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VERY, VERY ONLINE
Note to readers: I’ll be on vacation for the next two weeks, leaving you in the trusted hands of my editor, Greg, and the wonderful team at Crooked. See you later!
Questions are swirling about the Charlie Kirk murder suspect’s background and motives. One thing we do know: He was extremely online.
Authorities announced the arrest this morning of Tyler James Robinson, 22, as the lone suspect in the shooting of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk on Wednesday. Yet his motivations — a subject that’s prompting heated online debate — remain unclear. While Robinson’s parents are registered Republicans [ [link removed] ], state records indicate that he’s an “inactive voter” who hasn’t voted in the past two elections.
Engravings found on bullet casings from Robinson’s rifle indicate that he was deeply steeped in internet culture [ [link removed] ]. The phrases may look like nonsense to outsiders. But several are relatively commonplace on some message boards and group chats, where they can be taken as jokes, insults, trolling, or a kind of very online sarcastic banter.
One phrase, “Hey fascist! Catch! ⬆️➡️⬇️⬇️⬇️,” appears to refer to the a video game Helldivers 2, in which the directions of the controller can unleash a particularly devastating bomb strike.
Another, “Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,” refers to lyrics in a song. The tune originated an anti-fascist folk ballad from Italy during World War 2. But it has been used in video games, and become a popular reference among gamers.
Another casing featured the phrase “Notices bulges OwO, what’s this?” The phrase “is used for trolling, with roots in online role-play communities,” according [ [link removed] ] to the New York Times.
Memes are “often superficially benign-looking or funny, but prove darker on analysis,” Mary Rice, an associate professor of literacy and language arts at the University of New Mexico, told What A Day. “What seems likely is that Mr. Robinson was very online and very into meme culture, and that he has been for some time, since some of the references were popularized around 2018.”
Officials, journalists and the public are still trying to piece together what it all means.
Meme culture can be tricky to decipher — especially when it comes from members of Gen Z [ [link removed] ]. We need more information to understand what these phrases were supposed to signify, if anything, Rice said. “Were the set of casings supposed to mean something collectively, or were they just Robinson’s favorites?” she said. “Are they stand-ins for specific individuals, ideas, or events? It is hard to say at this moment.”
Experts urged caution when trying to read the tea leaves. “Be careful trying to decipher the true political beliefs of people wrapped in so many layers of irony they're not sure of their own true beliefs,” Elle Reeve, a longtime extremism reporter, cautioned in a tweet [ [link removed] ].
This episode is the latest in a trend of deadly shootings involving suspects entrenched in internet culture [ [link removed] ]. Social media is omnipresent in millions of Americans’ lives, and researchers often warn [ [link removed] ] about its links to radicalization.
“Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said. “I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member."
WHAT ELSE?
FBI Director Kash Patel continued to show why, [ [link removed] ] even after the arrest, he’s remarkably unqualified for his current job. This morning, he raised eyebrows at a press conference about the Kirk investigation by closing with an invocation of Norse mythology. “To my friend Charlie Kirk… I’ll see you in Valhalla,” he said, referring to the immense banquet hall where fallen Norse warriors supposedly feast in the afterlife. Okay, Thor?
Donald Trump said he plans to send [ [link removed] ] the National Guard into Memphis, Tennessee soon. “We’re going to fix that just like Washington,” he said, referencing the chaotic deployment of thousands of troops to the nation’s capital… where they have been tasked with picking up trash because there’s nothing else to do.
Nearly every major grocery category is more expensive [ [link removed] ] now than this time last year, according to new government data. This news comes literally two days after a White House press release headlined: “President Trump Has Crushed Biden’s Inflation Crisis.” Crush it any harder and Thanks for lowering the price of groceries, Donald!
Poland lashed out at Trump after he floated [ [link removed] ] the idea that Russian drones flying over Polish territory may have been a “mistake.” The incident caused NATO countries to scramble jets and shoot down the drones this week. “We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it,” tweeted Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. (To be fair, it’s unclear whether the move was intentional or not… although new Russian military exercises [ [link removed] ] aren’t easing concerns.)
You know how the U.S. brokered a deal [ [link removed] ] with Belarus to free 52 political prisoners? Those freed prisoners thanked Trump for helping out… but some have said they’d prefer to have stayed in Belarus rather than be expelled to Lithuania — especially since many were set to be freed soon, anyways.
Light at the End of the Email…
This one’s bittersweet: [ [link removed] ] Fans of Ghost, a dying giant octopus that lives in a Southern California aquarium, are showering her with love and support as she spends her final days caring for eggs that will never hatch. “She is a wonderful octopus and has made an eight-armed impression on all of our hearts,” the aquarium wrote on Instagram. I’m not crying, you are!!!
Longtime political columnist Dana Milbank wrote [ [link removed] ] a piece about his foray into studying grasses, wildflowers, and other oft-overlooked — yet beautiful and intricate — parts of nature. “It’s precisely when our troubles are greatest that we need to remember to find beauty in the smallest things. A sense of wonder doesn’t make those problems go away — but it can keep us from despair,” he writes.
Literature aficionados are hosting grand costumed balls [ [link removed] ] and other extravagant events across the country to mark the 250th anniversary of author Jane Austen’s birth. “We’re growing all the time because Jane Austen is timeless,” said Mary Mintz, president of the Jane Austen Society of North America. “We have members from Japan, India. They come from every continent except Antarctica.” Get your act together, Antarctica!
It’s the fourth birthday of giant panda Qing Bao! [ [link removed] ] She has lived at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, D.C. since October and was given a fruitsicle cake (made with frozen beet, pineapple and apple juice with water) to munch on for the special day. She was also given a new big ball to play with. Happy birthday!
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