"On the day that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson shot and killed rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, prosecutors say, he texted his roommate to confess what he'd done. While appearing to admit to the murder and describe how he was planning to retrieve his gun, he pivoted to mention why he had carved messages into the ammunition. Remember how I was engraving bullets? The fuckin messages are mostly a big meme, Robinson texted, according to authorities."
"Robinson's shooting of Kirk has put the spotlight on the intersection of political violence and an increasingly nihilistic online world that promotes misinformation and extremism. It's a confluence that raises fundamental questions about how internet culture influences both extremist attacks and how we understand them, at a time when some of the biggest online spaces are increasingly more divisive and less moderated. Robinson appeared to spend much of his life on the internet and playing video games, with friends describing him as terminally online."
"Bullet casings from the gun he allegedly fired were engraved with niche references and internet-speak notices bulge OwO what's this, a reference to a meme about sex within the online Furry subculture, if you read this you are gay LMAO, Hey Fascist! CATCH!, as well as the controller movements to use a special bomb in the popular video game Helldivers 2 and the lyrics to the antifascist song Bella Ciao, which has become popular among gamers after featuring in the game Far Cry 6."
Tyler Robinson shot and killed rightwing activist Charlie Kirk and texted his roommate appearing to confess and explain he planned to retrieve his gun. He described engraving bullets and characterized the inscriptions as mostly memes. The shooting has focused attention on how political violence intersects with an increasingly nihilistic online world that promotes misinformation and extremism. Robinson spent much of his life online and playing video games, was active on Discord, and earlier dressed as internet memes for Halloween. Bullet casings allegedly from the shooting bore niche internet references, meme language, gaming controller inputs, and lyrics from Bella Ciao. He appeared aware of how ironic messages would be received.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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