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Groyper

The nonsense word “groyper” itself does not have a conventional dictionary meaning. The word “groyper” refers to a subcultural meme and political identity that emerged from online spaces connected to the far right. The groyper character itself is a variation of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon amphibian that became a widely recognized internet symbol during the 2010s. Unlike the more neutral or broadly humorous uses of Pepe, the groyper is drawn as a heavier, smug-looking frog resting its chin on folded hands. This image was adopted by a loose network of nationalist and ultraconservative activists who came to be known as the “Groyper Army.”

The groyper phenomenon is closely tied to Nick Fuentes, a far-right commentator who rose to prominence in the late 2010s. His followers began using the groyper meme as a banner to distinguish themselves from mainstream conservatives. They argued that organizations like Turning Point USA and other Republican-aligned groups were too moderate, too globalist, or too focused on corporate interests. To draw attention to their agenda, groypers staged what came to be called the “Groyper Wars” in 2019. During these events, Fuentes’ supporters disrupted conservative conferences and campus appearances, pressing speakers with hostile questions about immigration, foreign policy, and social issues.

The history of the alt-right is rooted in the convergence of internet culture, reactionary politics, and discontent with mainstream conservatism. The term “alternative right” was first popularized in 2010 by Richard Spencer, who envisioned it as a new ideological space for white nationalists, identitarians, and those who rejected what they saw as the failures of the conservative establishment. From the beginning, the alt-right distinguished itself by openly embracing racial identity, ethnonationalism, and opposition to liberal democracy, though it often cloaked these ideas in irony or online subcultural humor.

The movement’s early growth took place largely on online forums such as 4chan and Reddit, where memes and trolling created a shared identity among participants. Pepe the Frog, originally a harmless cartoon, became the mascot of this online subculture, its image repurposed to spread racist or antisemitic themes while retaining a veneer of plausible deniability. This blending of internet in-jokes with extremist ideology allowed the alt-right to recruit younger audiences and to insert itself into mainstream political conversations through viral content.

By the mid-2010s, the alt-right had gained visibility in American politics, especially during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. The movement saw Donald Trump’s candidacy as aligned with its anti-immigration and nationalist positions, even if Trump himself never endorsed them. Figures like Spencer, Milo Yiannopoulos, and others pushed alt-right ideas into the public sphere, using media provocations to blur the line between mainstream conservatism and extremist ideology. However, tensions soon emerged between different factions—some oriented toward outright white supremacy and others toward broader populist or libertarian goals.

The movement reached its high-water mark in 2017, when the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, brought together neo-Nazis, Klansmen, militias, and self-described alt-right activists. The rally culminated in violence, including the killing of counter-protester Heather Heyer. The backlash was immediate and severe, and the alt-right brand became toxic even among many who had previously flirted with its imagery. After Charlottesville, major platforms banned prominent figures, and the movement splintered into smaller, less cohesive groups.

Since then, the alt-right has declined as a unified force but left behind a legacy of meme-driven politics and radicalized online communities. Offshoots like the groypers, as well as newer iterations of white nationalist activism, continue to use the tactics pioneered by the alt-right—leveraging irony, subcultural aesthetics, and digital organizing to advance exclusionary ideologies. Even in decline, the alt-right’s history shows how internet culture can amplify fringe movements and momentarily push them into mainstream discourse.

While the groypers describe themselves as “America First” conservatives, their messaging has been widely criticized for its exclusionary, racialist, and antisemitic undertones. Analysts of extremist movements often classify them as a variant of the white nationalist milieu rather than a genuine expression of conservatism. Their tactics, which blend meme culture with coordinated harassment, reveal how internet-based activism can blur into real-world political agitation. In this way, the groyper serves not only as an internet meme but as a visual shorthand for a particular strain of American far-right politics.

To call oneself a “groyper” was to signal membership in the so-called “Groyper Army,” which defined itself against mainstream conservative groups and sought to promote an “America First” agenda. Thus, the word’s meaning shifted from an in-joke about a frog meme to a political brand tied to online nationalism. In its current usage, “groyper” refers simultaneously to the meme character, the followers of Fuentes’ movement, and the broader aesthetic of trollish, ironic far-right activism. The term retains a deliberately unserious and playful ring, which helps obscure the harder ideological edges of the movement that adopted it.

The political beliefs of Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the 10 Septembre 2025 Charlie Kirk shooting, may have been revealed through inscriptions found on his ammo casings. The analysis argues these inscriptions connect Robinson to the alt-right Groyper movement led by Nick Fuentes, rather than being random or left-leaning signals as initially claimed.

• Groyper Movement Affiliation: The inscriptions are seen as evidence of Robinson's alignment with the Groyper movement, a faction within the alt-right that views mainstream Republicans like Charlie Kirk as "sellouts".
• "Notices bulges OWO": A reference to transphobic memes co-opted by right-wing trolls for bigoted purposes.
• "Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao": An ironic appropriation of an anti-fascist WWII partisan song to ridicule leftists and criticize "fascist" establishment figures like Kirk.
• "Catch this fascist": A direct attack on Kirk, portraying the shooting as a purging of a "traitor" from the right.
• "If you are reading this you are gay, Imaoooo": A homophobic taunt, consistent with the Groyper movement's anti-LGBTQ+ stance.

This incident may reflect the "toxic underbelly of the MAGA ecosystem," where online radicalization can lead individuals to violence against perceived ideological impurities. It suggests Robinson, described as a young individual "steeped in gun culture and pandemic-era echo chambers," was motivated by this form of extremism. This analysis positions the Charlie Kirk shooting not as an isolated act, but as a tragic outcome of online radicalization within specific far-right subcultures and their internal conflicts.