Why Did Mass Shooting Manifesto Cite Candace Owens, Slammed For Hitler Remarks?
Turning Point USA spokesperson Candace Owens. Image by Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia Commons
By Helen Chernikoff March 15, 2019
A manifesto associated with the mass shooting of 49 people in two Christchurch mosques on Friday cites Candace Owens, who in a February public speaking event tried to defend the concept of nationalism by saying that it would have been “fine” if [Adolf Hitler had restricted his activities to Germany.
Owens is the communications director of the pro-Trump, right-wing organization Turning Point USA, a student political group whose members have been accused of racism and anti-Semitism.
Analysts have said the violent manifesto was carefully crafted to ensure widespread dissemination online — “designed to troll,” is how a headline in the Atlantic has it.
It mentions Owens as an inspiration, but also “Spyro the Dragon 3” and “Fortnite,” which are video games, for example. Such references might be serious, mocking or both. White supremacists who operate online often shroud their meaning in layers of irony, which enables them both to gaslight readers and claim deniability.
Owens, who is black, has called for a “Blexit” of African-Americans from the Democratic party to the Republicans. A Jewish group called “Jexodus” with similar goals emerged this past week and received tweeted support from President Trump.
In November, a racist gunman who hated Jews and immigrants murdered 11 Jews at prayer in a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. Friday is the holiest day of the Muslim week.
Correction, March 18, 10:54 a.m.: A previous version of this story stated that 17 Jews were murdered by a gunman in Pittsburgh synagogues; the actual number was 11.
Contact Helen Chernikoff at [email protected] or on Twitter @thesimplechild
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Chicago man charged with hate crime for attack of two Jewish DePaul students
-
Fast Forward In the ashes of the governor’s mansion, clues to a mystery about Josh Shapiro’s Passover Seder
-
Fast Forward Itamar Ben-Gvir is coming to America, with stops at Yale and in New York City already set
-
Fast Forward Texas Jews split as lawmakers sign off on $1B private school voucher program
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 3
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 4
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Chicago man charged with hate crime for attack of two Jewish DePaul students
-
Fast Forward In the ashes of the governor’s mansion, clues to a mystery about Josh Shapiro’s Passover Seder
-
Fast Forward Itamar Ben-Gvir is coming to America, with stops at Yale and in New York City already set
-
Fast Forward Texas Jews split as lawmakers sign off on $1B private school voucher program
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.