Terrorist Memes By Netizens: A Scary Failed Message Of Fear

JAKARTA - Twitter netizens responded to the attack at the National Police Headquarters with mockery. In no time, photos of the body of ZA, the assailant, were scattered as memes on the timeline. This seems to show that the message of terror conveyed by the perpetrators of terrorism failed to arrive. The public reacted unexpectedly. There is no fear for them.

Previously, the perpetrator known to be a woman with the initials ZA (25) sneaked into the Police Headquarters through the back door. The perpetrator is expected to arrive around 16.30 WIB.

According to National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo on April 31, after entering the Police Headquarters, ZA walked towards the front of the main gate. There he pretended to ask where the post office was.

Only then did he attack. He shot officers several times. "Six shots were fired, two times at members inside the post, two times outside, and another shot at the members behind him," said Listyo Sigit.

In the aftermath of these events, the video recording of the ZA attack was widely spread on social media. Anomalies ensued. It's not the fear that netizens feel. This incident was even made a joke.

One of the accounts that share terrorist memes is the @mazzini_gsp account owner. He shared photos of the bodies of the perpetrators of the attack, which read: From these amateur terrorists we learned that girls can also shoot first.

pic.twitter.com/jv8bQverVO

- Mazzini (@mazzini_gsp) March 31, 2021

In addition, there were also people who made memes from photos of the atmosphere after the attack by the Headquarters by giving the feel of the PUBG war game. And there is another who wrote on the photo with "From this amateur terrorist we learn not to go solo if we push rank."

I'm really annoying, say don't push yourself, instead you are desperate pic.twitter.com/yUzYAJeBPn

- reshy (@reshykemaki) March 31, 2021

So many have turned the photos of the assailants into memes. The owner of the @meongggw account, created a meme wishing the perpetrator would come back to life.

A terrorist observer from the Community of Ideological Islamic Analyst, Harits Abu Ulya, said the terrorist act at the National Police Headquarters failed. In fact, he is not strange to see the actions of netizens who have made fun of yesterday's acts of terror. Because the fear of terrorists has long since worn off.

"Yes (it failed) so the people in the end are not afraid of terrorists. They are afraid of the corona," Harits told VOI.

Harits gave an example when there was a shootout in Thamrin, Jakarta. "People became spectators at that incident."

"Called the birth of terror, but it doesn't. That's how it was from the past," said Harits.

Another example, said Harits, was when a bomb occurred at the Surabaya Church. According to him, after the incident, the surrounding community flocked to see the scene of the incident. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

According to Harits, you could say that currently terrorism if it exists in the entertainment world is like entertainment for the community. "Terrorism, if entertained, becomes a kind of entertainment for the community."

Therefore, said Harits, currently people's views seem to be split in two. Some believe and some don't.

"Those who do not discredit this incident, call this an intelligence action and so on. Those who believe, are increasingly convinced that this country is under threat," said Harits.

Returning to the case of the assault on the National Police Headquarters, Harits said that what ZA was doing was very amateurish. In fact, he prefers to call ZA's action a crime. He is skeptical if he calls this act terrorism.

For example, when ZA enters the page, he looks so absent-minded and looks like he doesn't understand the terrain. "This is an action that is classified as reckless, amateurish, and unclear. I prefer to call it a crime."

Harith said, there were so many acts of terror that took place. However, that does not mean that these actions automatically constitute acts of terrorism.

"There are many motorcycle gangs who carry out acts of terror, thugs are terrorizing. So the robbers from the area of Lampung are terrorizing. But it cannot be categorized into that category (terrorism)," he explained.

According to Harith, we seem to have gone too far in using the phrase terrorism. "So now you can say that a terrorist is seen from his background. If it is considered related, all of his activities are considered dangerous. Perhaps peeing at the police station is considered an act of terror."

In fact, according to Harits, the parameters in determining terrorist acts must be objective. This must refer to the Terrorism Law Number 5 of 2018.

Haris said that currently there is ambivalence in dealing with terrorism. There is a double standard in the application of the term. Whereas when referring to the regulation, "terrorism must exist based on ideology and politics."

Even though at this time there are already scattered wills left by ZA for his family, which mention about jihad. However, according to Harits, it needs to be tested forensics first.

"But the person is dead, all of them cannot be confirmed. Whether it is a jihad letter or not cannot be directly called that. There must be a forensic test," he said.

For that, Harith actually regretted it when the perpetrator who looked so weak was paralyzed to death. In fact, according to him, the law enforcement process must be able to minimize casualties. It's nothing by catching the perpetrator alive, all speculation will be resolved, and who is the brains of this incident can be more quickly revealed.

"If he is turned on, all the mysteries can be revealed. If he dies, everything becomes speculation, who is this, where did he come from. This is an interpretation that needs proof," said Harits.

This is because, according to Harits, there are many possibilities that could occur before an act of terror is carried out. "It could be that someone in an unstable condition does something unnatural, or is angry, then influenced by someone to do something like that. It's strange to come in. What he is looking for is he doesn't know where he doesn't know the target."

According to Harits, there are things that are considered odd that make many people do not believe in acts of terrorism. In addition, this pattern of acts of terrorism also adds to the skepticism of many people about this kind of case.

"It will always appear yearly, or arise when there is a big issue. The problem is that it is difficult to reject such perceptions, because it keeps repeating itself. The pattern is the same. So it can't be blamed either," he concluded.

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