Sometimes, the internet puts forth a gift that so perfectly captures a mood that all you can do is sit back and watch. Enter #VanillaISIS and #YallQaeda.
The hashtags started over the weekend after news that armed protesters and members of citizen militias had seized control of an Oregon wildlife refuge, and news organizations took to using #OregonUnderAttack for tweets about the protest.
Users looking for a more pointed label to mock the largely white, self-declared patriots seized on hashtags like #YallQaeda, which captured what some characterized as the media’s hesitance to denounce the men as terrorists.
“Let’s imagine for a second if this act of armed terrorism was done by black people,” wrote Yesha Callahan, an editor at The Root. “We all know that the law enforcement wouldn’t let this go on for more than 5 minutes. Tanks, smoke bombs, and guns would be immediately drawn.”
Here are some of the best tweets about the protesters:
Stop
Mobilize and listen
#VanillaISIS back w/ a brand new militia
BLM grab the land so tightly
Illegally graze my cattle nightly
#YallQaeda
— Tristan R. Salazar (@trslzr) January 3, 2016
Live photo of #YallQaeda / #VanillaISIS insurgents. #OregonUnderAttack #tcot pic.twitter.com/yeuGiIcYEY
— Joe Keene (@joekeene) January 3, 2016
#YallQaeda follows a strict interpretation of Shania law.
— Brienne of Snarth (@femme_esq) January 3, 2016
So far we have:
#YokelHaram
#YallQaeda
#WhiteSIS.
I LOVE TWITTER. #OregonUnderAttack
— Poonta Kinte Cloth (@lenubienne) January 3, 2016
Every successful revolution starts with takeover of closed visitor center with gift shop. #OregonUnderAttack #YallQaeda
— Lars Petticord (@fatdownjacket) January 3, 2016
I love the beer guts on the guys in Keene’s tweet.You just know these guys would be breathing heavy if they went to get the mail.
http://www.wweek.com/2016/01/03/the-bundys-claims-about-their-federal-building-seizure-are-very-dubious/
These idiots are pathetic losers of the first order. They can add armed, breaking and entering on Federal property to a new list of charges for these particular assholes, which I see numbers approximately 20 main actors. Peaceful protest my ass. Get a clue media…Semi-automatic weapons is a dead giveaway that this was never meant to be peaceful. These 10thers are so deluded…The Feds need to step in and quit pussyfooting around with these jerks. It only encourages them when they’ve backed off or let them get away with these types of acts of defiance.
This is exactly the response from I hope gains traction around the country. Let’s mock them while we starve them out of their gift shop bunker.
#YokelHaram and #VanillaISIS!
That shit is fuckin funny!
"Day 9: It was terrible. We even had to eat the littlle plastic brown bear souvenirs. Defecating became very painfull after that, and those souvenirs are not very filling. Morale started to sink.
Day 10, The smell is becoming unbearable…"