Putin Wants You to Kill Muslims and Let God Sort Them Out
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin hates America.
Yep, Putin sure does hate us. If you were wondering, you could look at Russia’s National Security Strategy deeming the U.S. and our NATO allies as Russia’s primary enemy or listen to Putin’s generals calling us Russia’s enemy. Or you could pay attention to the wild things Putin says, like calling the U.S. a “parasite” or repeating the bizarre claim (tracing to a Russian psychic reading Madeline Albright’s mind) that the U.S. plans to steal Siberia away from Russia.
But actions speak louder than words anyway. To see that Putin hates America, you just need to take a hard look at a single Russian troll, @grumpystoy on Twitter. And I’m not talking just about how Grumpy lies and spreads divisive Kremlin agitiprop. After all, that’s what all Russia trolls do.
To truly understand how much Putin hates America, look at how Grumpy goes beyond merely spewing hate — he encourages Americans to kill Muslims and “let God sort them out.” And Grumpy isn’t the only one. Russian trolls never are. His many comrades in Russia’s troll armies are spewing the same lies.
In my last post — Can You See the Lying Russian Trolls Playing You for a Fool? — we started by looking at how a Russian troll like Grumpy undermines our democracy by attacking our leaders, our system of justice and our media. In this post, we’ll examine how Grumpy, who loves Putin and all things Russian, pushes Putin’s preferred propoganda, including dividing the United States from Germany and, in particular, inciting hate and violence against Muslims here at home.
Grumpy Supports Putin
As you might expect, Grumpy loves Putin. He not only tweets in support of Putin, he encourages peeps to watch a video of Putin.
This is typical behavior for right-wing Russian trolls. In future posts, we’ll see other right-wing Russian trolls pushing pro-Putin PR pieces too.
It’s interesting that while Grumpy supported Trump during the 2016 election and continues to do so today, when he compares Putin and Trump, Grumpy favors Putin, portraying Putin as strong and religious while Trump is afraid and not church-going.
Isn’t it ironic? While Donald Trump isn’t a much of a church-goer (to put it mildly), President Trump did in fact attend Easter services at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Springs, Florida. Of course, Kremlin trolls never let the facts get in the way of good agitiprop.
Grumpy Supports Russia and Russian Interests
As you might already suspect, Grumpy openly backs Russia and Russian interests.
When Russian bombers practice flights whose ultimate mission is to drop nukes on American cities, Grumpy defends Russia.
When Russian fighters buzz U.S. Air Force recon jets, coming dangerously close and endangering American lives, Grumpy defends Russia.
When the U.S. intelligence community concludes that Russia interfered in our 2016 election, Grumpy repeatedly denies it, defends Russia and attacks the press.
When news of Russian interference grows, Grumpys starts pushing the Kremlin BS that it’s all made up to cover up Hillary’s collusion with Russia.
When the fake uranium story isn’t working, Grumpy turns to the classic Kremlin tactic of whataboutism, trying to change the subject to Barack Obama supposedly interfering in Israel’s election.
When the Israel story isn’t working either, Grumpy starts pushing the default Russian deflection that everybody does it.
When the news breaks of Donald Trump Jr.’s emails and Trump Tower meeting with the Russians, Grumpy uses sexual innuendo to try to distract attention from the inconvenient and undisputed facts.
When Congress passes new sanctions against Russia, Grumpy supports Russia.
When Putin supports Bashar Assad, Grumpy toes the Russian line on Syria.
When Assad’s regime commits yet another poison gas attack on Syrian civilians, Grumpy defends Russia’s client.
When Putin says it’s unacceptable to accuse anyone in connection with the Syria chemical incident until an international investigation is conducted, Grumpy parrots Putin by tweeting it’s “CRAZY and Irresponsible 2 accuse anyone in connection with the Syria chemical incident until international investigation is conducted.”
LOL, immediately after saying it’s CRAZY to accuse anyone, Grumpy starts throwing out the crazy accusation that John McCain orchestrated the chemical gas attacks — a story that Grumpy keeps sticking to.
Grumpy Pushes Kremlin Agitiprop
Since Grumpy loves Putin and Russia, it’s no surprise that Grumpy loves Kremlin agitiprop too.
When I’m talking about how Grumpy likes Russian propaganda, I’m not talking about just small stuff like #SethRich conspiracy theories, which are designed simply to distract from Russian hacking ops. Yeah, sure, Grumpy does tweet every now and then about how Hillary Clinton, John Podesta or the DNC should be investigated for killing Seth Rich.
But to be honest, #SethRich isn’t really Grumpy’s thing. After all, Russia’s got enough useful idiots like Mike Cernovich shoveling that crap already.
And I’m not talking about how Grumpy pushed Putin’s lies to help Trump beat Clinton either. Yep, you’re right, Putin did what he could to help Trump win and Grumpy did his fair share.
Doesn’t Grumpy’s tweet of Clinton behind bars look like an early version of one of those “Secured Borders” ads Russians were buying on Facebook last fall?
And doesn’t this tweet by Grumpy — pushing the line that a vote for Hillary is a vote for allowing “Radical Islamic terrorist[s]” into the U.S. and so is the same as strapping on a “suicide belt” — evoke the same anti-Muslim emotions as another of those Secured Borders ads Russia was paying Facebook to run last fall targeting Trump voters in swing states?
And doesn’t Grumpy’s tweet making Obama and Clinton out to be Satanists remind you of the #SpiritCooking shit Mike Cernovich and Russian trolls were shoveling last fall?
But, to be honest, Grumpy didn’t start tweeting until March 25, 2016 and tweeted fewer than 400 times before the election, so the Russians didn’t create this particular troll primarily to help Trump get across the finish line. When it creates trolls, Russia begins with its long-term goals in mind, it deploys its trolls strategically to advance its interests and it’s more than willing to invest a decade or more in developing them. When we’re looking at Russian trolls, we should keep our eyes on Russia’s long-term goals as well, which stretch far beyond a single presidential election.
That’s why I now want to focus on the bigger and more important Kremlin agitiprop that Grumpy is pushing: first, dividing the U.S. from our NATO allies, especially Germany and second and more importantly, inciting hate and violence against Muslims in America.
Grumpy Pushes Kremlin Agitiprop to Divide the U.S. and Germany
One of Russia’s most important strategic goals — perhaps its most important after obtaining sanctions relief benefitting Putin and its oligarch buddies — is to divide the U.S. from our NATO allies. Grumpy’s doing what he can, pushing the idea that we should start kicking countries out of NATO.
Germany is perhaps our most important NATO ally in mainland Europe. While it doesn’t possess nukes like the U.K. and France and its military is absurdly weak, Germany is strategically located and is the most influential nation in the EU. Since it’s Europe’s largest economy, if Germany’s doesn’t achieve NATO’s target of spending 2% of GDP on defense (it’s stuck at 1.2%), then it really won’t matter that much whether the rest of the alliance does so or not. That’s exactly why Grumpy (just like other Russian trolls) wants to divide the U.S. and Germany.
And that’s exactly why Grumpy (just like his fellow trolls) is pushing Kremlin lies to turn Americans against Germany, like making preposterous claims like Angela Merkel (who was born in 1954) is both related to and in the same photograph as Adolf Hilter (who died in 1945)
or that Angela Merkel served in the Wehrmacht in World War II
or that Angela Merkel gave the “[s]ame speech Adolf gave before he started his war”
or that Angela Merkel is “re-organizing Germany to what it was during WW2”
or that Angela Merkel is turning Germany “back to the old Nazi ways”
or that Angela Merkel supports Nazis.
All these tweets are lies. That’s what Russian trolls do — they lie. It doesn’t matter whether the Russian troll pretends to be #1488 white supremacist or #altright or #MAGA or moderate or independent or liberal #Resistance or a #GeeksResist fantasy character or #antifa or #Anonymous or British or French or German or Greek or Swedish or whatever — Russian trolls lie, period. It’s like what Mary McCarthy once said about Lillian Hellman, “every word she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the’.” Even when something that a Russian troll says happens to be true, it’s simply in service of setting up an even bigger, more insidious lie.
Russian trolls lie. That’s what they do. Tweet this.
Grumpy Foments Hate and Violence Against Muslims
Now let’s focus on Grumpy’s absolutely favorite Kremlin agitiprop. It’s what Grumpy has been pushing since his very first tweet. It’s what he keeps pushing in more tweets than he’s spent on any other subject. It’s what sows religious discord and division at home here in the U.S. and harms U.S. interests abroad. Of course, I’m talking about how Grumpy promotes hate and violence against Muslims.
Some Russian trolls — here I’m thinking of a few liberal #Resistance trolls I’ve seen — can at times be quite subtle in how they spread disinformation. Not Grumpy. No one is ever going to suggest he’s shy. So when @USFreedomArmy tweets about Starbucks hiring Muslim immigrants, Grumpy makes his feelings quite clear.
Grumpy put down his ante with his very first tweet on March 25, 2016.
From there, Grumpy keeps raising the ante, getting going by pushing the old line that Barack Obama is Muslim.
Even after President Obama left office, Grumpy keeps pushing the same Obama-is-Muslim story. So when one troll in Grumpy’s network tweets about Obama mocking God
Grumpy retweets it saying, “What do you expect from a Muslim?”
Grumpy just keeps repeating his lies.
Grumpy then starts pushing the NIMBY line against Muslims.
It’s no surprise that Grumpy takes advantage of 9/11 for Russia’s own purposes.
And it’s no surprise how Grumpy, who claims to live in Minnesota, exploits the tragic shooting death of Justine Damond by a Somali-American police officer.
It’s clear that Grumpy’s handler believes that sharia law is a hot button issue that stirs up aminus against Islam because that’s exactly what Grumpy tweets about most.
As we’ve seen with the anti-immigrant rallies that attracted real Americans, which Russia used its “Secured Borders” Facebook group to organize, Russia is looking to achieve more than just spreading propoganda. According to former FBI agent Clint Watts, “The objective of influence is to create behavior change. The simplest behavior is to have someone disseminate propaganda that Russia created and seeded. The second part of behavior influence is when you can get people to physically do something.”
Having read all 8,000+ of Grumpy’s tweets, as well as those of dozens of other Russian trolls in Grumpy’s network, I now believe the same is true of the anti-Islamic agitiprop that Grumpy and other Russian trolls are pushing. Russia’s goal isn’t merely to get more Americans to dislike Muslims or to get Americans to dislike Muslims more intensely. Russia wants its anti-Muslim propogranda to change Americans’ behavior as well; however, the next-level influence that Russia is looking for with its anti-Islamic propoganda isn’t just some Americans attending some rallies.
Hate is Grumpy’s raison d’être. The primary reason Russia created Grumpy is to foment hate and violence against Muslims. To be crystal clear, I believe Russia created and runs trolls like Grumpy to do everything they can to incite a Baruch Goldstein/Anders Breivik/Dylann Roof-type shooting massacre targeting Muslims here in the U.S. Here’s why I believe that.
As Grumpy progresses with his anti-Islamic tweets, he moves from just spreading propoganda to advancing calls to action. Take a look at the language that Grumpy uses when he tweets about the crusades. “Let them bring it on. The crusades will be Re- lived.” “Bring it on The Crusades will return and drive Islam back to HELL” “We’ll do the eliminating in the name of the Crusades.”
Notice how Grumpy, even when he’s not expressly talking about the Crusades, uses the same lone Crusader-Knight Templar imagery that inspired Anders Breivik.
Now take a look back at exactly what Grumpy was tweeting on 9/11.
Let’s take a closer look at that first image he tweeted.
Now read the words:
Every Muslim is not a
TERRORIST
however every Terrorist
is a Muslim. I give up.
LET GOD SORT THEM OUT
SUDDEN JIHAD SYNDROME
It could strike at any time
Now think about exactly what these words mean — namely, since even seemingly non-terrorist Muslims could suddenly become jidahis and “strike at any time,” let’s kill them all and “let God sort them out.” While the message doesn’t use the words “kill all Muslims,” the “let God sort them out” wording conveys exactly that meaning. After all, how is God going to do the sorting unless a patriot acts first by killing some Muslims?
More importantly, Grumpy’s messaging is aimed precisely at his target audience of military veterans. Every single Marine and most soldiers, sailors and airmen will immediately recognize the full saying: “Kill ’em all and let God sort them out.”
Now realize that Grumpy repeatedly tweets brutally graphic images of Muslims beheading people, Muslims holding severed heads, Muslims displaying severed heads and Muslims conducting mass executions of bound and blindfolded prisoners. While these images are disturbing even to glance at, you can see what I’m talking about by clicking on the following links.
NSFW GRAPHIC VIOLENCE >>> 3/9/17 3/9/17 4/18/17 4/18/17 4/20/17 5/11/17 7/12/17 8/8/17 8/8/17 image 10/8/17 10/8/17 image <<< GRAPHIC VIOLENCE NSFW
Now ask why Grumpy repeatedly tweets images of barbaric violence perpetrated by ISIS executioners (which many Muslims condemn). Don’t these images provoke strong emotions? Aren’t strong emotions like anger, fear and hate useful in achieving next-level influence and provoking action?
Take a closer look at just one of Grumpy’s tweets attaching an image of graphic violence.
Grumpy replies to a tweet by “Buster Hyde USMC/Ret” at @BusterUSMC that attaches a photograph of @AbulElSayed, a physician who’s running for the Democratic nomination to become governor in Michigan who happens to be Muslim. Buster’s tweet accuses of Dr. El Sayed of wanting to impose sharia law in Michigan. Grumpy then tweets a photograph of an ISIS executioner shooting a row of bound and blindfolded prisoners in the head. In his tweet, Grumpy says, “Your SHARIA LAW at work. Wipe the smile off of this swine.”
Pause and think about Grumpy’s tweet for a moment. Isn’t Dr. El Sayed, who’s smiling broadly in his photograph, precisely the man whom Grumpy is talking about when Grumpy says, “Wipe the smile off of this swine”? Aren’t the words that Grumpy uses — “Wipe the smile off of this swine” — a call to action? Indeed, doesn’t Grumpy even phrase his call to action as an imperative, one in the form of a command? Doesn’t the label “this swine” dehumanize Dr. El Sayed? Isn’t it true that swine are pigs and pigs get slaughtered? Do you think that it’s just an unfortunate coincidence that Grumpy accidentally attached a brutally graphic photograph of a ISIS executioner systematically shooting in the head a row of bound and blindfolded men when Grumpy makes his call to action, “Wipe the smile off of this swine.” What do you think Grumpy is conveying with his tweet about what he wants to happen?
Don’t you realize that Putin would love to have some crazy right-wing nutcase shoot and kill Muslims in the U.S.? Wouldn’t the assassination of a Muslim candidate for office be a great way of stirring up discord in the U.S.? Wouldn’t stories of the shooting death of a number of Muslims or a prominent Muslim gravely damage America’s interests and standing around the world?
Do you imagine that it’s just an accident that Grumpy is tweeting about politicians like Dr. El Sayed who just happen to be Muslim? If so, take a look at Grumpy’s tweet calling London’s mayor Sadiq Khan a “Goat Humper” and suggesting “London would be 300 percent better without him.”
Why is a peep who claims to live in Winona, Minnesota so hot and bothered by two Muslims over in Michigan and London anyway?
Do you really think that Grumpy truly intends a purely innocent non-violent explanation for his calls to action? If so, take a look at Grumpy’s tweet and attached image replying to a tweet and attached image by “U.S. Freedom Army” at @USFreedomArmy.
Notice that in its initial tweet, @USFreedomArmy attaches this image.
The image that @USFreedomArmy selects is this photograph of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two Muslim brothers who bombed the Boston Marathon.
Pay attention to the words in @USFreedomArmy’s image:
EVERY Muslim is a potential
terrorist. At any moment, he
may take the Koran’s demands
to kill the rest of us seriously.
SUDDEN JIHAD SYNDROME
It could strike at any time.
Pay attention to the words that @USFreedomArmy uses in its tweet:
Absolutely! That is why they are so dangerous. Fight for America & enlist in the #USFA at http://USFREEDOMARMY.COM . Patriots only please.
Now look again at the image that Grumpy uses in his reply, one that we considered a moment ago.
And now pay attention to the words that Grumpy uses in his August 6, 2017 tweet.
the only way to guarantee complete safety.
When Grumpy talks about “the only way to guarantee complete safety,” he’s saying that “the only way to guarantee complete safety” is to kill all Muslims and “let God sort them out.”
This messaging and call for action is precisely why these Russian trolls are using a photograph of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for their deza. After all, who’s a better example of “Sudden Jihad Syndrome” than one of the two Muslim brothers behind the Boston Marathon bombing who maimed hundreds, murdered three, including an 8-year old boy, and executed a police officer? Isn’t Grumpy saying in so many words that if you could have prevented the Boston Marathon bombing by killing Muslims and letting God sort them out beforehand, that’d be a great idea that’d save American lives?
Now let’s revisit my claim that a primary purpose of some Russian trolls like Grumpy is to try to provoke a Baruch Goldstein/Anders Breivik/Dylann Roof-type shooting massacre targeting Muslims here in the U.S.
Don’t you think that Russia knew long before Las Vegas that the U.S. is swimming in mass-murder shooting sprees?
After Timothy McVeigh, Dylann Roof, James Alex Fields and so many more, don’t you think Russia realizes that the U.S. has a serious problem with extreme right-wing white supremacist violence?
Don’t you think Russia understood long before Srinivas Kuchibhotla’s murder that the U.S. is experiencing increasing incidents of anti-Muslim hate crimes?
Don’t you think that Russia, which is already a master at using social media to achieve next-level influence by changing behavior, has been paying attention to the success of Daesh/ISIS in using social media to inspire so-called “lone wolf” terror attacks?
Don’t you think that Russia, which seeks to sow discord in America and was running Facebook ads pushing the line that Muslims are a threat to the American way of life, would like nothing more than to inspire some Alexandre Bissonnette-type nutcase to walk into a mosque and shoot as many Muslims as he can?
Do you really think that Russia is going to refrain from attempting to incite the mass murder of American Muslims or the assassination of a Muslim leader in the U.S. just because you and I happen to look upon such actions as immoral? Isn’t Putin’s Russia the same country whose 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade used a Russian Buk ground-to-air missile to shot down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, killing 283 passengers and 15 crew? Isn’t this the same country that for the past three years has dedicated its disinformation machine to lying to cover up its crime?
Now I’ll grant you it’s an interesting question whether Russian trolls, singly or as a network, are really going to be effective in inspiring some nut to grab his guns and kill some “goat humping” “swine” (to use Grumpy’s dehumanizing discourse). Then again, did you really expect Donald Trump was going to win when “[v]irtually all major vote forecasters put Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning in the range of 70 to 99 percent”? (I did myself but you might have been surprised.) And did you anticipate that you’d be reading news reports about how Russia successfully used social media to achieve next-level influence and motivate real Americans to turn off their TVs so that they could attend anti-immigrant rallies that Russia organized and promoted on Facebook? (I didn’t.) If you were surprised, then perhaps it might be prudent to realize that not only is Russia doing its damndest to provoke an anti-Islamic shooting, but also that Russia might just be able to achieve its goal of inspiring some lone-wolf lose to perpetrate anti-Muslim violence, just like Daesh/ISIS has been effective in motivating its own nuts to kill too.
Putin may be amoral, even evil, but he’s smart. He’s created vast armies of trolls and bots just like Grumpy to do his bidding. In Part 3 — Russia Is Carefully Crafting Designer Trolls To Deceive Us— we’ll look at how and why Russia created and designed Grumpy to stir up hate up and incite violence against Muslims in Minnesota.
