The main suspect in the 'The Otley Run massacre' in Northern England on Saturday is believed by counter-terrorism police to have been motivated by incel ideology, according to British media reports. So, what is an incel?
An ‘incel’ is a subculture of men who have built their identity around their involuntary celibacy. The mostly online community has become known for its misogynistic and often racist or antisemitic ideology, which has spurred a number of attacks in recent years.
Florence Keen, who researches incels at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at Kings College London, told the BBC in 2021 that incel forums have as many as 13,000 active members.
The University of Texas at Austin School of Psychology and Swansea University, in a psychological study commissioned by the UK government, published in 2024, found that incels were primarily heterosexual men in their mid-twenties.
Despite past reports indicating the group has a strong correlation with the far right and white supremacy, some 42% of incels described themself as people of color, according to the study.
A Pew Research poll found that the majority of incels aligned politically with slightly left of center on the Ideological Consistency Scale, although those that felt incel violence was justified fell more on the right side of the scale.
Those interviewed by the psychologists suffered from poor mental health, with one in five experiencing suicidal ideation on a daily basis in the weeks prior to speaking to the researchers.
A history of attacks by incels
While the movement has now become known for its followers' attacks on women, it started as something very different. It began, according to the BBC, with a website made by a young woman struggling to find love and seeking a community to share her struggles with.
"There was probably a bit of anger and some men were a bit clueless about how women are unique, individual humans, but in general it was a supportive place,” Alana, who created the website, told the BBC. "It definitely wasn't a bunch of guys blaming women for their problems. That's a pretty sad version of this phenomenon that's happening today. Things have changed in the last 20 years."
In 2014, years after Alana created her website, the incel movement saw its first attack by Elliot Rodgers. Rodgers, known as Saint Elliot Rodgers by the online community, killed six people in a stabbing and shooting spree in California.
Before murdering the half a dozen victims, 22-year-old Rodgers released an infamous YouTube video and a 141-page manifesto expressing his anger at women.
On his "Day of Retribution," Rodgers claimed he had "no choice but to exact revenge on the society" that had "denied" him sex and love.
Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19, were shot to death outside the Alpha Phi sorority, which Rodgers said housed "the kind of girls I've always desired but was never able to have.”
Rodgers then stabbed to death Cheng Yuan Hong, 20, Weihan Wang, 20, and George Chen, 19 and shot Christopher Michaels-Martinez, 20, while randomly firing from his car. An additional 14 people were wounded.
While Rodgers may have been the first terrorist to carry out an attack in the name of the incel movement, multiple have followed across the globe.
Alek Minassian killed 11 people and wounded 16 in Toronto during a van attack motivated by his incel ideology. He is currently serving a life sentence. Two years later, a minor in Canada carried out a deadly attack in Toronto in 2020, which a judge found to be an act of terrorism inspired by the incel movement. The 17-year-old murdered Ashley Noelle Arzaga with a machete and seriously wounded others at a massage parlour.
Plymouth gunman Jake Davison, who killed five people, in 2021 including his mother and a three-year-old girl, was said to have held violently misogynistic beliefs and a fascination with incel ideology, the Guardian reported
In 2024, a man was said to have been motivated by incel ideology when he murdered six people in Sydney.
In Leeds on Saturday, a 19-year-old and a 31-year-old woman were wounded by a crossbow attacker. A Facebook post being analyzed by the authorities, according to the Mail Online, said the attack had been spurred by “revenge” and “misogynistic rage.” The suspect is currently in critical condition and is being held under police guard in hospital.
