CONTENT WARNING: This one is just brutal. If you’re feeling even the slightest bit queasy about the headline, please don’t read any further.
By David Futrelle
Sunday morning, a young man named Brandon Clark allegedly murdered 17-year-old Instagram “e-girl” Bianca Devins, apparently a friend of his, brutally slashing her throat and then slashing his own in an attempt to kill himself. Sometime between the murder and the attempted suicide, he took a photo of her bloody body and uploaded it to 4chan.
The photo quickly spread across social media, including the Incels.co forum, where it was evidently found by a commenter calling himself canino1997, who reacted to the horrific tragedy by masturbating to the picture of Devins’ lifeless body and sending a picture of the resulting “cum tribute” to the girl’s mother (or perhaps her stepmother) as a sort of ‘”lesson” for her.
He attached a screenshot of what he said were the messages he’d sent to the mother along with his “tribute.”
Naturally, other incels applauded canino1997’s initiative. “[Y]our doing god’s work,” wrote one commenter. “Based as fuck,” added a second. “Based kikebook Stalkercel,” agreed a third, which is the Incel way of saying he thought that canino1997 is was an excellent Facebook stalker.
On Facebook, Bianca’s stepmother didn’t say anything about
canino1997’s particular act of malicious harassment, but she did post at length about the anguish of seeing the photos of her stepdaughter’s corpse — an anguish amplified by the knowledge that countless strangers were passing the pictures around in an attempt to shock others and, in some cases, to garner new Instagram followers.
It is absolutely disgusting that people are sharing, screenshoting the pictures of Bianca’s (tragic) death!! Wtf is wrong with you people!!?? … I will FORVER have those images in my mind when I think of her. When I close my eyes, those images haunt me. …
Imagine sitting there, in disbelief and praying to God that this is all some mistake and that your baby will walk through the door any minute. Now imagine seeing those pictures and having everything in you break. Imagine not even being able to yell out and scream or cry because your soul has now just been broken.
After writing this blog for eight years, and watching the political developments in the US over the last three, I can’t say I still have a lot of faith left in humanity. But discovering the incel and his “cum tribute” hit me like a punch in the gut; in some ways it feels as gratuitously cruel as the murder itself.
There’s a lot more to say — none of it good — about this case and the assorted reactions to it online. But I will save that for later posts.
NOTE: Canino1997’s original post was taken down by the Incels.co mods, though evidence of it remains in the responses to it from other commenters. I borrowed the screenshots from a post in IncelTears, a subreddit devoted to monitoring and mocking incels.
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@yzek
Rhuu linked to your words, cowpoke.
@yzek – I mean, *you* say so. I linked to you.
You know we remember things, right? And that we can link to them, when you post them? It’s not like you coming back after a while means you get a completely clean slate.
But yeah, let’s listen to the fellow who figures that while he could withstand the smexxiness of bare female shoulders, he wouldn’t want others to have to do the same.
Also in that post he’s talking about going to a nude beach, not someone showing their shoulders in mass? How are the two equivalent???????
I can keep finding some nice tidbits of your opinions, yzek. You really haven’t shown the best of yourself to us. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Your allies, incel157! Enjoyyyyyy~)
@Rhuu – apparently an illiterati
Whatever keeps you in good mood, dude.
I can’t speak for Rhuu, but you put me in a bad mood, every time. So could I request, fir that “whatever” you seem to be offering, that you…go your own way? Away from this blog?
This is the weirdest gaslighting attempt I’ve ever seen. “Here’s a bunch of stuff you said.” “Yeah, sure I did.” “Yes… you did? You wrote it down. There’s a record. I have already linked to the record.” “Whatever you want to believe ?♂️?♂️?♂️”
yzek coming in with the “Who are you going to believe: me or your own lying eyes?”
Yzek,
Your trolling skills have severely regressed. You sound like a bratty 10 year old. It’s not making anyone look bad but you.
Why would linking to a post about a sexist, homophobic, and transphobic priest put me in a ‘good mood’?
You… you know there are real world consequences to your beliefs and actions, right? Oh my goodness… Do you not realise that? That if you go “there is appropriate clothing for CHURCH and it is FULL COVERAGE FOR WOMEN” has like… effects?
@Viscaria
I’ve already learnt there’s no use explaining myself after any of regulars pinned “kick the incel” label on by back.
@yzek: no one pinned that label on you. Any label that has been pinned on has been done by you with your own words.
@yzek
HMMMM
(this is the linked comment, from a thread about incels getting plastic surgery, from that New York magasine story.)
But fair. I try not to use ‘incel’ as an insult, I only want to use it on people who have taken a shine to the ideology. And while I feel like you tick all the boxes, if you claim you aren’t, then I will make a note not to refer to you as such.
I suppose I could say “Yzek, claims not to be an incel but ticks a lot of the boxes”. I’ll think about it.
ETA – Right! I’m trying to be better about admitting when I don’t know something. Can someone tell me what this means?
It seems to be a Polish saying… In latin?
I’ll just call him “yzek, defender of incels and other misogynist” or perhaps “yzek, white knight of misoginy”
Ooh, those are good, kupo!
I sleep in one day after a sprain ankle after teaching my dance class and yutz comes back. You guys I don’t have the strength to deal with one condescending troll and then another who wants to explain to me why I’m a bad Christian because I wear fishnet and a sundress to church in a 105 degree weather. I’ll see y’all on the other threads
@Yutolia
“Any label that has been pinned on has been done by you with your own words.”
…as interpreted by high authority of WHTM commenters. I’m also lighter than a duck, apparently.
@Rhuu: it means something like “even Hercules is weak when he is ganged up on.”
Thanks, Yutolia!
@yzek – weird quote… Unless this is another idiom I’m not aware of, it is odd for you to call yourself a witch, when that was used overwhelmingly against people that you most definitely aren’t…?
@Lainy – Take care of yourself. *sends well wishes*
@Rhuu
I think yzek is just trying to claim the mantle of the persecuted other, but doesn’t give enough of a crap about it to actually make his references coherent.
Kind of a half-assed flailing in the direction of meaning, which of course gives ample opportunity to claim that “what I really meant was [insert whatever seems rhetorically convenient at the time]”.
You know: a bullshitter.
@yzek “oh wah someone is trying to hold me accountable for things I say!”:
actually, yeah, your audience is going to interpret your words. It happens to anyone who attempts to communicate. Once you put something out there, the receiver is going to interpret that how they will.
When a lot of people interpret your words a specific way, and it wasn’t what you intended, the problem is still coming from you.
Plus, I don’t really even think you actually believe we misinterpreted you. It’s like you don’t expect us to call you out for some reason, and then you think you can gaslight us into believing you said things you didn’t and didn’t say things you did.
@RHuu:
when that was used overwhelmingly against people that you most definitely aren’t…?
Weird, isn’t it?
@Rhuu
Thank you, I’ll be fine. It’s just a sprain. I’ve been dancing for 15 years, their apart of life at this point.
Weird that you, a misogynist, use a word that was used to persecute and murder women, because society was heavily misogynistic against women and killed them for, well, being women?
No, actually, not that weird. Disgusting, more like.
@Lainy
Still, feel better soon. Sprains suck.
@People who said stuff about South Park
Thank you! I have always loathed that show and been consistently told that it’s because I have no sense of humor and I’m such a square and blah blah blah, and I come back with “but look at what that is really saying!” to no avail. I feel very vindicated in my opinion now. ? I knew it all along!
@ yzek
Wait, you come in here and comment here, and you think we should have no authority in our own comments community? Who should, in your opinion? What is the correct high authority? Group consensus is out (not least because group consensus is against you), so should it be David? But he listens to group concensus… so maybe no one, because Freeze Peach? What authority should supersede ours?
@yzek
I can’t figure out if you’re upset about the incel label or the metaphorical kicking. I’m happy not to think of you as an incel specifically if that’s not a label you claim, but I’m going to keep treating incels with derision for their beliefs and treating you with derision for yours.
@Wetherby @Rhuu Well that’s guilt by association. Can I call you a TERF? Afterall TERFs call themselves feminists and you are a feminist, therefore… you are a TERF? Doesn’t make any sense to me.
The incel community is the only place I can find people in my situation (in their 30s and KHHV). Since the edgy kids hang out on .co, and I don’t browse that site or condone violence, I really don’t see why I should be in a watchlist like people think we all should be.
@Gaebolga @Ariblester You are putting words in my mouth, I think traits like recessed chins, skin problems (such as vitiligo or cystic acne scars), an abnormal head shape, a nose that doesn’t match your face and others are unanimously considered ugly traits. It doesn’t mean, for example, that if you just have a recessed chin, it’s over; you can compensate that trait with other things. But when you have multiple bad traits and you end up like a 2/10, it’s truly over.
Would you have a relationship with someone you’re ashamed of going outside with? Who attracts judgy eyes?
@incel157
Hey fuckwit. I have a good friend who lost half his face from a dog attack. He has a lovely boyfriend that is never ashamed of him even if people stare. Even if children ask mommy what happened to that man’s face. Maybe your just shallower then a kiddy pool. I could stand in a puddle of you and not get my feet wet.