Crusader memes, such as an image of a Knight Templar accompanied by the caption ‘I’ll see your jihad and raise you one crusade’, are popular on hard-right talk-boards and Facebook pages. The square-limbed crusader cross, often accompanied by the Latin phrase Deus Vult (God Wills It – a catchphrase shouted by warriors during the First Crusade in 1095 -1099AD) is a symbol often spotted on white supremacist marches. The crusades – the long series of wars fought between 10 under the direction of medieval popes against a wide range of enemies of many different faiths, including Sunni and Shia Muslims – have long been fascinating to the extreme right wing, both in the United States and elsewhere.
In a four-page manifesto scrawled in black, blue and green ink on a spiral-bound notepad they claimed they were ready to rescue the Constitution and prevent the government from ‘illegally bringing in Muslims by the thousands.’ And in case any doubt remained about their feelings toward Muslims in the United States, they called themselves ‘The Crusaders’. The group’s ethos was anti-government, nationalist, and anti-Islamic.
