Experts: Dallas Shooter Was Covered with Signs of Extremism

Experts: Dallas Shooter Was Covered with Signs of Extremism

Mauricio Garcia killed eight people and hurt many others when he shot into the car parking area outside a shopping center near Dallas, Texas on Saturday.

News reports say Garcia showed signs of extremism and had permanent pictures and letters painted on his skin. These images are called tattoos². He also wore the letters "RWDS" on a part of his clothing.

The tattoos are described as "Nazi³." The term comes from the name of the party that controlled Germany under Adolf Hitler in the 1930s and 40s and is linked with racial hatred⁴ and violence. Reports say Garcia put information online suggesting that he was interested in Nazi images and white supremacist ideas.

But many people might not know what the letters "RWDS" mean.

The Associated Press recently reported on the meaning of the letters, or acronym⁵:

Extremism experts say RWDS stands for "right wing death squad⁶."

Oren Segal is vice⁷ president of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit group based in New York City. The group fights antisemitism, extremism and hate.

Segal said the term first appeared in the 1970s and 1980s when people were describing paramilitary groups that killed the political opponents of dictators in Central and South America.

The term reappeared about 10 years ago when extreme American groups of the political right started to use RWDS to express their opposition⁸ to the extreme political left "more broadly," Segal said.

Heidi Beirich is co-founder of the group Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, a nonprofit based in Montgomery, Alabama. She said the group in the U.S. called the Proud Boys started using the letters most often.

Photos of Proud Boys leaders have shown them wearing the letters.

But the Anti-Defamation League said the Proud Boys are not the only ones to wear the RWDS letters. Some people were wearing them in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. In August of that year, a white pride rally turned violent, and one woman was killed.

The New York Times newspaper said social media service Facebook banned groups that used the RWDS acronym after the death in Charlottesville.

But one expert said the letters and the phrase "right wing death squad" are being used more often.

Jon Lewis is a researcher for the Program on Extremism at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

He called the letters "a rallying cry" and said they "cut across and far beyond any individual group." Lewis said the groups look favorably on dictators such as Chile's Augusto Pinochet who died in 2006. He said the groups want to use the powers of government to carry out "violent genocide" against opponents.

One professor said that people who wear symbols and acronyms⁹ like RWDS do not always know what they mean and where they come from.

Cynthia Miller-Idriss is director of American University's Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab in Washington, D.C. She said something like RWDS spreads on social media. While "nobody is accidentally going to have a ‘Right Wing Death Squad' patch," she said, "they don't always know exactly" what it means.

People might wonder why a person named Mauricio Garcia, who was Hispanic, would support white supremacist ideas.

Enrique Tarrio, a former Proud Boys leader, is Cuban-American. Miller-Idriss said people who do not consider themselves to be white can still be interested in white supremacist ideas. She said it is the same for women who support "male supremacist movements."

Tanya Hernandez is a professor at Fordham University in New York City. She wrote a book about Latinos who have unfair ideas about Black people.

She said Latinos are often seen as "unwanted others" in American society. But they want to find a way to fit in. So, Hernandez said, "what better way to make a claim...than to be part of the enforcement, the policing of whiteness within a white supremacist hate group?"

Words in This Story

tattoo¹ –n. pictures or words permanently¹⁰ written on a person's skin with ink

Nazi –n. a member of the National Socialist¹¹ German Workers Party which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945; an insult used to say a person is very bad

white supremacist –n. a person who believes that the white race is better and should rule other races

anti-semitism –n. the hatred of Jewish people

broadly –adv. widely

pride –n. a feeling of self-importance

rally –n. a public meeting to support a cause or person

symbol –n. any sign or image that represents another idea or belief

patch –n. a small piece of cloth that is placed on clothing

1 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

2 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

4 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

5 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

6 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 acronyms   

n.首字母缩略词( acronym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Scratch the subject of defence and acronyms, abbreviations, and buzzwords fly out. 话题触及国防，缩合字，缩写字和行话就满天飞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some acronyms as scientific terminology are used as a lexical item. 一些科学术语缩写用作词汇项目。 来自互联网

10 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

11 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。