Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

bigtree

(85,998 posts)
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 11:52 AM Oct 2018

MAGAbomber's Radicalization Parallels Rise of Trump

Kevin Roose @kevinroose28m28 minutes ago
New: I dug through 2+ years of Cesar Sayoc’s Facebook and Twitter feeds and found a very clear radicalization point.

Before 2016, it was photos of food, sports, cars. After, it was MAGA memes and videos like “Satan Sent Obama to Destroy America.”
https://t.co/UVAuaTFVgU

from NYT:

Until 2016, Cesar Altieri Sayoc Jr.’s life on social media looked unremarkable. On his Facebook page, he posted photos of decadent meals, gym workouts, scantily clad women and sports games — the stereotypical trappings of middle-age masculinity.

But that year, Mr. Sayoc’s social media presence took on a darker and more partisan tone. He opened a new Twitter account and began posting links to sensational right-wing news stories, adding captions like “Clinton busted exposed rigging entire election.” On Facebook, his anodyne posts gave way to a feed overflowing with pro-Donald Trump images, news stories about Muslims and the Islamic State, far-fetched conspiracy theories and clips from Fox News broadcasts.

By the time he was arrested in Florida on Friday, charged with sending pipe bombs to at least a dozen of President Trump’s critics, Mr. Sayoc appeared to fit the all-too-familiar profile of a modern extremist, radicalized online and sucked into a vortex of partisan furor. In recent weeks, he had posted violent fantasies and threats against several people to whom pipe bombs were addressed, including Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. His vehicle, a white van plastered with right-wing slogans, came to resemble a Facebook feed on wheels.

“He went from posting pictures of women, real estate, dining and cars to posting pictures of ISIS, guns and people in jail,” said Jonathan Albright, the research director for Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism. “It’s a remarkable change.”

read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/technology/cesar-sayoc-facebook-twitter.html

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
MAGAbomber's Radicalization Parallels Rise of Trump (Original Post) bigtree Oct 2018 OP
radicalized online underpants Oct 2018 #1
Irresponsible right wing media needs to be laid out naked and bare...then gutted and cremated. UniteFightBack Oct 2018 #5
Good grief leftstreet Oct 2018 #2
You are borderline crazy and easily led YessirAtsaFact Oct 2018 #6
Thank you for this post! yardwork Oct 2018 #3
And it's also very possible that someone can get radicalized by their hatred of RUMP. This is UniteFightBack Oct 2018 #4
Trump's critics aren't holding huge rallies encouraging violence YessirAtsaFact Oct 2018 #7
Yes agreed....much much less likely ..but still possible. nt UniteFightBack Oct 2018 #9
I'd think you'd need to be inclined to violence bigtree Oct 2018 #8
I agree what the right is much more responsible for acts such as this...I'm just saying it's UniteFightBack Oct 2018 #10
New York Times archived Sayoc's accounts before they were taken down sanatanadharma Oct 2018 #11
kick bigtree Oct 2018 #12
. bigtree Oct 2018 #13
Like father like son. UTUSN Oct 2018 #14

underpants

(182,829 posts)
1. radicalized online
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 12:05 PM
Oct 2018

Yep. That nails it.

But before Mr. Sayoc’s accounts were taken down, The New York Times archived their contents. And a closer study of his online activity reveals the evolution of a political identity built on a foundation of false news and misinformation, and steeped in the insular culture of the right-wing media.

 

UniteFightBack

(8,231 posts)
5. Irresponsible right wing media needs to be laid out naked and bare...then gutted and cremated.
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 12:10 PM
Oct 2018

They need to start the fuck over.

leftstreet

(36,108 posts)
2. Good grief
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 12:07 PM
Oct 2018

How do you go from posting pictures about food and cars to threatening public figures?

Fascinating article

YessirAtsaFact

(2,064 posts)
6. You are borderline crazy and easily led
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 12:12 PM
Oct 2018

And somebody in a position of power starts saying publicly all of the nasty thoughts you have had for years.

 

UniteFightBack

(8,231 posts)
4. And it's also very possible that someone can get radicalized by their hatred of RUMP. This is
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 12:08 PM
Oct 2018

NOT fucking good.

bigtree

(85,998 posts)
8. I'd think you'd need to be inclined to violence
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 12:15 PM
Oct 2018

...let's look at the actual threat.

Ned Pyle @NerdPyle
2/3rds of US terror incidents in 2017 carried out by right-wing groups. & I'd call it 74%, because when your platform of hating women, other religions, gay people, and foreigners matches up exactly with Islamic Extremists, you're not separate groups https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/09/12/study-shows-two-thirds-us-terrorism-tied-right-wing-extremists

Simon Rosenberg @SimonWDC
Reminder that the most significant domestic terror threat in the US has been coming from right wing extremists. https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-report-white-supremacist-murders-more-than-doubled-in-2017 … Not lefties, not jihadis.

 

UniteFightBack

(8,231 posts)
10. I agree what the right is much more responsible for acts such as this...I'm just saying it's
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 12:19 PM
Oct 2018

possible.

I can not tell you how many times I've cut and pasted the NYT article to rump humpers about how you are much more likely to be attacked by a white supremacist than an islamic terrorist.

sanatanadharma

(3,707 posts)
11. New York Times archived Sayoc's accounts before they were taken down
Sat Oct 27, 2018, 12:41 PM
Oct 2018

I hope people here to also did. If so, try to make more photos public.

Yesterday, early in the breaking news, I followed the links in a DU post to two Twitter pages and did a deep dive into those swamps.
Later in the day, the pages were taken down.

There I saw he had posted some disturbing photos of human body parts not eaten by crocodiles.
and a car apparently pulled out of the swamps.
His treats to take folks on air-boat rides takes on a new color in this light.

He also posted a selfie taken at the inauguration in Jan, 2017.
In the frequently seen photo of him holding up a sign overhead, he is wearing a shirt with a print that seems to be of one of the van windows with stickers.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»MAGAbomber's Radicalizati...