Francisca SinnJun 12, 2023

I’m going to keep repeating this - calling right-wing extremists who are armed, organized, and threatening violence, “militias” works to their goal of establishing legitimacy. They are terrorists. Call. Them. Out.

And if you’re in media and calling them “militias”, but refer to Daesh, ISIS, Al-Qaida, or the Taliban as “terrorists”, you should really think about why that is and the bias that you’re internalizing in your work.

#Terrorism
#DomesticTerrorism

Show threadVirginia HollowayJun 12, 2023
@fsinn @rvawonk “Militia” definitely does have an at least neutral connotation. “Terrorist cells,” “Death Squads,” or even “Insurgents” seems more accurate. Is “Death Squads” too much? Look at the whole RWDS self-identify. Or maybe calling them that is just validating for them in that context.
Show threadFrancisca Sinn
@VirginiaHolloway I’m going to defer to @rvawonk ‘s expertise on how terminology might be received by the groups themselves. What I see is that, for example, the “Proud Boys” have been officially identified as a terrorist organization in both Canada and New Zealand but most journalists don’t mention that, and framing like this, “made a militia call to arms” ⬇️ is, IMO, nonsense and failing.
Jun 12, 2023 at 11:59amWeb
Show threadmybarkingdogsJun 12, 2023

@fsinn @VirginiaHolloway @rvawonk

"Terrorists" should suffice, or is that only applicable to non-white, non-Christian people from The Other?