Why everyone’s suddenly talking about “Groypers”

If you ve scrolled through social media in contemporary times you may have seen the word groyper trending For multiple people this is their first time hearing the term and the sudden spike in attention comes after reports suggested that the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk may have ties to the so-called groyper movement So what exactly is a groyper Groypers or the Groyper Army are a loose online framework of far-right activists and trolls The movement is led by white nationalist Nick Fuentes who gained notoriety for his anti-immigration antisemitic and Christian nationalist views The name Groyper comes from a meme a plump reclining version of the internet s Pepe the Frog That became the group s mascot around The movement s primary aim is to push extremist ideas into the conservative mainstream They often target conservatives they see as too moderate using what became known as the Groyper Wars coordinated campaigns where activists would attend conservative events ask provocative questions about immigration race or LGBTQ rights and post viral clips online to embarrass figures like Charlie Kirk or Turning Point USA Groypers are also known for their heavy use of memes trolling and irony Those are techniques that make their rhetoric appealing and shareable in far-right online spaces The Southern Poverty Law Center and other watchdogs have tracked the movement as part of a broader effort to repackage white nationalist ideology for younger more online audiences The term exploded back into the mainstream after Kirk s shooting Chosen commentators and social media users suggested the suspect may have been a groyper framing the killing as part of a bitter internal feud within the far-right As of now investigators have not validated that the shooter was part of the groyper movement The alleged connection is based largely on online chatter and unverified states Still the attention has renewed focus on the movement s ideology and its role in shaping the outer edges of conservative politics For readers unfamiliar with the term groyper essentially refers to an online faction of the far-right that uses meme practices and trolling to normalize extremist views And it s trending currently because of the speculation surrounding Kirk s death Read more about groypers Groyper guru Nick Fuentes returns to Twitter briefly Hateful content keeps flowing Traditional Catholics and white nationalist groypers forge a new far-right youth movement White nationalist groyper movement links up with anti-vaxxers threatens use of weapons The post Why everyone s suddenly talking about Groypers appeared first on Salon com