Did this Joburg man just say that gays should be shot?
Gerhard de Bruyn
In the wake of the Orlando massacre, a Johannesburg man appears to have called for gay men to be shot.
On Wednesday, Gerhard de Bruyn reacted to an article posted on the 702 Facebook page about the film Chemsex; documenting the link between drugs and sex among gay men.
The post includes a picture of men dancing in what appears to be gay nightclub, perhaps not dissimilar to Pulse in Orlando.
De Bruyn’s comment was simple, to the point and frightening. He said: “SHOOT TO KILL.”
Disturbingly, his comment was liked by Lubabalo Dinga, who also stated that the Alberton man had the the right to “freedom of speech”.
Linda Cele, however, pointed out that “there is a difference between hate speech and freedom of speech…”
De Bruyn’s comment, if understood correctly, is hate speech of the worst kind – inciting violence against a group or community, in this case, gay men.
Mambaonline has attempted to contact De Bruyn but has not yet received a response to our message.
Clive Vanderwagen-Julicher, who pointed out De Bruyn’s post to Mambaonline, reported the comment to Facebook.
Unbelievably, the social media site responded to Vanderwagen-Julicher that the post “doesn’t violate our Community Standards”.
If inciting murder doesn’t violate Facebook’s “Community Standards” then it’s unclear what does.
KwaZulu-Natal resident Penny Sparrow was recently fined R150 000 for hate speech after she posted a comment comparing black South Africans to monkeys.
On Sunday, 49 people were slaughtered by 29-year-old Omar Mateen who opened fire on hundreds of revellers inside the Pulse gay nightclub.
Update: 702 appears to have removed De Bruyn’s comment from its page.
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The intro to the Facebook post reads: “What’s chemsex? It’s a world where drugs and sex are intertwined…and gay men say it is an escape from life in still hostile, alienating cities that don’t completely accept them”.
The “shoot to kill” comment simply justifies the intro and proves that hostility exists, creating the need for said means of escapism, which, ironically, is in turn judged and criticised by the very same “shoot to kill” people who created the need for the escapism in the first place. This all further proves that intolerance, prejudice and hate produce nothing positive, for anyone. If the recent massacre in Orlando is anything to go by, left unchecked, the perpetual cycle of intolerance and hatred is bound to gain momentum with horrific results.
Did anyone try to notice this man being a proud mixed marriagee and the fact that he didnt retaliate should speak volumes about something else he might have been trying to say or be? Fok aint we fast to throw stones. Us who seeks peace?
What is that ‘something else’ he was trying to say? And what does being in a mixed marriage have anything to do with his displaying his violence- tinged homophobia?
You are quite correct. The comment equates to hate speech. The judge in tge Malema singing shoot the boer said that that was hate speech. No difference in the case……http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-12-shoot-the-boer-its-hate-speech-says-judge
You are quite correct. The comment equates to hate speech. The judge in tge Malema singing shoot the boer said that that was hate speech. No difference in the case……http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-12-shoot-the-boer-its-hate-speech-says-judge
The so called Human Race is the most pathetic thing ever to exist!
Deserves a fine bigger than Penny, she never incited murder, while her comment was a clear racist shocker, and brought her shame, this mans friends likely patted him on the back.
THIS is what HATE speech looks like, yet both shame us ALL as a nation and humanKIND.
Yet, what I am left with from the PULSE massacre, when my own anger and horror settles, is a community, not afraid to be themselves, prepared to stand for LOVE and solidarity .. In the face of all the hate..The LGBTQ family have armed themselves with LOVE, may we all learn something and find our courage, not our fear in moments when it counts.
This idiot is on Internet vomiting his hate speech and jumping on his pulpit like a rabid monkey. He has been calling for gays to be shot for at least a year and there is obviously something terribly wrong with him. He is trying to get more unsound people to join his cult. Avoid him at all costs. And why does the USA produce these evil, demonic idiots.