Words Matter: Trump and the Massacres in Christchurch

• by Jan Lundius (stockholm / rome)
• Monday, March 25, 2019
• Inter Press Service

Tennant had by then shot and killed 50 individuals, aged between 2 and 71 years. He had used two semi-automatic rifles, two shotguns and a lever-action rifle, all purchased online from a local gun store. Tennant live-streamed the 17 minutes Al Noor Mosque massacre at Facebook Live. Nine minutes before initiating his killing spree he had posted links to a 73-page manifesto, The Great Replacement, on Twitter and 8chan and emailed it to 30 recipients, among them The Prime Minister´s Office and various media outlets.

Contrary to many Islamist terrorists, who are prepared to die for their beliefs, Tennant wanted to be taken alive and use his trial as an opportunity to appear as a martyr for his beliefs and use his deeds as propaganda for them. Exactly like another white supremacist before him, the Norwegian Anders Berling Breivik, who in June 2011 in cold blood slaughtered 77 totally unprotected and surprised individuals, most of them youngsters between 14 and 18 years. Breivik´s statements in court and his 1,500 pages long manifesto served as an inspiration for Tennant.

Condemnations and condolences arrived immediately after the horrific event. Almost every nation leader sent his/her "heart-felt" sympathies to the people of New Zealand and Muslims around the world. Donald Trump twittered: "My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques." This was normal procedure, though Trump did three days after his first tweet post another one: "The Fake News Media is working overtime to blame me for the horrible attack in New Zealand. They will have to work very hard to prove that one. So Ridiculous!" Trump had before that declared that he did not view white nationalism as a rising threat: "I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess." Perfectly in line with previously expressed views when Trump had assumed that any Muslim lone wolf slayer represented views of all Muslims: "I think Islam hates us". This while any person who in the name of some whacky right-wing ideology had massacred people, like the Las Vegas shooter who killed 58 people, according to Trump represented no one else but himself. Such people are according to Trump just crazy: "The wires were crossed pretty badly in his brain. Extremely badly in his brain. And it's a very sad event." Trump´s line of thinking may thus be connected with the fact that his administration cut funding for the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programme – except to address Islamic-inspired terrorism.

Trump seems to express inclinations towards extreme narcissism and cynical populism. He has during his presidency revealed a behaviour characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, excessive need for admiration and a lack of empathy. However, there is apparently also a large dose of populism characterizing his way of expressing himself. Particularly in his cynical use of xenophobia. Trump has repeatedly whipped up fear off criminal elements and potential terrorists illegally crossing US borders: "They're sending us not the right people. The US has become a dumping ground for everyone else's problems." Using vulgar expressions Trump has declared that many migrants come from places he defined as "shithole countries".

Trump behaves like a performer blinded by his own success and like many others who use the Internet as a political platform he indulges in rude attacks on perceived opponents and enemies. He is fond of using offensive dubs and verbal barrage like an "extraordinarily low IQ person", against people with other views than his own. Simultaneously he showers inflated praise on those who support him. Candace Owens, an Afro-American conservative commentator and political activist, who Tarrant in his manifesto declared to be the one who had "influenced above all" has by Trump been acclaimed as someone who

is having a big impact on politics in our country. She represents an ever expanding group of very smart 'thinkers,' and it is wonderful to watch and hear the dialogue going on ... so good for our Country!

Trump had of course been delighted by Owens´s declaration that "the left hates America and Trump loves it!"

It may be claimed that Trump did not create a maniac like Brenton Tarrant, who in his manifesto hailed the US President as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose." However, opinion makers who use a derogative language, making fun of "political correctness" and subscribe to blatant generalizations, inspire others to do that as well.

An example of this is the Swedish "shock jock" PewDiePie, who due to his more than 89 million YouTube subscribers, in 2016 was listed among Time Magazine´s "100 most influential people". PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, makes millions of dollars annually. My high school pupils made me listen to him entertaining and impressing his overwhelmingly young listeners by his ridiculously exaggerated, puerile and fake melodramatic persona, pouring out expletives and pointless jokes, often precariously close to "forbidden" themes like racism and misogyny. An approach called memeing, i.e. expressing inane and dumb assertions while appearing as if you are serious about them. I did not find PewDiePie´s idiotic ramblings funny, only annoying, though Tarrant wrote in his manifesto: "Remember lads, subscribe to PewDiePie."

By simply clicking "send" we may all reach any madman with our baseless generalizations. By setting up blogs, vlogs, Instagram - and Facebook accounts we may share our opinions and "facts" without realizing that with this power comes responsibility. A world leader like Trump cannot excuse himself from the fact that his statement about certain immigrants, even if they in this case were criminally charged members of the infamous MS 13 gang, might have grave consequences:

You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals.

Expressions like "we and them", indicating a right to mistreat others, even innocent children, in the name of our own superiority, may convince ice-cold mass murderers like Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant that they have been doing humanity a service by annihilating "enemies to our way of life".

No – Trump and PewDiePie, you cannot convince me that you are any innocent bystanders. Each and everyone of us is responsible for his/her own discourse and actions. Not any of us is an autonomous being. For better or worse, we are all connected to one another. Accordingly, our words have effects and do not for one second assume that hate speech is beneficial for human co-existence.

Jan Lundius holds a PhD. on History of Religion from Lund University and has served as a development expert, researcher and advisor at SIDA, UNESCO, FAO and other international organisations.

© Inter Press Service (2019) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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