"What sells?", inquired Humphrey, his brow furrowed.
"Incels", repeated Dr. Karolina Radwanska patiently. She was a tall woman with long dark hair with blonde streaks, and sharp brown eyes.
"And what are these . . . these people?", Humphrey asked her.
"It's short for 'involuntary celibates'. They're an online subculture consisting of sexually frustrated men", replied Dr. Radwanska. She spoke in a detached, rather flat tone.
"Take your time, please, DI Alexander", urged Humphrey.
"Thank you", said Alexander, breathing very heavily. "It's just . . the posts that were on there, oh God they was absolutely terrible. I needed counselling."
"What did they say in these posts?", Humphrey asked.
"I'd . . . well I'd rather not say say . . ."
Dame Marilyn leaned over the side of the bench.
"DI Alexander", she said sternly. "You must tell the court, it's very important."
Alexander stared resentfully at her, then sighed.
"Well", he said, speaking very slowly, as though he risked setting off a bomb. "There was a guy on there calling himself The_New_ER, he had this weird avatar, of a man called Elliot Rodger, superimposed on an image of Jesus, and he kept going on about what he called the 'Incel Rebellion', calling on men to rise up against, I've no idea what to be perfectly honest. He had posts like, 'Time for all men to act like Elliot Rodger, time to kill the femoids", "We need to end male oppression right now, strike back against the roasties", and "We should all go ER, take back what is ours, sex is our right."
"Can you explain more about incels?", asked Humphrey.
"Yes", replied Radwanska. "They believe themselves entitled to have sex, and they are are exceptionally misogynistic. They claim that men are oppressed by women by being denied sex, and claim it's all because of feminism that they are unable to find partners, and even that feminism is a Jewish plot to weaken Western civilisation. They believe that there was once a golden age, prior to the rise of feminism, where monogamy and traditional gender roles prevailed, and women never refused sex. They also use demeaning terms for women, such as 'femoids', or 'foids' for short, and 'roasties.' "
"Roasties?", exclaimed Dame Marilyn. "Why?"
"Because", Radwanska explained, "they believe that the labia resembles roast beef during sex."
There was a brief outbreak of laughter, which almost immediately subsided: no intervention from the bench was necessary this time.
"And they glorify violence against women, is that correct?", Humphrey inquired hastily.
"Yes, they do. In particular, they admire Elliot Rodger, a man who killed six people in California in 2014, and expressed his anger and frustration over not having a girlfriend in a YouTube video and in a so-called manifesto which he emailed to his family and friends, in which he called himself the supreme gentleman. He became a hero to the incel community, many of them have images superimposing his face on those of Christian icons, and they talk about "ER" or "going ER", as a euphemism for violence against women. They also admire Marc Lepine, a man who shot dead 17 women at a university in Montreal in 1989, after asking all men to leave the classroom."
"Was there anything else in his posts?", Humphrey wished to know.
"Yes", said a shaken Alexander. "He was constantly singing the praises of Elliot Rodger, and of this other man, called Marc Lepine."
"Do you think he ever acted violently?", asked Humphrey.
"I don't think so", said Alexander, "as the other members of the forum kept taunting him about it, calling him a 'blackpill'. He seemed to be more concerned with complaining about his situation, he regularly posted about his looks, complaining he was not handsome enough for women to like him. He also complained about what he called 'reverse rape', I wasn't sure what that meant until it was explained to me, and made hateful comments about black and Jewish people."
"They think women are shallow creatures, who only choose handsome or wealthy men, and constantly bemoan what they see as their own unattractiveness. They believe that, because of their looks, no woman would ever like them. They believe in what they call the '80/20' rule, meaning that 80 per cent of women will only sleep with the 20 per cent most attractive men, and in 'hypergamy' meaning that a woman will always abandon a man if she can have sex with another, more attractive man. They refer to attractive, sexually active men as 'Chads', attractive and sexually active women as 'Stacys' and less attractive but sexually active women as 'Beckys'. In addition, many are socially awkward and see that as a factor in their romantic failure as well," said Radwanska. She was doing her best to remain calm and detached, but she could feel her voice involuntarily rising.
"And they also talk about something called reverse rape?", asked Humphrey.
"Yes, by which they mean women's rejection of them, which they claim is just as harmful to society as actual rape. Some even give each other tips on how to commit rape. In fact, Nathan Larson, a white supremacist who once ran for the US Congress, and who self-identifies as an incel and a paedophile, has openly boasted about raping his former wife, and has said that women should be what he calls 'rape-slaves' for men who are unable to find willing partners."
Radwanska's voice was now trembling, and there were gasps all round the courtroom: even Dame Marilyn was open mouthed.
"There was another poster", continued Alexander, "calling himself The Supreme Gentleman, who kept writing posts about the things he would do to women."
"What did he to do them?", asked Humphrey, in the voice of a man who would rather not know but had a duty to find out.
"He . . . he . . . he . . ." Alexander struggled to get the words out, before finally, after taking a deep breath, resuming his testimony. "He wrote things like 'This afternoon I saw this big-tits femoid on the train. Went up to her, squeezed her boobs. God did I love to hear her scream.' "
Alexander paused, and then went on, speaking very slowly, as though it pained him.
"On another occasion, he posted, 'On the bus yesterday I pulled down some long-legged roastie's knickers and fucked her real hard. All men should do that.' And also, 'This whinging foid was on Twitter, writing some anti-male crap about so-called rape, so I absolutely piled into her, telling her the things I'd like to do to her, and within three days she wasn't on Twitter anymore. Bingo!'."
"Do you think he did these things?", inquired Dame Marilyn, in an uncharacteristically soft voice.
"I'm not sure", replied Alexander. "Certainly, the other members of the forum didn't believe him, with responses like, 'And yesterday my cat started talking.' "
"Right, anything else", asking Humphrey hastily, as though keen to get it over with.
"There was also a man calling himself Redpill, who would post things like, 'What wouldn't I give to have a roastie by the throat and throttle her. What a thrill that would be' and 'If I had my way I cut off every femoid's tits and let her slowly bleed to death'."
"They also use phrases like 'redpilled' and 'taking the red pill', from the film The Matrix", explained Radwanka, fighting hard to speak calmly once again, "meaning that they now see the world as it 'really' is, with women dominant over men and where male privilege does not exist, and also 'taking the black pill', that is, giving up all hope of finding a partner. 'Redpill' incels believe in 'fighting back', whereas 'blackpill' ones are more fatalistic."
"So", said Humphrey hastily, with the air of a man desperately trying to forget a painful memory, "we return to Mr. Richards. What was his first post on this forum?"
"He first posted, 'So glad I've found a forum for men like me. I'm in love with a beautiful girl but she won't have me, she prefers another guy, much better looking and more confident than me. I'm really shy, and I know I'm not that good looking. Also my sister has got together with a black man, she's found happiness, why can't I? I feel really upset and lonely, is there something wrong with me?' ", quoted Alexander.
"And how did the other members of the forum respond?", Humphrey inquired.
"Well", said Alexander, with an I'd-rather-be-talking-about-something-else expression, "the one calling himself The_New_ER posted, "I feel so sorry for you, the world is so unjust, you're just one of many men who are oppressed. These foids are so shallow, only going after the best looking men. It's an injustice, it's a crime that can never be forgiven, even more for your sister to go with an inferior ugly black boy."
"What about the others?", Humphrey asked.
"The Supreme Gentlemen posted, 'Next time you see a roastie, just grab her and give her a good hard fuck', while Redpill advised him to 'Kill that stupid bitch who won't have you, show her what a real man does.' "
Humphrey took a deep breath, then, after a minute-long pause, resumed his questioning.
"How did Mr. Richards respond to these posts?"
"He posted 'Thank you for showing such concern for me, I really appreciate it, glad I have found men who know how I feel.' "
"Do you mean", asked Dame Marilyn in a low voice, "that he was expressing agreement with their abhorrent views?"
"It seems not initially", said Alexander awkwardly, "though clearly he didn't see their views as a barrier. However, he kept posting on the site, and in particular he appears to have imbibed the opinions of The_New_ER. In one early post he expressed delight that Mr. Richards shared his initials with Elliot Rodger, then when Mr. Richards asked who Elliot Rodger was, The_New_ER told him 'He is the patron saint of our movement, the supreme gentleman, the first martyr of the Incel Rebellion. The first man to take a stand against our unjust world, to take revenge on the femoids, to stand up for us beta males.' Mr. Richards seemed quite pleased with the comparison, probably because it gave him a feeling of importance, and he soon was boasting about the shared initials on almost every post. And, as time went by, he began to echo The_New_ER's views, posting things like, 'I want to be a soldier and fight in the Incel Rebellion', 'I'm a victim of reverse rape' and 'I hate that stupid Stacy who turned me down, and the Chad she goes with, and the ugly black boy my sister likes'."
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