What is the 'boogaloo'? How online calls for a violent uprising are hitting the mainstream
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
An anti-government movement that advocates for a violent uprising targeting liberal political opponents and law enforcement has moved from the fringes of the internet into the mainstream and surged on social media in recent months, according to a group of researchers that tracks hate groups.
The movement, which says it wants a second Civil War organized around the term "boogaloo," includes groups on mainstream internet platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit, as well as fringe websites including 4chan, according to a report released Tuesday night by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), an independent nonprofit of scientists and engineers that tracks and reports on misinformation and hate speech across social media.
While calls for organized and targeted violence in the form of a new Civil War have previously circulated among some hate groups, the emergence of the term "boogaloo" appeared to be a new and discrete movement. NCRI researchers who analyzed more than 100 million social media posts and comments found that through the use of memes — inside jokes commonly in the form of images — extremists have pushed anti-government and anti-law enforcement messages across social media platforms. They have also organized online communities with tens of thousands of members, some of whom have assembled at real-world events.
The report "represents a breakthrough case study in the capacity to identify cyber swarms and viral insurgencies in nearly real time as they are developing in plain sight," John Farmer, a former New Jersey attorney general who is director of the Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience at Rutgers University, wrote in the report's foreword.
A patch with the image of an armed Pepe the Frog is worn during a rally organized by the Virginia Citizens Defense League on Capitol Square near the state Capitol building in Richmond, Virginia, on Jan. 20, 2020. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file The report comes as U.S. law enforcement officials and researchers at various levels have issued warnings about the growing threat posed by domestic extremists motivated by fringe ideologies and conspiracy theories. NCRI director Joel Finkelstein, a research scholar at the James Madison Program at Princeton University, said the report had been sent to members of Congress and the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice, among others.
Paul Goldenberg, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council , said the report was "a wake-up call."
"When you have people talking about and planning sedition and violence against minorities, police and public officials, we need to take their words seriously," said Goldenberg, who is also CEO of the security consulting company Cardinal Point Strategies.
Goldenberg said the report had "gone viral" within law enforcement and intelligence communities since its limited release last week. People are reading it and distributing it "far and wide," he said.
The current boogaloo movement was first noticed by extremism researchers in 2019 , when fringe groups from gun rights and militia movements to white supremacists began referring to an impending civil war using the word "boogaloo," a joking reference to "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo," a 1984 sequel movie about breakdancing.
The term is used to describe an uprising against a seemingly tyrannical or left-wing government, often in response to a perceived threat of widespread gun confiscation. For many, the word "boogaloo" — silly on its face — is used jokingly or ironically, but for others, the boogaloo memes are shared alongside violent text and images, seemingly to inflame an eventual confrontation.
In the last three months, boogaloo-related conversation has grown rapidly, according to the researchers, who found that use of the term has increased nearly 50 percent on platforms like Reddit and Twitter over the last few months. Increased exposure, the researchers warn, carries the danger of indoctrination.
Boogaloo extremists have used social media to "strategize, share instructions for explosives and 3-D printed firearms, distribute illegal firearm modifications, and siphon users into encrypted messaging boards en mass," according to the NCRI report. The report also notes how the boogaloo concept has been monetized, through merchandise advertised through Facebook and Instagram ads, and marketed to current and former members of the military.
On Facebook and Instagram, the researchers pointed to several boogaloo-themed public groups and accounts with tens of thousands of members and followers.
A spokesperson for Facebook said in an emailed statement that the company monitored groups that called for violence.
"We've been studying trends around this and related terms on Facebook and Instagram," the spokesperson said. "We don't allow speech used to incite hate or violence, and will remove any content that violates our policies. We'll continue to monitor this across our platform."
Since NCRI generated the report last week, membership in several boogaloo groups on Facebook has nearly doubled, according to an NBC News analysis. Two of Facebook's most popular boogaloo groups, which boasted nearly 20,000 followers during the same period, are no longer available this week.
Much like the OK hand symbol co-opted by white nationalists who later denied the association, the ambiguity of the term "boogaloo" works to cloak extremist organizing in the open.
"Like a virus hiding from the immune system, the use of comical-meme language permits the network to organize violence secretly behind a mirage of inside jokes and plausible deniability," the report states.
The term "boogaloo" has also been seen in real-world activism. At the Virginia Citizens Defense League's annual Lobby Day in Richmond in January, a group of protesters who go by the name Patriot Wave wore Pepe the Frog patches emblazoned with "Boogaloo Boys." One man carried a sign that read, "I have a dream of a Boogaloo." The rally was held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
NCRI was able to trace the origin of the use of the term "boogaloo" to 4chan's politics-focused message board, where racist and hateful memes often get their start. "Boogaloo" was often associated with apocalyptic and racist terms like "racewar" and "dotr," a white power fantasy that imagines a time when "race traitors" will be murdered.
The report tracked events when online chatter about an impending boogaloo spiked. The analysis found a peak during a November standoff in upstate New York between an Army veteran and police over a domestic dispute. The veteran, Alex Booth, chronicled the standoff on his pro-gun Instagram account, "Whiskey Warrior 556," claiming to followers that his guns were being confiscated. The incident made the boogaloo meme go viral and gained Booth over 100,000 followers.
The second boogaloo meme peak appeared around the House's impeachment of President Donald Trump, the report found.
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A nut is still nut, no matter what their ideology! These people are definitely mentally ill...
Might I add, that, in addition, to the "mentally ill" issue, that these deadbeats psychopaths are angry, heavily armed, openly anti-liberal, and, a "CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER" to OUR democracy, in part, due largely to the nearly insane, Republican Supported New Gun policies, that stupidly, included idiotic laws, such as, as the OPEN CARRY concept?
So is it safe to assume that you are including the honest, law abiding, and safety minded responsible gun owners in your above statement? Or is that a non sequitur to you?
I take it they didn't derive their name from the movie.
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)
Hey this is on my Amazon Prime.....
“Whiskey Warrior 556“
There it is.
You know that Whiskey and Warrior is not a good combination.
Here's another lovely republican.....
Greece man charged with threatening to kill Senator Schumer, California congressman
In my limited, perusal of gun violence in America, particularly, the mass murderers of large numbers of innocent people, it appears, to this observer, that the bulk of the perpetrators are aligned with RIGHT WING IDEOLOGIES.
The Republican Party has been reaching out to these groups for a long, long time.
There’s no proof to support that claim. The political affiliation of most of the mass shooters we looked at was either unreported or never verified. Experts said these events are rarely motivated by politics to begin with.
That idiot should lay off of the ouzo.
Better confiscate those memes along with the guns.
And all the copies of "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo"
How about treating "Domestic Terrorists" as harshly as International Terrorists?
Well, they're not the ones actually killing people. That kind of violence has only been coming from right wing extremists in this country. For the petty vandalism and rare assaults caused by left wing extremists the police have been doing just fine. Regardless of affiliation, those throwing punches or vandalizing property should be held to account, as should the piece of shit right wing terrorists who murder dozens and dozens of innocent Americans each year.
Exactly. Lock them in a cell, throw away the key, and then throw away the cell.
Memes do not kill people, stupid, hostile folks with automatic weapons and pent up anger does. Ban both of these.
Tell me how we supposed to ban "stupid, hostile folks" or those with "pent up anger" ? We've already banned automatic weapons for the most part, anyone who does jump through all the hoops necessary to be licensed to legally own an automatic weapon is better vetted than most Secret Service Agents.
Now hold it just a cotton-pickin' minute. Be clear: Are you defending in any way, shape, or fashion seditious activities in the homeland? Because I have a problem with that. My loved ones are here and I don't want nobody blowing up nothing under or near any of them. Free speech is one thing, but when somebody starts talking about slicing, poisoning, arrowing, and blasting near me and mine, oh heavens no! I'm out! I ain't down with that! Those people need to go!
I know only one person who has a full auto. He is a licensed NRA instructor, has a top secret clearance, and had to jump through incredible hoops to get the permit.
When I managed a gun range, we didn't allow ANY full auto firearms, no matter who they were.
One of my favorite moments of my recent trip to san Antonio was shootong an auto 9mm at a gun range. What a blast. Super cheap too. Only 35 bucks for a magazine. Dont find many cheap thrills like that these days.
Never heard of them till their story was posted on this site. I don't personally know anybody on the right who supports jackasses like these Boogaloo Wackadoos. If these Boogaloo dickwads commit any crimes then they should be jailed and 99.9% of the right will condemn them unlike the left who defend and justify violence and intimidation as a means of suppressing Free Speech and opposing political views . The article says "In the last three months, boogaloo-related conversation has grown rapidly, according to the researchers, who found that use of the term has increased nearly 50 percent on platforms like Reddit and Twitter over the last few months." How much of that increased traffic was caused by the Left talking about and linking to this obscure Group of Idiots, I'm thinking about 100%. If these Jabronies are a threat I'm sure at least 10% of their online membership are undercover FBI Agents so there is not to much to worry about.
Trump supports violence, stokes his crowds, flirts with Neo-Nazis, KKK, and other, mostly White Hate Groups.
Trump pardoned a Seal who was convicted by a military court of killing, murdering civilians, then, taking "selfies" with the body of one of his teenage victims. Do not think that Trump is not capable of murder.
Flirts? Hell, he has a full grown love affair with them.
Zuksam,
I regularly visit hate sites and the article is not wrong, hence why I posted it. You can look at 4chan and see for yourself.
We have nuts on the right and the left looking for insurrection and spreading lies and hate. It has to be recognized, or we have learned nothing from the beginning of the 20th century.
I know they exist but they've been around a long time and I don't believe it's spreading. The left is trying to widen the net by implying that if you're against illegal immigration you're a racist or if you're white and think America should come first in our National Policy you must be a racist white nationalist, I know some people who are racist and more than half are black but they're not violent and they don't advocate violence like these Boogaloo Wackjobs they're just trash. If anything it's Leftwing hate and violence that's increasing, there's been a real change there. I went to High School 300 yards from Brown University what ever happened to all those nice friendly hippies that used to protest apartheid. These Rightwing hate groups have been around for decades, they are not growing and they are already on Law Enforcements radar. As far as I'm concerned they have a Constitutional right to Hate, if hate is against the law then a lot of people are guilty of that crime. If they break any real laws then hopefully they are caught and jailed but I'm not going on their sites and reading their disgusting crap and end up on a government list I don't deserve to be on. I'm just not worried about an insurrection by a bunch of keyboard tough guys who like to play dress up in their GI Joe gear, the day they decide to live out their violent fantasies is the day they commit suicide by cop and they damn well know it. The violence in my state is what concerns me and it's not political it's drugs, alcohol, gangs or any combination of the three but if there ever is a insurrection or riot around here it won't be rightwing that's for sure.
That's what many conservatives who bury their heads in the sand want to believe, but the facts show the exact opposite to be true.
" right-wing extremists were responsible for the vast bulk of documented killings by political extremists in the United States in 2018. In late July testimony before the US Senate, FBI Director Christopher Wray reported that the FBI had already made as many domestic terrorism arrests in 2019 as it did in all of 2018 — and, further, that “a majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we’ve investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call white supremacist violence.”
"It was the fourth straight year of hate group growth – a 30 percent increase roughly coinciding with Trump’s campaign and presidency – following three consecutive years of decline near the end of the Obama administration."
" The most significant growth was in the number of white nationalist organizations, up from 100 in 2017 to 148 in 2018, said Beirich, who wrote the report."
And besides the fact that right wing extremist groups saw the largest increase, they also account for over 73% of the domestic terrorist killings of innocent Americans.
Get your heads out of the sand, right wing terrorism not only exists in much larger numbers than right wing conservatives are willing to admit, they are far more violent than any left wing extremists. The right wing extremists no doubt love being part of the conservative community because they get such support and cover from their conservative fellows and know the white nationalists and those conservatives agree with their values and support them by demonizing immigrants, minorities and anyone who dares reject their conservative ideology. A right wing extremist is just a right wing conservative willing to act on their prejudice and hate, they are still birds of a feather and white nationalists and white supremacists know this which is why they have taken shelter almost exclusively within the GOP.
cool. let the DHS and FBI infiltrate their militia groups to develop intelligence and when those terrorists decide to play army in the woods, send in the green beret, rangers, delta force, or navy seals for some live fire training exercises on domestic terrorism.
I had to look these class of people up, I never heard of them. I don't think these type of people are anything new, they hate all government, not just the left.
I also checked out some MEME's I think gives some context of what they are.
And this one seems Russian.
And this one targets conservatives
These were on Google. When I looked them up on Facebook there are a bunch of Boogaloo themed private groups, the largest I seen was 3k members. And as a after thought I looked up the Group that doesn't exist ANTIFA and there was a bunch of private groups, The largest I seen being 10k members.
If I ever met one I would probably laugh in his face and give him the "yeah O-kay". (freakshow)
They are on 4chan also and on the dark web. You can use tor to get there.
Just a small sample.
They were on 8chan too until it was shut down... again last month.
Just think of what the John Birch Society could have done with the internet.
Are you trying to give people nightmares?
LOL. I work with people half my age, and none of them know anything about the history of this country. My dad was a member of JBS. What a bunch of crap.
They’re on the net and look like good people.
My Maternal Grandfather was a Bircher....trying to have a non-political conversation with him was pretty much impossible. My Grandmother was as well, but, not nearly as radical. They lost most of their friends, and many of the family kept them at arms length most of the time. After Grandfather nearly drove himself and my Grandmother crazy with his non-stop political diatribes, my Grandmother finally had enough and told him to quit the JBS or she would leave him.
Needless to say he quit and they had a long marriage.
Sure they do, they were/are all regular folk. But study their history and beliefs, not so much.
"In time, Buckley would say that Welch inferred “subjective intention from objective consequences” — because things went badly for the United States, policy makers must have intended those results and worked to achieve them; because China fell to the Communists, by Welch’s lights, those heading the U.S. government must have planned that outcome. Buckley’s comments about the manuscript upset Welch. The JBS founder protested he had sent the manuscript to many people and that only Buckley “completely disagreed” with its hypotheses. However, Goldwater voiced identical objections. “If you were smart,” he wrote Welch, “you would burn every copy you have.” Years later, Buckley wrote that the “mischievous unreality” of Welch’s charges “placed a great weight on the back of responsible conservatives.”
Welch decreed that the John Birch Society would be autocratic in its governance. Any other organizational method, he insisted, would leave the society open to “infiltration, distortion and disruption.” He proclaimed the very word democracy a “deceptive phrase, a weapon of demagoguery, and a perennial fraud.”
And of course, the Civil Rights Movement was actually a Communist movement. Can't allow those uppity ... to stand beside white folk.
I'm not sure it wasn't one of the reasons my parents got divorced. Neither of them would ever talk to me about it.I only know, the JBS didn't stop my father's racist rants.
The JBS didn't stop my Grandfather's rants either. In fact, it encouraged it and he nearly became insane. It was at the point that my Grandfather said that if the Grandchildren didn't join the JBS he would disown us that my Grandmother gave him the ultimatum, leave the JBS or lose his family, including her.
It took a while for him to get his mind back up to par, but, he eventually realized that his family was a more important factor than politics in his life and gave up the JBS.
For me, from my own experience and POV, the JBS is a mental and emotional illness like many other political and religious groups.