Explaining the ‘ incel’ movement
online community a haven for men who feel sexually rejected
In a precedent- setting case, police have laid terrorism charges over an attack at a Toronto massage parlour because it was allegedly inspired by the “incel” ideology.
It is the first time in Canadian history — and possibly anywhere in the world — that terrorism charges have been used to prosecute an incel attack. The term is short for being “involuntarily celibate,” and has come to refer to a deeply misogynistic internet community for men who feel sexually rejected.
The 17- year- old suspect, who can’t be named due to his age, murdered 24- yearold Ashley Noell Arzaga and stabbed two others who survived. Police first laid charges of first- degree murder and attempted murder in February, but announced on Tuesday the charges have been updated to “murder — terrorist activity.”
Toronto police brought in the RCMP’S Integrated National Security Enforcement Team after discovering evidence that indicated the attack may have been motivated by the incel movement.
“Terrorism comes in many forms and it’s important to note that it is not restricted to any particular group, religion or ideology,” said the joint statement by Toronto police and the RCMP. The statement refers to incel as an “ideologically motivated violent extremist movement.”
What is the incel
movement?
Many other attacks have previously been attributed to the incel movement, including the 2018 Toronto van attack that killed 10 people, a 2015 Oregon college shooting that killed nine, and a 2014 California shooting spree that killed six.
The movement grew through message boards on dedicated websites as well as forums like 4chan, known for no- holds- barred discussions and the incubation of conspiracy-laden ideologies. The website Reddit shut down its incel forum after complaints regarding violent content.
The tone of the online discussions varies; sometimes there is mockery and sarcasm, but men who identify as “incels” generally express hatred toward women, accusing them of sexually manipulating or humiliating men. Some posts explicitly encourage attacks on women.
The names Chad and Stacy are typically used by incels as stand- ins for everyone they hate or envy: Chads are physically attractive ( but often intellectually dim) men who have success with women. Stacys are the women who reject incels in favour of Chads.
The California
shooting
In 2014, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger carried out a mass shooting outside a sorority house in Isla Vista, Calif., killing six people — two women and his three male roommates — and injuring 14.
Before the attack, Rodger had created a manifesto and a video outlining his “existence of loneliness, rejection and unfulfilled desires.”
“It’s an injustice, a crime because I don’t know what you don’t see in me, I’m the perfect guy and yet you throw yourselves at all these obnoxious men instead of me, the supreme gentleman,” he said. “I will punish all of you for it.” Rodgers killed himself at the end of his attack.
The Toronto van attack
Alek Minassian was scheduled to go on trial for the Toronto van attack in April, but it’s now been delayed due to COVID-19.
Shortly before the attack, Minassian posted incel tropes on his Facebook account, referring to Rodger as the “supreme gentleman” and calling for the overthrow of “all the Chads and Stacys.”
After he was arrested, Minassian claimed to police that he’d been in contact with Rodger, and even claimed Rodger had confided in him about his “mission” three days before the shooting.
Minassian told police he’d been rejected by women and had never been in an intimate relationship with one. He said he found the online incel community through a friend when was attending a Toronto college in 2014.
“I know of several other guys over the internet who feel the same way, but ... I would consider them too cowardly to act on their anger,” Minassian told police in the interview.
He claimed he had also been in contact with the Oregon college shooter Chris Harper- Mercer, who also killed himself at the end of the attack.
“We discussed our frustrations at society and being unable to get laid and we were plotting a certain timed strikes on society, in order to confuse and shake the foundations, just to put all the normies in a state of panic,” Minassian said about his online discussions with Rodger and Harper-mercer.
It hasn’t been independently confirmed Minassian was in contact with the two shooters, but more information may come in court. The trial will focus on Minassian’s state of mind, as Minassian has admitted to the attack.