True crime Friday: Elliott Rodger - King of the INCELS
In 2014, Elliott Rodger, then 22, went on a misogynistic killing spree. Rodger killed six people. He also injured fourteen others by shooting them, stabbing them, and ramming his vehicle into them near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) before killing himself. There is a movement afoot called Incels. It is a movement that detests women and blames them for all of life's ills. It is a disturbed and terrifying movement.
Involuntary Celibacy (INCEL)
Incels are heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success. It is a subset of the various online misogynist sects which include pick up artists and men’s rights activists. Incels are known for their deep-seated pessimism and profound sense of grievance against women. The incel ideology and movement is rooted in the belief that women have too much power in the sexual/romantic sphere, and therefore ruin incels’ lives by rejecting them. Incels are violent men and have perpetrated a range of deadly attacks against women.Elliott Rodger's Early Years
Elliott Rodger was born into a well-to-do family. It was apparent in the child’s early years that he had some mental health issues. His parents were battling over the boy’s deep and puzzling psychological problems as they struggled through a divorce. According to Elliott’s mother Li Chin, he was a high-functioning autistic child. In their divorce decree she said needed more child support to care for him. His father, Peter Rodger, countered with a Beverly Hills doctor, Stephen M. Scappa, who challenged that diagnosis, saying it failed to acknowledge the possibility of depression or anxiety. Elliott at the age of eight would receive psychological help and then throughout his life, but to no avail.The Killer Leaves a Video and Manifesto
There is a video on YouTube where Rodger discusses his hatred of women and why he cannot find a girlfriend. Yes it is a bad as you think it is; consider this a trigger warning if you decide to go watch. He also left a manifesto of his grievances. Rodger was going to kill his stepmother and his half-brother but because he discovered his dad was at home and not out of town as he had planned to be, their lives were spared. Rodger went on to murder three men. Two of them were his roommates at college and one was a friend of one of his roommates. After failing to get into a sorority house to kill women, he saw three women walking to their dorm and shot them. Two of the three died from their wounds. Rodger drove past a deli and shot a male student inside the establishment. The student died. He then began to drive through Isla Vista, shooting and wounding several pedestrians from his car and striking several others with his car. He exchanged gunfire with police twice, and he was injured in the hip. After his car crashed into a parked vehicle, he was found dead inside with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.The Victims of Elliott Rodger
- George Chen, 19.
- James Hong, 20.
- David" Wang, 20
- Katherine Breann Cooper, 22.
- Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, 20.
- Veronika Elizabeth Weiss, 19.
Lady Justice
Elliott Rodger killed himself in his car before he could be brought to justice. Unfortunately, he is seen as a hero in the Incel movement. He was obviously disturbed, thinking he was entitled to a woman whether she returned his interest or not. Since this attack there have been hundreds of deadly attacks on women due partly to the incel movement.Reference
Elliot Rodger: How misogynist killer became 'incel hero' (bbc.com)2014 Isla Vista killings - Wikipedia
Incels (Involuntary celibates) | ADL