Social:Right Wing Death Squad

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Short description: Far-right slogan
Proud Boys member Jeremy Bertino wearing a Right Wing Death Squad patch in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., in November 2020

Right Wing Death Squad, often abbreviated to RWDS, is a slogan used in the 21st century by far-right Americans. The term was first used in the 1970s to describe Latin American paramilitaries who targeted their left-wing opponents.

Historical usage

The term was first used in the 1970s to describe Latin American paramilitary death squads who targeted left-wing opponents.[1] The death squad dropped the leftists out of helicopters. They were called the "death flights".[2]

Jeremy Bertino wearing a T-shirt with "RWDS" and "Pinochet Did Nothing Wrong" slogan, 2019, Pittsboro

From the 2010s onwards, the term was used in the U.S. by far-right extremists. The term, often abbreviated to RWDS is used in memes,[3] in online forums, on clothing, patches, and stickers.[1] The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism attribute the terms' popularity to usage by the American neo-fascist organisation the Proud Boys. The slogan is often accompanied by the words "Pinochet Did Nothing Wrong"[4] and the abbreviation RWDS is used as a hashtag #RWDS.[5]

The slogan was used by attendees of the 2017 Unite the Right rally white supremacist event in Charlottesville, Virginia.[1] While protesting this rally, a woman suffered a heart attack and died.

Some groups were created with names resembling RWDS, prompting Facebook to block multiple pages due to their hateful content.[6][7] A 2019 Facebook group called Right Wing Death Squad was monitored by the FBI due to the violent, anti-semitic, and white supremacist content being posted.[8]

Mauricio Garcia, the perpetrator of the 2023 Allen, Texas outlet mall shooting wore a RWDS patch when he killed eight people.[9] After the shooting, former Proud Boys regional leader Jeremy Bertino[10] spoke of his regret about wearing a Right Wing Death Squad patch.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Richer, Alanna Durkin; Kunzelman, Michael; Whitehurst, Lindsay (2023-05-09). "The meaning behind the far-right symbol Texas shooter wore as he killed 8" (in en). https://apnews.com/article/texas-mall-shooting-right-wing-extremists-patch-0be37dc3b41f99835a00ff1c859fd6dd. 
  2. ↑ "RWDS/Right Wing Death Squad". https://www.adl.org/glossary/rwdsright-wing-death-squad. 
  3. ↑ Ecarma, Caleb (2023-05-08). "Texas Mall Shooter Wore "Right Wing Death Squad" Patch, Officials Probing Possible Neo-Nazi Ties: Report" (in en-US). Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/05/texas-mall-shooter-wing-death-squad-neo-nazi-ties. Retrieved 2023-05-26. 
  4. ↑ Feuer, Alan; Goldman, Adam; Bohra, Neelam; Albeck-Ripka, Livia (2023-05-08). "After Texas Mall Shooting, Searching for Motive and Grieving for Children" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/us/texas-mall-shooting-mauricio-garcia.html. 
  5. ↑ Stan, Adele M. (2016-04-20). "As GOP Reconsiders Trump as Standard-Bearer, Candidate Retweets White Supremacist" (in en-us). https://prospect.org/api/content/17823a56-73de-5482-b9d8-43b7fbfc6ca4/. 
  6. ↑ Roush, Ty (9 May 2023). "What To Know About 'Right Wing Death Squad'—Phrase Linked To Texas Shooter, Proud Boys". https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/05/09/what-to-know-about-right-wing-death-squad-phrase-linked-to-texas-shooter-proud-boys/. 
  7. ↑ Kunzelman, Richer, Whitehurst, Alanna Durkin, Lindsay, Michael (9 May 2023). "Texas mall shooter's 'RWDS' patch linked to far-right extremists". https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/texas-mall-shooters-rwds-patch-linked-to-far-right-extremists. 
  8. ↑ "Missouri soldier connected with others in 'Right-Wing Death Squad' group" (in en-US). 2021-07-01. https://fox2now.com/news/missouri-soldier-connected-with-others-in-right-wing-death-squad-group/. 
  9. ↑ Roush, Ty. "What To Know About 'Right Wing Death Squad'—Phrase Linked To Texas Shooter, Proud Boys" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/05/09/what-to-know-about-right-wing-death-squad-phrase-linked-to-texas-shooter-proud-boys/. 
  10. ↑ "Ex-member: Proud Boys failed to carry out 'revolution'" (in en). 2023-02-22. https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-district-of-columbia-united-states-government-proud-boys-6ab48b3de424c00a6b4595fcac63b5cd. 
  11. ↑ Roche, Darragh (2023-05-09). "Ex-Proud Boy regrets wearing "RWDS" patch after Texas shooting: "Horrified"" (in en). https://www.newsweek.com/ex-proud-boy-regrets-wearing-rwds-patch-texas-shooting-horrified-1799105. 



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