'Accelerationism' used to be an obscure extremist theory. Why Buffalo should change that.

[Jilly_in_VA]

By Jon Lewis, research fellow at the Program on Extremism

The recent act of targeted mass violence against Black Americans at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York, is yet another reminder that accelerationist, neo-fascist lone-actor violence remains one of the dangerous domestic terrorism threats in the United States today.

Best understood as a set of tactics and strategies explicitly designed to put pressure on and exacerbate latent social and societal divisions in order to collapse the system, experts believe neo-fascist accelerationism has been the inspiration for some of the deadliest acts of mass violence in the United States in recent years — from Black churchgoers in Charleston, Jewish congregants at synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, and Latino shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso.


HEALTH & TECHNOLOGY
Buffalo suspect exposes dangers of accelerationist, neo-fascist lone-actor violence
Why transnational accelerationist networks create a far more amorphous and decentralized threat picture.
Buffalo Police on scene of the shooting at Tops Friendly Market
Buffalo Police on scene of the shooting at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y. on May 14, 2022.John Normile / Getty Images
May 20, 2022, 6:43 PM EDT
By Jon Lewis, research fellow at the Program on Extremism
The recent act of targeted mass violence against Black Americans at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York, is yet another reminder that accelerationist, neo-fascist lone-actor violence remains one of the dangerous domestic terrorism threats in the United States today.

Best understood as a set of tactics and strategies explicitly designed to put pressure on and exacerbate latent social and societal divisions in order to collapse the system, experts believe neo-fascist accelerationism has been the inspiration for some of the deadliest acts of mass violence in the United States in recent years — from Black churchgoers in Charleston, Jewish congregants at synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, and Latino shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso.

Transnational accelerationist networks, designed not around formal material support but a shared community, create an in-group and interconnected online ecosystem for many of these terrorists. This creates a far more amorphous and decentralized threat picture. As such, the understanding of these networks must extend far beyond the narrow confines of traditional, group-centric counterterrorism structures and policies. Long gone are the days when a membership card or pledge of allegiance to a foreign violent extremist group were the primary red flags. Without significant changes in how we approach and respond to the realities of domestic terrorism, the tragedy in Buffalo threatens to become just one more in a long line of deadly terrorist attacks in the United States.

Primary source evidence from the suspect’s manifesto and Discord posts, which must be treated with a degree of skepticism, nonetheless provide a valuable framing for understanding the progression of radicalization and indicates an ideological adherence to tenets of neo-fascist accelerationism. For example, the emulation of believed accelerationist Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people in a terrorist attack targeting two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, was evident from the text of the manifesto — which replicated or mimicked large portions of Tarrant’s own writing — as well as the iconography on the weapon used, the use of livestreaming and the suspect’s planned public release and distribution of the video. Further, the Tops suspect’s writings show numerous references to white supremacist and antisemitic conspiracies such as the "great replacement theory" and the narrative of “no political solution.” These conspiracies and narratives, which have been embraced by accelerationist movements as foundational elements of in-group identity, serve to unite disparate elements of the right behind shared enemies.

The great replacement theory is a white supremacist conspiracy which argues that white, European populations are being intentionally replaced through migration. Initially emerging out of right-wing spaces in Europe, including the French group Generation Identity, the narrative quickly found a receptive audience in American right-wing extremists intent on framing the debate around immigration.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/buffalo-shooting-suspect-manifesto-livestream-exposes-accelerationist-rcna29881
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When will it get through these people's thick skulls that they are ALREADY outnumbered?