘America become really actually so much shittier’ because their not voting at all results in a win for Trump. They’ll probably complain about everything that comes after that, but in my mind, if you don’t vote you have no right to bitch about who gets elected or what they do while in government office.
@guest
Yay! Thanks for helping out. 🙂