'OK' hand gesture declared hate symbol, can serve as a warning sign to presence of white supremacists in community: ADL
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has reportedly designated the "OK" hand gesture as a hate symbol.
The organization, on Thursday, added the symbol, along with several others, to its long-standing database of symbols or slogans generally used by extremists.
The OK sign, made with joining the index finger with the thumb in the shape of a circle, is known universally as a signifier for suggesting everything is all right or made in approval of something. However, the symbol has lately been co-opted by the alt-right.
According to the ADL, the OK hand gesture and its connection to white nationalism began as a hoax made up by the users of 4chan website. The users reportedly falsely linked it to white supremacy.
Although it was initially meant to be a bait for media or people with liberal ideals to overreact, the sign, in 2019, was adopted by some white nationalists, ADL experts say. "At least some white supremacists seem to have abandoned the ironic or satiric intent behind the original trolling campaign and used the symbol as a sincere expression of white supremacy,” the ADL posted in its report.
The organization's experts pointed to Brenton Tarrant, the Australian white supremacist who massacred 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in March by opening fire at them. Tarrant, shortly after his arrest, was pictured using the OK symbol during a courtroom appearance. He has not yet pleaded guilty.
SDL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, in a statement, said: "We believe law enforcement and the public needs to be fully informed about the meaning of these images, which can serve as a first warning sign to the presence of haters in a community or school."
Other symbols added to ADL's list include Dylann Roof’s bowlcut, the “Happy Merchant” and “Moon Man” images. The bowl cut emoji is reportedly used by white supremacists to symbolize Dylann Roof who opened fire inside on black people, killing nine in 2015 as they prayed in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.