A California man who promoted “incel ideology” was charged Tuesday with allegedly making violent threats against multiple teenage girls. Carl Bennington, 33, posted messages calling Santa Barbara mass shooter Elliot Rodger—who became a figurehead for those who consider themselves “incel,” or involuntarily celibate, after he killed six people and injured 14 others in a 2014 attack at UC Santa Barbara—“a victim.” Federal prosecutors allege that since 2016, Bennington used multiple social-media accounts to send hundreds of repeated, unsolicited, and graphic messages, including one to a Texas woman who told authorities she began receiving random messages from the defendant beginning at age 14. “It’s been going on for eight years,” she said, adding that she didn’t know how to get him to stop.
