Trumpist masculinity reaches its high water mark [View all]

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Style • Perspective

Trumpist masculinity reaches its high water mark

By Monica Hesse
Columnist
Jan. 12, 2021 at 1:23 p.m. EST

A whole taxonomy of Trumpist right-wing manhood could be developed from the Internet investigations, wanted posters and arrest affidavits now trickling out in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol. En masse, the photos show a conglomeration of weird beards, ammo and camo, and looks-like-somebody-got-a-Bass-Pro-gift-card-for-Christmas raging White masculinity.

But you also have the breakout alleged criminals representing their own splintering subcategories: QAnon Shaman. Hogan’s Heroes. Ski Dad, i.e. an overly tan man who looked like he should be teaching the bunny hill class but instead appeared to be stealing a lectern. Another man wearing a sweatshirt reading — God help us, find out what company makes this and shut it down — “Camp Auschwitz.” ... And, Zip Tie Guy. ... Which brings us to Eric Munchel.

In one of the more terrifying images of last week, a man believed to be Munchel, wearing dark fatigues and a face-obscuring black gaiter, climbed over a railing in the Senate Gallery. He wore a Taser holstered to his hip and gripped a bunch of zip-tie handcuffs in one hand. While his fellow raiders were busy “scratching their balls” in Nancy Pelosi’s office or literally pooping on the Capitol’s floors, Zip Tie Guy had the mien of someone who had breached the complex with an actual nefarious plan involving hostages or worse.



Eric Gavelek Munchel, the Tennessee man suspected of being Zip Tie Guy, was later arrested by the F.B.I. (Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn./AP)

The man suspected of being Zip Tie Guy was unmasked over the weekend by the Internet, then arrested by the FBI: Munchel, 30, has been charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. On Sunday, the FBI released more images, allegedly of Munchel, that had been captured throughout the day of Jan. 6. ... In several, he was accompanied by a graying 57-year-old woman. And this is the point at which the portrait of Munchel became fuller, because this is the point at which it became a working theory that Zip Tie Guy had brought his mom to the revolution.

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Monica Hesse is a columnist writing about gender and its impact on society. For more visit wapo.st/hesse.

Monica Hesse
Monica Hesse is a columnist for The Washington Post's Style section, who frequently writes about gender and its impact on society. She's the author of several novels, most recently, "They Went Left." Follow https://twitter.com/MonicaHesse