fbi agents
© Getty Images / Spencer Platt
Only a few months after it was revealed that the FBI labeled Catholics who attend Latin Mass as extremist, an information request from the Heritage Foundation found that the FBI uses some dozen words to flag "violent extremism."

These slang terms, as seen on social media, are Chad, Looksmaxxing, It's over, Roastie, NEET, Normie, Blue Pill, Red Pill, Black Pill, Stacy, Based, and LARPing. The FBI defines the key terms, along with other terms that are decidely racist, and links the slang terms to these racist ideas.

The FBI's "Domestic Terrorism Reference Guide" on "Involuntary Celibate Violent Extremism" offer a threat overview for incels that aims to identify them by the slang they use. It discusses how "incels" are men who "seek to commit violence in support of their belief that society unjustly denies them sexual or romantic attention, to which they believe they are entitled." The guide goes on to describe that these men "blame political or social movements, such as feminism, for empowering others to deny them romantic or sexual attention."

The "threat overview" goes on to say that there have been "five lethal attacks" by those identified by the FBI as belonging to this group since 2014. While they note that the "indicators" of this ideology "may comprise constitutionally protected conduct," they list a selection of indicators that "may constitute a basis for reporting or law enforcement action when observed in combination with suspicious criminal or potentially violent activity."

These include a glorification of violence previously committed by others identified by the FBI as belonging to this group, along with social media posts "describing a rationale for committing violence, targets of violence, desired social outcomes of violence, and social factors perceived to be exacerbating one's incel status."

The guidance then goes on to list the slang terms that are notable for their purpose, and to link those slang terms with anti-semitism, anti-immigration, and to a heap of white supremacist books.

"It's Over," per the FBI, conveys "the hopelessness of being an incel" or referring to a "heightcel" or "baldcel" to define people who are shorter in height or are bald.

Many of the descriptions on the FBI's list of incel terminology are typically used innocently across the internet such as the term "Red Pill," which originated from the 1999 movie "The Matrix" and has been used as a metaphor for finding hidden political truths or Democrats moving to the Republican party.

"Red Pill" is also listed as a term associated with "Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism" by the FBI and is described as, "In the context of RMVE ideology, taking the red pill or becoming 'red pilled' indicates the adoption of racist, anti-Semitic, or fascist beliefs."

The FBI defines "based" as a word used to "refer to someone who has been converted to racist ideology, or as a way of indicating ideological agreement," even though in internet slang the word can mean a variety of things ranging from "something that is 'agreeable' and 'cool,'" to something "considered anti-woke."

The term "LARPing" which was originally used to describe people engaged in live-action roleplay, usually as characters in fantasy games, can be used for people with an impractical or improbable political vision, such as imagining a monarchist future for the United States and according to the FBI glossary, the term is used to "deride individuals accused of not being as extreme, or in possession of skills or other valued characteristics they claim to have."

The FBI's targeting of Catholics in a bulletin earlier this year, leaked by a whistleblower, revealed that their sources for how to identify traditional Catholics came from the discredited Southern Poverty Law Counsel, as well as Salon and The Atlantic. All of these outlets approach culture and politics from a far-left perspective

The sources listed by the FBI for targeting those who use these slang terms as extremist comes from the "FBI Information and Open Source information. This document derives from multiple sources of information collected by the FBI."