Leonardo Coelho (Leonardo Coelho) has been working as a reporter and photographer in Rio de Janeiro since 2013. He has extensively reported on human rights issues and police violence for news media such as Ponte Jornalismo, UOL, Vice Brazil, and has contributed to BBC Brasil and Noisey. , Newsweek, Channel report other topics 9 and Morgan Bradt. He is particularly interested in studying how hate forums and radical right content are spread through the Brazilian Internet. You can contact him at contato@leocoelho.jor.br or Twitter @leocoelho1989. Robert Evans has worked as a conflict reporter in Iraq and Ukraine, and has extensively reported on extreme right-wing extremist organizations in the United States. He is particularly interested in the ways in which terrorist organizations recruit, radicalize, and communicate via the Internet. He has a podcast on the HowStuffWorks network (https://www.behindthebastards.com), you can contact him at revanswriter@gmail.com or Twitter: https://twitter.com/IwriteOK

On March 13, 2019, two young people entered their original high school in Suzano, a small city in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The first to enter was the 17-year-old Guilherme Taucci (Guilherme Taucci), he immediately opened fire with a 0.38 revolver. Luiz Castro, 25, followed him. Since 2002, the eighth massacre occurred in Brazilian schools.

Five students and two employees were killed that day. Many others who managed to survive were wounded by the killer's bullets and axes. Eight minutes after the police rushed into the building, Tucci killed Castro and then committed suicide. 

However, even outside the school, bloody trails followed them. Before the attack, both men killed Tao Qi's uncle and stole his car. 

As we all know, the Suzzano massacre caused great grief and grief, but it has hardly attracted international attention. However, the Suzzano massacre is destined to become part of the international fascist violence network, including the massacres in Christchurch, Halle (Germany) and El Paso. Although these shootings are all linked by the 8chan website, Suzano is surrounded by a dirty story similar to 8chan's website: Dogolachan. 

In December 2013, Marcelo Valle Silveira Mello founded Dogolachan on the surface network as a safe haven for his special brand "Freedom of Speech." Since 2005, he has been an active user of the social network Orkut, often posting his support for pedophilia and racism, and sharing photos of violent crimes. 

Before founding Dogolachan, Mello had a history of launching online hate campaigns. In 2009, he became the first person in Brazil to be formally convicted of racism. His lawyer successfully appealed, saying that his client had a mental problem. Because of this, Melo avoided prison at the time. 

Three years later, in 2012, Melo was finally arrested by the Brazilian Federal Police (BFP) and his accomplice Emerson Setim on charges of creating and managing a series of heinous websites. These sites disseminate a large number of racist and sexist articles directly targeting several universities, including articles such as "How to rape a girl in [insert university]", and attribute their authors to various individuals who are regarded as enemies by the chan community. This strategy is still in use today. 

These websites are a kind of extremely high-pressure harassment activities directed at people and institutions, disrupting the well-being of the class and the above-mentioned communities through coordinated intimidation actions. This intimidation activity has been growing for many years. 

Online anonymity as a weapon against opponents, not to mention excuses for "humor" and "sarcasm", all of which are made worse by the lack of police power to monitor such forums, leading to a proliferation of hate websites. Brazil’s fight against Internet crimes The government organization Safernet stated that at least five domains related to Dogolachan users have generated more than 160,000 complaints during their lifetime. 

The BFP also stated that Marcelo and Emerson are planning to massacre left-wing students at the University of Brasilia (UNB). The planned shooting was inspired by the deadliest school massacre in Brazilian history; a mentally ill person killed 12 children (including 10 girls) at the Tasso da Silveira municipal school in Rio de Janeiro. The killer knew the link to the online hate community, such as the one that Merlot frequented. 

The two spent more than a year in federal prison and were released in May 2013. Only a few months later, they created Dogolachan. 

The original picture that became the Dogola meme was taken in Russia

Inspired by 4chan, 8chan and many other chan style image boards, the name "Dogolachan" is a reference to dogola meme, a photo taken in Russia and accepted by Brazilians. It is often sent spam in online discussions. The country’s online culture is famous for its memes and online trolling.

Although it is well known that the dogola meme is quite harmless in its Russian form, it spread quickly as a compulsive meme, winning the hearts of spammers and junk posters all over the world, especially in Brazil, where it became a visual mascot. Foundation newly created Chen.

From the very beginning, the forum was a hate site comparable to 8chan's /pol board. It focuses on inspiring and celebrating attacks, seduction and trolling campaigns, and human flesh searches of women, ethnic minorities, and leftists. Mello and his colleagues on Dogolachan also advocate mass harassment of individuals they consider enemies. 

One such "enemy" is Dolores Aronovich, publicly known as Lola, a professor of English literature at the Federal University of Ceará and the author of Brazil's most influential feminist blog, which has been online since 2008. She advocates for combating hate crimes in the digital community, and Aronovich has received numerous threats, mainly related to patriarchal activists or Dogolachan users. Aronovich was the inspiration behind a bill named after Lola herself by a female parliamentarian, which allows federal police to take over any investigation of misogynistic online crimes. Aronovic was recently nominated for the 2019 Press Freedom Award by Reporters Without Borders.

Channer also celebrated mass shooters. This is a common practice on 8chan's/pol boards. They paid tribute to the shooters inspired by the board, calling them "saints" and adopting religious images:

Similarly, on Dogolachan, users respect the "actum sanctus" (actum sanctus) of people they call "homini sanctus", such as Wellington Rodriguez, the perpetrator of the Rio de Janeiro massacre. Although the attacks inspired by the site did not attract widespread global attention, Dogolachan’s users regarded themselves as members of the international movement because they also awarded the title to foreign murderers such as Elliot Rodgers and Anders Breivik

On June 16, 2018, Dogolachan moderator André Luiz Gil Garcia became well-known online, and he posted about his suicidal feelings. Then he went out to sexually harass a young woman Luciana de Jesus do Nascimento. The woman's response to the harassment was not to his liking, so when she tried to get rid of him, he shot her in the back of the head. When the police arrived, Andre fled the scene and committed suicide. The victim will die from his injuries after 20 days. 

In the original thread printed below, Anões (a self-deprecating version of the word "anon", conflating its meaning with the Portuguese translation of dwarfism) lamented Garcia's failure to kill more women. In the months after the murder/suicide incident, the remarks about Dogoracan became more violent and radical. 

Translation: "Kyo, guys. Reminder to everyone: I want to quit this world. Unclean and don't touch me. It's good when it lasts, but I don't feel part of this world anymore. The sadness I feel makes I am depressed for life. For those who hurt me, I curse you, while looking for you in hell, I will guard those pure people. Marcelo, when you get out of prison, be happy, this is something I can never do of."

Many members began to call themselves "falhos" or "defective". The meaning of this word on Dogolachan seems to be roughly similar to the meaning of "incel" in English chans. "Falhos" believes that their lives are basically over, and urge each other to "take away the dregs" or "take away the cows" when they commit suicide, as written in the highlighted section above.

8chan's/pol board is known for its role in inspiring at least three mass shootings. After the El Paso shooting in the summer of 2019, the site was forced to shut down the Internet under the weight of public outrage-although it is doing its best to recover. 

Dogolachan is still online, albeit on the deep web, because Mello transferred control of the website to others when he was in jail for various crimes, including spreading pedophile pictures, inciting crime, and terrorism. 

After Melo was finally sentenced to 41 years in prison, Chen continued. Over the years, it has developed its own terrorist tactics that enable it to function like a melting pot of terrorists, creating an atmosphere that some people call random terrorism.

For example, the Suzano massacre in March 2019 was carried out by two young men who are widely believed (though not yet confirmed) to be channel hosts. The only evidence of their involvement is a statement made by an anonymous administrator on the forum on the day of the massacre, stating that the murderer was "absolutely a member." No further evidence was provided, but the media was eager for any answers that could help complete the picture.

In the main Dogolachan section /b/, the reporter found a post containing a screenshot of the suspected secret section of the forum. In a screenshot taken 7 days before the massacre, the killer thanked the administrator for helping them plan the rampage and stated that they would issue a secret warning in the form of music lyrics before the action. Screenshots and translations are as follows:

Translation: "Thank you for your advice and guidance DPR (Administrator). We hope that this behavior will not be done in vain. We, mainly the jurisdiction (Dogolachan) will be cited and remembered. We are born with defects, but will become heroes . This contact made everything go according to plan. We are shocked by the Hollywood-like quality. Unfortunately, there is no place to test, we will do it naturally on the spot. Be with God, my mentor. The sign will be Music, in three days we will be with God and our 7 virgins. We will carry this message with us.”

Two days before the shooting, someone translated and released the lyrics of the popular song "Pumped Up Kicks" by the Foster People-this song was sung from the perspective of a troubled young man with murderous thoughts, and was often heard Described as a song about the school shooting — and the media and the Brazilian online community interpreted it as confirming their suspicions:

Although no news media and police can confirm the existence and content of this secret board, to this day, the attack is still related to Dogorakan, who widely celebrated the massacre. The chan moderator claimed that since Suzano, due to the media's attention to their forum, the audience of their deep web site (accessible only through the Tor browser) has skyrocketed.

It is possible that the members fabricated the connection between Chen and the Holocaust to realize Lulz (basically for fun). It is also possible that they chose the shooting to increase the visibility and notoriety of their website, so the threats raised by members in the future will be taken more seriously. The police investigating the Suzano case confirmed that the shooter was assisted by another minor (now detained) who was not involved in the attack during the planning stage. He told reporters that the murderer did not know what Dogolachan was. 

The same strategy was later used in August, when forum members planned to forge the authorship of the school attack. They suggested that members create a fake post retrospectively to induce the school, the police and the media to believe that a podcast had warned his friend about the imminent massacre. 

As we all know, the individuals involved were deeply affected by the Columbine shooting, which triggered dozens of imitation attacks around the world. Just in October this year, a Florida woman was arrested for carrying 24 tube bombs. The materials found in her home indicate that she is fascinated by crime.

It is important to remember that these massacres and threats of massacre are all part of international fascist violence, even though the movement behind these massacres is completely fragmented. It is composed of different "nodes", including 8chan and Dogolachan, which work in a predictable manner. After Christchurch, 8chan users began to advise each other on weapons and bomb manufacturing strategies:

At the same time, after the Suzano massacre, a user on Dogolachan posted this question: "How can I participate in such a saint operation without money and guns?". According to the screenshot provided by Lola Aronovich, the main collective dream of the channel owner is easier access to guns and ammunition. Historically, these are difficult to obtain legally in Brazil. 

Highlighted translation: "Elliot Roger's life was not in vain. It inspired others and opened the heart for the Beta Uprising. Don't commit suicide, don't do it now. Waiting for Bolsonaro to legalize gun possession... …Falls always happen, and more and more. Whenever you do everything you want to do, pick up a gun and shoot a scum. Fight with the police and die. And always shoot women. In matriarchal society, men There is no value in his life. A 7/10 prostitute is worth more than 1,000 beta versions. The world revolves around them."

Currently, President Jair Bolsonaro is relaxing these regulations. The far-right politician received enthusiastic support from candidates long before launching the campaign because he had made hateful, misogynistic, racist and anti-leftist remarks. The founder Marcelo Mello even created a branch of Litecoin called Bolsocoin for use by the channel.

According to UOL, after Suzano, at least 18 universities in Brazil have received various types of threats, mainly due to imitation effects. Not all of these can be directly associated with Dogolachan, but at least six have been independently confirmed by the author and can be traced back to the forum or its users.

In fact, Suzano is just another chapter in a broader campaign initiated by Dogolachan users since the original website owner began to act criminally in 2005. This harassment of individuals and institutions is unprecedented in its scope and scale, at least in Brazil, as Safernet claims.

All hyperlinks below-except three-are from Brazilian media and automatically translated by Google. These are just some of the most relevant threats, not a complete list:

September 23, 2016: Federal University of Minas Gerais-A Dogolachan user posted a direct threat that included photos of the Columbine shooting and expressed his desire to target leftists. The perpetrator stated that he wanted to kill the man and torture the woman. Many students refuse to attend classes for several days. The school’s security measures have been strengthened.

May 29, 2017: New York City, Atlanta, Asheville (North Carolina)-Dozens of bomb threats were faxed to seemingly random businesses, demanding a ransom of $25,000. Emerson Setim (Mello's former partner) was identified as the sender in the fax. But this is almost certainly not the case. Setim and Mello had a well-known quarrel after they went to jail, and these faxes were probably an act of revenge against Emerson. Due to threats, some companies were evacuated.

March 21, 2019: Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul-Threats written directly by people who posted on Dogolachan. After posting a post threatening a massacre somewhere in Rio Grande do Sul, a colleague suggested UFRGS University as a target, citing a security breach. Although the institution did not cancel classes or activities, many teachers and students missed classes for a few days. Security has been strengthened.

April 10, 2019: Federal University of Paraná-The threat was written directly by the person posting on Dogolachan, showing a photo of a pistol, and listing the locations where the shooter is alleged to be planning to execute blacks, women, and AIDS patients . All classes are postponed by one day.

June 8, 2019: Federal University of Pernambuco-Threats written directly by people who posted on Dogolachan. Targeting leftist students and claiming to have AR-15 to kill "the stone man who criticized Bolsonaro." The course was not postponed, but many students chose to skip class. 

June 16, 2019: Federal University of Espirito Santo-a threat written directly by the person posting on Dogolachan. Shows a picture of a pistol and a well-known location in the aforementioned university, targeting left-wing students. Security has been strengthened, and more students choose to skip classes.

October 14, 2019: UNICARIOCA (CARIOCA University)-A small private university in Rio received a direct threat of massacre through Dogolachan. A Dogolachan user said that they would go to the campus to retaliate against anyone who bullied them and show photos of their weapons.

Dogolachan's Anonymous committed far fewer killings than ideological comrades on 8chan's /pol board. Even their so-called landmark crime—the Suzzano school massacre—has not been proven to have been committed by them.

However, despite the relative lack of actual violence in their records, Dogolachan's users managed to launch a high-pressure harassment campaign against their enemies. Universities and businesses have been closed, classes have been interrupted, and lives have been severely affected by coordinated attacks from their core members and decentralized intimidation campaigns against widespread enemies such as leftists, women or any progressive people. 

What Dogolachan did seem to be very successful, is to build a reputation recognized by other dissatisfied and violent people. This allows them to outsource their "brand" and their "combination" of attacks on media and social media. Now, people make threats in the name of Dogolachan only because they know they will get a response. We see evidence of this in template threats copied by criminals threatening the Federal University of Goias (UFG). 

At this point, Dogolachan's "anões" may have found a way to artificially amplify the specter of past massacres in Brazil and elsewhere. They celebrated this reputation in almost the same way as 8chan, using the slogan "Embrace the notorious". For Dogolachan, even unrealized threats can have real consequences for real people and institutions. Given the difficulty of obtaining guns in Brazil, statistically speaking, concerns about large-scale attacks like El Paso or Poway from Dogolachan users may be unfounded. However, countless anões are waiting for more relaxed gun laws, so they can go from threats to death tolls. 

Leonardo Coelho's research and concepts, edited and organized by Robert Evans.

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