> In the modern era, as extreme beliefs (e.g., anti-government or anti-law enforcement movements)
Fbi quietly putting psyops telling anti- government is extreme belief lmao.
LARPing and Violent Extremism
41–50 of 230 posts
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#42It is very scary to read such an "opinion" pieces on fbi.gov domain. First, they make it possible to connect any organized activity to "violent extremism". And then this: > Meetings may entail impassioned rhetoric and rehearsal of tactical operations for the ultimate future apocalypse when citizens will overtake the government or institute their own community policing. This quote is fucking insane, imo. "citizens wil…
No, (individual) citizens aren't supposed to be that.
Now, all (majority) citizens? Sure. But we established proper procedures how to execute that power, and you aren't supposed to skip those. Mainly because without those, you cannot guarantee that it's actually majority's opinion, and not loud minority. But even if you have majority of the area agreeing on something, there is no reason why suddenly they should be able to abandon all the agreements, (social) contracts and rules they agreed to before.
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#43> The foremost distinction between LARPers and violent extremists is that genuine role players will not care whether others are watching. They may even embrace third-party observation, such as nonplayer characters or a general audience. After all, LARP is a performance. > Conversely, violent extremists or terrorists want secrecy. This desire may contribute to the sense of clandestine excitement that surrounds them an…
TFA:
>Violent and criminal actors, particularly those involved in a conspiracy, could potentially make false claims, explaining that they were merely LARPing and not intending to follow through with an attack. For example, after Kaleb Franks was arrested in October 2020 for plotting to abduct Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, he told the FBI he and his compatriots were only LARPing. Franks later pled guilty and testified that this was a lie.5
>Although the history of LARP as a legal defense is narrow, the authors share the concern that it may soon become commonplace. Early attempts at such a strategy have been made by a defendant acting alone6 or in loose cooperation with members of a fantasy group who knew each other only in the virtual world,7 claiming “artistic expression” to excuse threatening language.8
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#44I was definitely confused by this article at first, thinking it was some silly guide for law enforcement which can't tell the difference between criminals and LARPers...?? But no -- it's actually about terrorists and criminals trying to claim in court that their criminal planning wasn't that at all, but just LARPing: > For example, after Kaleb Franks was arrested in October 2020 for plotting to abduct Michigan Govern…
The blatant lying that law enforcement has to deal with on a daily basis is uderappreciated.
The US has a legal system that permits a defendant to say many things, like "My buddies and I were participating in a fantasy scenario where we plotted in detail and collected supplies to kidnap the governor of our state... but it was just a game. Like those other people who play games!"
Good for the authors in making an effort to clearly distinguish between protected speech and non-protected conspiracy to commit a crime.
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#45They used the term LARP a lot more literally than I expected. Although the history of LARP as a legal defense is narrow, the authors share the concern that it may soon become commonplace. Early attempts at such a strategy have been made by a defendant acting alone or in loose cooperation with members of a fantasy group who knew each other only in the virtual world, claiming “artistic expression” to excuse threatening…
> users pretend to have fantasies about taking officer's service weapon. Why is this a trend...
If I had to guess I would saynpart of the intrusive-thoughts/OCD/impulse-control community. I've seen similar about swerving into oncoming traffic or walking off a ledge.
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#46I was definitely confused by this article at first, thinking it was some silly guide for law enforcement which can't tell the difference between criminals and LARPers...?? But no -- it's actually about terrorists and criminals trying to claim in court that their criminal planning wasn't that at all, but just LARPing: > For example, after Kaleb Franks was arrested in October 2020 for plotting to abduct Michigan Govern…
It isn't just courts, these are for police officers in general, they say it near the top "which may be helpful to both law enforcement and prosecutors if suspects of targeted violence claim they were playacting".
These standards will likely make officers go after more genuine LARPers than before. These tips are very problematic if police officers start to follow them, for example:
> Role players will not discuss law enforcement concerns on social media or provide guidance to each other if confronted by an officer. Also, they will have no demonstrated interest in criminal cases involving claims of LARP.
If police officers are going after LARPers then LARPers will start to talk about what to do in those cases.
> The foremost distinction between LARPers and violent extremists is that genuine role players will not care whether others are watching. They may even embrace third-party observation, such as nonplayer characters or a general audience. After all, LARP is a performance.
Lots of people are embarrassed to do things in public, a police officer coming across some people LARPing in private shouldn't be cause for investigation.
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#47They used the term LARP a lot more literally than I expected. Although the history of LARP as a legal defense is narrow, the authors share the concern that it may soon become commonplace. Early attempts at such a strategy have been made by a defendant acting alone or in loose cooperation with members of a fantasy group who knew each other only in the virtual world, claiming “artistic expression” to excuse threatening…
> users pretend to have fantasies about taking officer's service weapon. Why is this a trend...
[flagged]
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
> users pretend to have fantasies about taking officer's service weapon. Why is this a trend...
To create a paranoia amongst police officers that disproportionately affects minorities.
Wait, is this trend being pushed by fascists, anti-fascists, or capitalists? I'm confused.
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#49It is very scary to read such an "opinion" pieces on fbi.gov domain. First, they make it possible to connect any organized activity to "violent extremism". And then this: > Meetings may entail impassioned rhetoric and rehearsal of tactical operations for the ultimate future apocalypse when citizens will overtake the government or institute their own community policing. This quote is fucking insane, imo. "citizens wil…
The article also contains >> [recommendations to probe and challenge] motives during an interview (e.g., “If you were just LARPing, why did you need live explosives?”)
The answer is probably the same as why Hollywood uses them in movies. For realism.
Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
"""The Bulletin provides a forum for information exchange throughout the criminal justice community. Readers consist mostly of midlevel to executive managers in agencies of various sizes worldwide."""
And those will now think that LARPers who want privacy are terrorists? I don't see how this is a good way to separate LARPing from terrorism. It is scary to think that law enforcement thinks that people who want privacy are terrorists.
This is not "find larpers, check privacy, find crime"
Its "find crime, they claim larping, check behavior to verify"