Current Events > After anti-Semitic attack, government blames 'gamer scene' (serious) (article)

(+) Yeah! (+)

On Wednesday, 27-year-old Stephan B.* tried to storm a synagogue in Halle, southwest of Berlin, where the local Jewish community was marking Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year in Judaism.

Unable to access the synagogue because of its reinforced and barricaded doors, he shot at passersby, killing two people and injuring two more. Police caught him about an hour-and-a-half later, as he attempted to flee in a stolen taxi.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer earned the ire of many young Germans on Sunday when he blamed the "gamer scene" for fostering extremism.

On social media, many of them mocked Seehofer's seemingly out-of-touch comment, reminding the interior minister that millions of people around the world play video games. One tweet showed a photoshopped image of Adolf Hitler with virtual reality goggles, saying "this young man was also radicalized in the gamer scene."

https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-10000-march-against-anti-semitism/a-50816328
Spoiler: it was a Neo-Nazi, not a gamer
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so it's not just american politicians who blame gamers for everything

Gamers truly are the most oppressed minority

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There is a passage in the book the Name of the Rose where a character says that if you have a difficult enemy you can't defeat, find an easy one that you can defeat and blame all your problems on that one. Seems to be the thought process here - 'vidya gamez'!
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One tweet showed a photoshopped image of Adolf Hitler with virtual reality goggles, saying "this young man was also radicalized in the gamer scene."

Source, please.

right wing radicalization groups do target young people in video game communities though

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ultimate reaver posted...

right wing radicalization groups do target young people in video game communities though

That's some Jack Chick levels of scaremongering, though.

ultimate reaver posted...

right wing radicalization groups do target young people in video game communities though

So which group is more at fault? Neo-Nazis? Or gamers?
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Zikten posted...

so it's not just american politicians who blame gamers for everything

Yep.

joker is radicalizing gamers
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Questionmarktarius posted...

That's some Jack Chick levels of scaremongering, though.

I feel like you are fully aware there is no comparison between the really well documented tactic of extremist groups approaching subcultures which traditionally feel disenfranchised or are seen as vulnerable in some way and a crazy guy telling you dungeons and dragons lets you summon satan if you commit sacrificial murders, but maybe I am wrong and you're honestly that misguided.

Video games do not cause violence, but unless I'm missing something from the posted article nobody is suggesting they are.

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ultimate reaver posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

That's some Jack Chick levels of scaremongering, though.

I feel like you are fully aware there is no comparison between the really well documented tactic of extremist groups approaching subcultures which traditionally feel disenfranchised or are seen as vulnerable in some way and a crazy guy telling you dungeons and dragons lets you summon satan if you commit sacrificial murders, but maybe I am wrong and you're honestly that misguided.

Video games do not cause violence, but unless I'm missing something from the posted article nobody is suggesting they are.

In a vacuum, it doesn't sound so bad. But concurrently, the government is not renewing funds for right-wing extremist rehabilitation programs as well as botching up investigations into right-wing extremism in the armed forces

This is scapegoating, pure and simple. Add that to the fact that the politician from the article represents a strongly right-wing base...
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teepan95 posted...

So which group is more at fault? Neo-Nazis? Or gamers?

Neo Nazis, obviously, but extremism is like a cancer. When you start accepting it into your culture and don't call it out for what it is, it begins to become more well-ingrained into normalcy and people feel a lot more free to continue their recruitment efforts in those areas.

it's important to recognize the influx of this stuff that's been very clearly visible in online gaming communities for the past six years or so.

teepan95 posted... In a vacuum, it doesn't sound so bad. But concurrently, the government is not renewing funds for right-wing extremist rehabilitation programs as well as botching up investigations into right-wing extremism in the armed forces

This is scapegoating, pure and simple. Add that to the fact that the politician from the article represents a strongly right-wing base...

I admit I had no idea they were using it as an excuse not to further investigations into outright extremism. If that's true, that's incredibly stupid though I still find the initial claim really oddly phrased and a lot of the reaction to it people completely missing the point and jumping to defend video games


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They targeted gamers
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@Questionmarktarius posted...

One tweet showed a photoshopped image of Adolf Hitler with virtual reality goggles, saying "this young man was also radicalized in the gamer scene."

Source, please.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ShahakShapira/status/1183316675669778432
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teepan95 posted...

@Questionmarktarius posted...

One tweet showed a photoshopped image of Adolf Hitler with virtual reality goggles, saying "this young man was also radicalized in the gamer scene."

Source, please.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ShahakShapira/status/1183316675669778432

Thanks

it gets better...
https://mobile.twitter.com/CryptoPunkrock/status/1183317079925108737

Questionmarktarius posted...

teepan95 posted...

@Questionmarktarius posted...

One tweet showed a photoshopped image of Adolf Hitler with virtual reality goggles, saying "this young man was also radicalized in the gamer scene."

Source, please.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ShahakShapira/status/1183316675669778432

Thanks

it gets better...
https://mobile.twitter.com/CryptoPunkrock/status/1183317079925108737

I feel like that's a still from Er Ist Wieder Da, but idk
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teepan95 posted...

I feel like that's a still from Er Ist Wieder Da, but idk

It very well may be.
That movie was weird.

Questionmarktarius posted...

teepan95 posted...

I feel like that's a still from Er Ist Wieder Da, but idk

It very well may be.
That movie was weird.

I haven't seen it myself yet, hence the idk
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Prestoff posted...

They targeted gamers

...gamers?
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CrimsonRage posted...

disgusting. we really need to clamp down on right-wing terrorism and treat it seriously.

also this topic would be five pages long by now if the culprit was Muslim. some of the usual suspects are noticeably absent here too.

Hmm
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I mean isnt this more about Seehofer being the usual dumbass tho
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ASithLord7 posted...

I mean isnt this more about Seehofer being the usual dumbass tho

To an extent

Coupled with the lack of renewal funds for projects tackling right-wing extremism, I'd say it's indicative of something larger
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