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.
@wwth
I’ve always assumed it’s part of an extremely long game, Truman Show style prank. I also have similar suspicions about fish/seafood in general. Every time I walk past a seafood restaurant, or the seafood section of the supermarket, I hold my breath and tell myself: “Remember, it’s just a prank. Nobody actually enjoys this stench.”
@IP
I’m a lurker, have commented a few times. I understand what you are saying, but usually the terrible things are more abstract, or when they are the derail doesn’t happen on the very first page.
Guess this has hit me pretty hard, I shouldn’t have come in here when it’s still so raw. Will depart depart this thread until I am less upset.
@ALW
That’s okay. You do what you need to do. Just keep in mind that people deal with tragedy in different ways. One of those ways is to talk about other things, or happy things. It doesn’t mean that we’ve forgotten about the tragedy, or that we don’t care. We just prefer to focus on nicer things sometimes.
Christ, I fucking despise fascists.
Mmmm how can anyone hate fish and seafood? I don’t eat meat at all, but I lurve seafood. If seafood wasn’t an option I’d convert to full vegetarianism though. Very occasionally I’ll eat meat as part of a family meal and boy does my body regret it later. Last time I did so I had to make my sister stop the car on the way to the railway station so I could vomit in a hedge. Anyway wikipedia has a table of Vegetarianism by country, but as there is a 10% margin of error with the UK stats, who knows?
On topic: I had a friend over for lunch today and she is 13 years younger than me and very politically engaged and she was really miserable about this shooting and the whole toxic atmosphere around the EU referendum (she’s a Remainer). I had to admit this is not a happy time in our nation’s history, but I think my Zen philosophy cheered her up a bit.
@PI
There’s no amount of water to get the taste of shrimp out, and then it lingers for hours. I can’t focus on anything, cos my mouth and esophagus feel like hot sludge. I never actually throw up, but the urge just won’t go away. I assume that’s what the early stages of a much more serious reaction is like. Not fun. And they’re always like, ‘you can just pick the shrimp out’. (>_<)
@kupo
'I literally can't eat what you're serving'
'Nah, it's fine. I'll handle it'
'You don't understand, pay attention'
'Don't worry about it'
'I can't not worry about it'
Etc, etc. I totally hear ya 🙂
It's just, shrimp is rare, so I don't think about it. The kind of nuts my brother can't eat are the kind most people will be super careful about anyway. A good host will let you know what the deal is, so it's on the up and up. Then someone brings a casserole unannounced. You assume it's all been pre cleared, and then it isn't…
@Scildfreja
The YouTube comment sections for vegetarian videos are almost as bad as Israel-Palestine. Mostly on the 'side' of us meaties. The fussball hooligans of the internet: numbers increase linearly, vitriol exponentially 🙁
Why are some Trump followers raising their nasty little heads, with their nasty poisoned brain cell, from the primordial slime they reside in. Please can someone place a large boot on the tops of their obscene little skulls and force them back into the slime that spawned them. Most of you will have to get some one to read this to you probably the in-bread sheep you’re in love with.
My parents live in Leeds and are active members of the Labour party. Jo wasn’t their MP but was the MP for a town nearby. This was a good person doing good work, her compassion and the energy she spent on the cause of syrian refugees was touching and inspiring. This is devastating. The atmosphere that led to this is so poisonous I can’t stand it.
@chesselwitt: it basically means a place to consult with an authority.
@Alan Robertshaw
So, I know I’m responding again to the comment you made several hours ago, but I’ve just got the chance to do it again, so I will now.
I do understand, of course, that no matter what happens with the Brexit vote, there will always be people going between the EU and UK. However, to say that there will still be “free movement” between the two after the Brexit is a bit of a misnomer. I suppose it could still be called “free movement” but it won’t be the kind of free movement that currently exists between the UK and other European nations. In a post-Brexit UK, you could still go abroad to work or study, just as people do currently between the US and the UK, and EU citizens could still do the same, but it will be far less easy to do so. Going to France to study or work would mean having to get a passport, a visa, etc. You could still do it, of course, but the ease with which UK citizens can currently come and go throughout the EU would end. And I really doubt that Brussels would be interested in writing up a treaty with a post-Brexit UK to put it back into the Schengen Zone while it isn’t a member state. After all, one of the arguments for continued membership is the benefits of being in the Schengen Zone; letting the UK keep those benefits after it exits would send a message to all the member states that you can have your cake and eat it too. For that matter, I really doubt that a Prime Minister Boris Johnson will want that either, since the biggest reason the Leave campaign wants to exit is because they don’t like the Schengen Zone. I’d go so far as to say that it could be pretty rough for UK nationals living in the EU, and vice versa. Will they have to suddenly get a visa and a work permit? Will they have to leave, get the documents, and then re-enter the EU? I doubt that either side will play nice with those caught up in the aftermath of the exit, except to possibly offer their citizens rides back home. (Personally, if I were in charge of the EU, and I wanted to put the screws on the UK after an exit, I’d say to UK nationals that they could become citizens of whatever country they’re currently living in… as long as they drop their British citizenship. I think for a large number of ex-pats, especially those who have been living abroad for a good while, they would end up choosing to stay in the EU over having to go through all the hassle of dealing with immigration authorities and running the risk of having their lives thrown into chaos for several months.)
I’ve lived in Spain for 25 years, but I’m from Leeds. Jo Cox died in the hospital where I had my tonsils out, and it was weird seeing it on the Spanish news. It’s really got to me.
I’m, also worried about Brexit. When I first came to live here, observatory staff had the right to work in Spain, but not their spouses. I see no guarantee that I’d be able to work if the UK left, although I doubt they’d kick me out of the country since my husband’s Spanish. Besides, most of my savings and pension plans are in sterling. The pound’s fallen about 10% just on the possibility of the UK leaving, so goodness knows how much actually leaving would wipe out. I certainly wouldn’t be retiring at 65.
Even worse, if the UK leaves then Cameron will probably resign. I don’t like him, but I’m really worried about the possibility of Boris running the show. I think it would be government by propaganda and scapegoating, and I’m really worried about my friends.
Another sea-foodie here. More than a few of my friends dislike it, though. Years ago, one of my dearest friends abruptly got up and left the table when I came back from the buffet with a bowl of clam chowder; I went after her and found that the aroma was making her feel ill, so I found a waiter and had him remove it. So, yeah. I get that there are people who have a strong aversion to seafood, and that’s okay!
I have actually given up most seafood anyway because of sustainability and slave labor issues. Most of my local grocers and restaurants are extremely vague about sourcing and I am privileged enough to be able to live very well without it.
@ALW – A lot of us here really appreciate the off-topic stuff because the topics on this blog can be pretty heavy at times. I know it helps me to stomach some of the awfulness! We don’t mean to be disrespectful at all and encourage whatever self-care measures are needed. Also, have you clicked on the welcome package in the right-hand sidebar? Please do, and accept my welcome as well!
Whew I was beginning to think I was the only seafoodie here. Having spent a good proportion of my life living in port cities in the UK (so lots of locally sourced stuff) I have eaten out at some of the best seafood restaurants the UK has. Although the sight of me attempting to eat undressed crab can bring a waiter to tears of distress. I’m a passionate eater like I’m a passionate lover, what can I say?
I never got a welcome package when I started posting here, I… I’ll just go and click on it now and sob in the corner alone. 😛
Churchill Akbar?
Seriously?
Churchill might not be the most enlightened person by today’s standards, but there’s no way that he would support these people. After all, he didn’t support going around murdering legitimately elected government officials, and he fought Nazis. Has “National Action NE” somehow forgotten who Churchill was actually defending his country against during the second World War? Maybe he thinks historians lied, and Churchill was really fighting the Jews on behalf of the “white race” or something? Wow that guy has no concept of history.
http://indy100.independent.co.uk/article/britain-first-is-angry-the-entire-group-is-being-tarnished-by-one-man-fail-to-see-the-irony–bylAyAGqI4Z
@varalys
That’s a travesty. Here. Let’s at least make it an official offer of welcome 🙂
I’m West Indian, so fish is a big deal in my family. I don’t like it too much usually, but there’s nothing so bad a good fish cake can’t fix
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKdj3M3chH4/S-xgcr1HWiI/AAAAAAAAAiY/i04gwBh–bo/s1600/fishcakes.jpg
Ah many thanks, and damn those look tasty! I’m landlocked now but we’ve got a fresh fish shop that sources as locally as possible. It’s actually shut on mondays because the first catches of the week obviously haven’t come in yet. They do some fine homemade fishcakes I may treat myself tommorrow now.
ETA: Hah, I had stumbled across the Scented Fucking Candles thread thanks to the random post list, but always wondered about the Misandrist Hard Chairs. I shall enjoy that thread now, thanks again!
@ nintenethan
o it again, so I will now.
Ha, no worries, same here. 🙂 It’s nice to chat about what seems to be an unnecessarily contentious subject in a friendly atmosphere.
With the free movement thing, we’re not in shengen so we technically already do need our passports to at least get into the zone. We don’t need visas, but the British passport is just about the best in the word for that anyway I think when it comes to not needing them. So I don’t think there’d be any material change in mere movement after Brexit. I see what you’re saying about work and education, but it’s he reciprocating thing that’ll drive it. We’ve discussed the work reasons and with education that’s a big earner for the UK so we won’t be turning away EU students (or non EU students for that matter)
It’s interesting what you say about the EU ‘punishing’ us. That’s really my main grievance with the set up, the bullying. It’s the fact that every time a country has voted ‘no’ on a treaty matter in the past the EU has insisted on further votes until people say ‘yes’ and threatened anyone who suggests they’d like to leave. Ironically it’s the mindset if an abuser.
Thisw is from the Avaaz website:
‘Only light can sweep away the darkness, only love can heal hate. As we mourn for and honour Jo Cox, we also have to go on — to carry forward the banner of love and hope for a better world that she carried so gracefully. To unite, as her husband Brendan said, “to fight against the hatred that killed her.”
And to do just that, on Sunday hundreds will be kissing against Brexit — attempting to break a Guinness World Record for the largest kiss! The kissing chain will be continued in Rome, Paris and Berlin, sending a powerful message that we’re taking back our politics from fear and lies with beautiful unity and humanity. And it starts in London. ‘
@Ohlmann
Innuendo Studios did a small video series about the anger dynamics of GG that touched on the negative reactions vegetarians/vegans receive. Maybe it will interest you (or anyone else), so I’ll leave the link here.
Some of them think Churchill was tricked or mind-controlled into siding against Hitler by Stalin.
No, I’m not kidding. Yes, this would require both a time machine and a wizard who can pull off the Imperius Curse. No, we haven’t reached the bottom of the conspiracy barrel yet.
May I make a correction: on such referendums the EU’s rejection of the results was because of the way the referendum was held rather than the outcome. I forget the country, but the EU said “Do it again” because the PM/President had only given the nation two weeks to campaign and make up their minds, which went against policy. In Ireland they held the Lisbon Treaty referendum again after it was generally agreed that the voters had not understood the poorly written treaty clearly enough to make a solid decision. To say that the EU insisted on further votes until they got a Yes is an oversimplification, at least in these examples.
Can you give some examples of them threatening anyone who suggests a desire to leave? In the case of the UK I don’t consider a warning of getting a poorer trade deal “bullying”. It’s a warning. I honestly don’t see why we’d get as good as we have it but without being in Brussels. The EU is a club. Leaving is a divorce (yes I know the two metaphors don’t fit 😛 ). We can’t expect to tear up the contract while being able to keep the house and pets and come over for a shag on the weekends.
Naturally the EU is going to want to avoid further unrest, which will happen if we’re seen to be getting our cake and eating it. Other countries will want the same and at the end of the day the splintering of a major political union is not a good time for anyone. I don’t see their desire to keep it together as “the mindset of an abuser.”
My highly dysfunctional family still somehow managed not to sneer at or mock my vegetarian aunt and uncle. Not to their faces, not behind their backs. Accommodation to their needs was not a problem. And this was in the wayback times of the 1950s and 1960s.
I hope to carry on all the positive aspects of my family’s legacy.
@ sunnysombrera
I’m a little bit sceptical about that. Had the result gone the other way do you think the EU would have insisted on a re-run on procedural grounds? I also remember at the time of the Ireland referendum the argument was that people must have misunderstood the treaty as it was self evidently the only correct choice for right minded people. Of course, the attitude that “the voters got it wrong” isn’t limited to the EU, it’s a problem with modern politics generally. I suspect it plays a part in the general disconnect that’s becoming prevalent.
As for bullying you’re right of course that it can be difficult to distinguish between a threat and a warning. We saw that with the Greece situation. That was also a good illustration of the tension between sovereignty and being compelled to act in the best interests of the EU as a whole. Funnily enough I suspect that had the referendum taken place whilst that was going on the lefty case for Brexit would have prevailed.
Like I say though, my niggles with the EU are more to do with the slightly technocratic way it’s run rather than the substantial issues, so I won’t be rioting in the street if we vote remain. 🙂
@blueberry
I’m sorry, did all that conspiracy theory give you indigestion?!!
Why do you thnk that the demonisation of Christians is actually a thing? And why do you have to blame the left?! You sound like a true Alex Jones fan, stop drinking the koolaid! Whatever makes you think thst Trump is a threat to Bilderberg and the elite when he is a part of the establishment?! He would not be where he is now if he wasn’t. Trump hasn’t stopped retweeting hate tweets and talking out of his armpit. He hasn’t even managed to distance himself from David Duke. You people who think he’s your ‘great white hope’ are sorely deluded. And no, I’m not ‘shilling for Hilary’, I have misgivings about her also, none of which has anything to do with her gender. In truth, your country does not even have a ‘left wing’, just Right Wing and Nazi. If you had a left wing, you’d have Universal Healthcare, but no, you guys don’t want that because it’s ‘Communist’.
In my country, you’d be surprised at how many guns are out there, gun control or no. In some ways we have laxcer gun control than you, especially when it comes to pistols and ammo storage. Tightening up in gun ownership will do nothing to stop homocidal nutters from being homocidal nutters.