CW: toxic masculinity culture, gun violence, police violence, military violence, alpha male culture, BIPOC harm

The thing that is very unsettling about this domestic terrorist act that took place here in Nova Scotia is the fact that the gunman was dressed to (1)

(2) impersonate an RCMP officer.

We need to address this whole role play/ cosplay culture that men have with dressing up, acting like, etc as members of the military or police force.

Like there’s people who live breath and eat this sort of life.

(3) it’s disturbing to say the least. Like the distrust that BIPOC have towards those institutions on a good day is a completely different conversation to be had.

But when a regular every day person goes around impersonating a peace office convincingly, that

(4) completely wiped out the trust of us all that in a time of crisis. It gives us a sense of hopelessness when a person you assume will protects you. Harms you.

To get back to the main point of this, how do we address this whole

(5) “I’ll never sign up to be a police officer or military personnel however I’ll be so obsessed that I pretend I am” culture. Alpha male toxic masculinity at its best. This also plays into race.

If a BIPOC was making uniforms or buying decals to impersonate the

(6) vehicles, there would have been red flags all over the place. An unhealthy obsession would have been shouted from every roof top.

But this was a white man. So it’s a hobby, it’s patriotic, it’s honouring the forces. It’s a passion.

(7) this sort of culture/mindset is disturbing and we let it slide. Look at a lot of the mass shootings that have recently taken place.

A vast majority of them have worn tactical gear. There’s a huge problem in our society in regards to this. It’s sickening.