Accused Toronto attacker’s allegiance to misogynistic group ‘Incel Rebellion’
THE accused Toronto killer posted a cryptic message to Facebook about his allegiance to a group for men who hate women.
THE accused Toronto killer posted a cryptic message on Facebook in which he pledged allegiance to the misogynistic “Incel Rebellion” group prior to allegedly mowing down hordes of people in Canada’s most populous city.
Ten pedestrians were killed and 16 others injured when a man driving a white rented van sped along busy Yonge St and up onto the footpath for about 1km in the centre of Toronto at around 1.30pm on Monday.
One witness told CityNews that the driver was “hitting anything that comes in the way”.
“People, fire hydrants, there’s mailboxes being run over,” said the unnamed man, who said he was driving behind the van during the incident.
Toronto city’s police chief Mark Saunders said that within seven minutes of the emergency call to police, the suspect Alek Minassian, 25, was arrested near where the van had been left, its front bumper smashed in.
Police have revealed that the victims were “predominantly women”, ranging in age from their mid-20s to early 80s.
Several of the victims were named in court documents, but others were still being identified by the coroner, who brought in extra help overnight.
But in a shocking twist, lead investigator Detective Sergeant Graham Gibson said Mr Minassian had posted a “cryptic message on Facebook minutes before he began driving the rented van”.
“Incel Rebellion has already begun!” the post read.
“We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys!
“All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!”
WHAT IS THE INCEL REBELLION?
Rodger was a 22-year-old American who murdered six people then took his own life in California in May 2014 after expressing frustration over his virginity and women rejecting him. Rodger had cited the “cruelness of women” for his virgin status prior to the murders. The term “incel” — short for “involuntarily celibate” — refers to a now-banned group on the message site Reddit, used by Rodger, where young men discussed their lack of sexual activity and attractiveness to women — often blaming women for the problem.
Self-professed incels congregate mostly online, meeting in forums and message boards including Reddit and 4chan, and its offshoot site 8chan, to discuss their hopelessness with women in posts that are peppered with racist and misogynistic rants, NBC News reported.
“Chads” are incel-speak for good-looking men, who incels believe can’t be one of them. “Stacys” are the women who find “Chads” attractive.
According to University of Toronto sociology professor Judith Taylor, Incel was a group started by a young Canadian woman in 1993 for people who struggled to find acceptance in their social lives and often found themselves “involuntarily celibate”, Toronto CityNews reported.
The term would soon be appropriated by groups of disaffected, young white males who often vented their frustrations on online forums. Ms Taylor said they were mostly aged 19-30.
“(They) used it as a mechanism for talking about their resentment and hatred,” Ms Taylor told the publication.
“Their resentment against socially successful men, their resentment against women who were withholding sex.
“This is a population that is anticipating a particular kind of social standing that real life isn’t offering them and they are looking for things to blame. These are also young men that have felt themselves victims of bullying and who haven’t reached the kind of success or popularity that they had hoped for.”
‘OUR NEXT NEW SAINT’
Mr Minassian’s post spread quickly among the Incel community, many of whom rushed to embrace him.
“I hope this guy wrote a manifesto because he could be our next new saint,” one poster wrote on incel.me, a forum where incels congregate.
Others questioned whether Mr Minassian was a “fakecel” — the term for someone whose average looks disqualifies him from community membership — but most hailed him as a hero of the movement.
“Spread that name, speak of his sacrifice for our cause, worship him for he gave his life for our future,” one poster wrote.
This man, believed to be Minassian's relative, was escorted out by court officials and was crying in the front row during the hearing. He said "sorry" when asked if he had anything to say to the people of Canada and softly said "no"when asked if there were warning signs. @ABC pic.twitter.com/dm6whWGEbt
— Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) April 24, 2018
‘HE WAS QUITE STRANGE’
Det Sgt Gibson told reporters the question of whether the attack was driven by anger against women was “going to be part of our investigation”.
Facebook has since deleted Mr Minassian’s account, a representative said.
“There is absolutely no place on our platform for people who commit such horrendous acts,” the spokesman said in an email.
Ari Blaff, who went to high school with Mr Minassian, told public broadcaster CBC that his behaviour “was usually quite strange.” But Mr Blaff said he’d “never noticed anything violent” — the suspect just “made people feel uneasy around him”.
Mr Minassian’s mother told a community newspaper in 2009 that he suffered from a form of autism known as Asperger’s.
A shaven-headed Mr Minassian appeared in court early on Tuesday to hear the charges against him — 10 counts of premeditated murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. A 14th count of attempted murder was pending after the toll of injured was revised down.
Minassian stood impassively with his hands behind his back, wearing a white police jumpsuit. He was calm as he was led away.
The suspect is scheduled to return to court on May 10 for a bail hearing.
— With wires