Van attack puts spotlight on ‘incel’ community

Visions of their masculinity said defined in opposition to feminism

TORONTO — A message allegedly posted by the accused in Toronto’s deadly van attack is shedding light on a mostly male online community that an expert says endorses violent rhetoric against women.

Police have said they are looking into a “cryptic” message posted on Alek Minassian’s Facebook profile minutes before pedestrians were mowed down on a northern stretch of Yonge Street.

Facebook has said it deleted the account associated with the widely circulated post, which refers to involuntary celibacy, often shortened to “incel.”

“The Incel Rebellion has already begun!” the post declared.

Ryan Duquette, of the Torontobased digital forensics consulting firm Hexigent, said it’s not clear who accessed the account when the message was posted based on the information that’s publicly available. Duquette, a former police officer, said investigators are likely working to verify the post’s origins by analyzing the device used to access the account, location data and the suspect’s online history.

Both Facebook and police declined to provide more information about the post.

Debbie Ging, an associate professor at Dublin City University studying gender and social media, said the incels are part of a loose confederacy of male-dominated online subcultures known as the “manosphere,” which espouse a range of visions of modern masculinity, often defined in opposition to feminism.

Incels are characterized by their inability to find sexual partners, which is often intertwined with resentment toward women, whom they see as “genetically hard-wired gold diggers,” Ging said.

Minassian, 25, is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. Police expect a 14th attempted murder charge will be laid.