The Monster the Right Created

What are Groypers and what do they have to do with Charlie Kirk?

In a shocking turn of events, early reports suggest that the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s shooting is not trans, not an immigrant, not Black, not woke. Instead, he appears to be an extremely online gamer and some observers have speculated that he may have ties to a far-right group known as the Groypers. What has been confirmed is that the suspect comes from a MAGA family of registered Republicans. Photos circulating online show him posing with rifles and military-grade weapons as a teenager, underscoring how deeply immersed in gun culture he already was. Many liberals now argue that he could have been further radicalized in right-wing online spaces.

While there is a lot we don’t know yet, the inscriptions on the bullet casings appear to align with Groyp­er culture. One reads, “Notices bulges OWO what’s this?” which resembles a far-right meme sometimes used in Groyper spaces. Another, “Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao,” borrows from an anti-fascist anthem that Groypers have co-opted to mock the left. A third, “Hey fascist! Catch!” matches the language Groypers often used to attack Charlie Kirk as both a fascist and a fake conservative. Finally, “If you’re reading this you’re gay lmao” reflects the kind of homophobic joke that is a core part of the group’s culture. While none of this has been confirmed as the suspect’s motivation, the overlap is difficult to ignore.

For those unfamiliar, Groypers are often described as the antifa of the right. They orbit around Nick Fuentes, a far-right streamer widely identified as a white nationalist. On the surface, Groypers appear to be a swarm of trolls. In practice, they have become one of the most toxic forces on the American right. For Groypers, Charlie Kirk was not pure enough and not hateful enough. In their eyes, he was the enemy within.

Nick Fuentes positioned himself as a natural ally to figures like Kirk, since both pushed bigoted views of women, Black people, queer people, and immigrants. Yet Fuentes repeatedly attacked Kirk, branding him a “neocon,” a “globalist,” and even a “fascist.” Analysts point out that this drumbeat of vitriol may have influenced the suspect more than the invented specter of a ‘trans leftist’ that MAGA leaders rushed to blame.

What few want to admit is that this is what grooming looks like. Not drag queens reading books. Not teachers explaining pronouns. The real grooming factory is online spaces where young men are radicalized through memes, humiliation, and endless purity tests.

Groypers do not just feed on racism, antisemitism, misogyny, and homophobia. They package it in the aesthetics of brotherhood and belonging. It is a pipeline designed to capture young men who feel lost, insecure, or powerless and turn them into foot soldiers. The script goes like this: mock weakness, demand loyalty, punish softness, glorify violence. This is how men are radicalized. This is how masculinity gets weaponized.

That is how someone like Nick Fuentes, who presents himself as a champion of men, ends up presiding over a movement that devours them. His rhetoric is the grooming. It teaches followers that anyone not pure enough deserves to be destroyed.

The MAGA ecosystem is now facing an uncomfortable reality. After years of stoking outrage, gaming the algorithm, and parroting hate, they may have created a monster they cannot tame.