Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Why Did Mass Shooting Manifesto Cite Candace Owens, Slammed For Hitler Remarks?

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

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 credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link 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.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.