Citizen Vigilante, a new film from German director Uwe Boll, hit streaming services last week, invigorating a wave of calls for anti-immigrant violence across the globe. The film stars Armie Hammer, whose character embarks on a vigilante revenge mission over the killing and assault of a white woman by a group of immigrants. Hammer’s character kills not only those immigrants who participated in the assault, but their family members and government officials he believes are complicit in the crime because they failed to enact a harsh enough punishment.
The film is undoubtedly racist. One scene has been shared by many online far-right extremist influencers from Libs of TikTok to Tommy Robinson. The scene depicts Hammer’s character confronting a family whose son participated in the assault and whose daughter witnessed it at gunpoint. During the scene, Hammer’s character says the daughter was defending the assault online, and the daughter responds, “What I mean is that they dress wrong and just make boys horny with their miniskirts. They show their legs and breasts!” The scene goes on to say that the family’s values are “from the Quran.”
Musk’s Promotion of the Film
Elon Musk has centered himself in the online discussion of Citizen Vigilante. After the film was initially denied a rating in Germany over concerns it could incite violence against immigrants, Musk briefly released it for free viewing on X. Germany’s film ratings agency later reversed its decision and granted the film an 18+ (adults only) classification, allowing it to be certified for public theatrical release while restricting it to adult audiences.
German ratings officials have reason to be worried. Multiple European countries, including Northern Ireland last month, have seen waves of anti-immigrant violence and protests in response to crimes allegedly committed by immigrants. Musk has repeatedly boosted incendiary comments about immigrants in the lead-up to and after these European protests. The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO), which is Ireland’s ratings board, also has yet to issue a classification for the film.
Musk’s replies and reposts surrounding Citizen Vigilante have at times taken on a violent tone, sometimes implicitly condoning violence against immigrants and government officials. Musk reshared one post that features a screengrab of the movie where Hammer is pointing a gun near the camera alongside a caption reading “2 year old girl raped and murdered by a migrant. This is the moderate response.”
Elon Musk shared a post featuring a scene from Citizen Vigilante, where vigilante violence against immigrants is deemed a “moderate response.” (Source: X)
Musk also shared posts encouraging violence against government officials perceived to be corrupt. He reshared one post that read “People who are complaining that he spends the first half of the movie murdering white people not immigrants fail to understand that it’s hammering home an important premise. ‘Always hang a traitor before you hang an enemy’.”
Elon Musk shared a post about Citizen Vigilante, where a user encouraged “hang[ing] traitor[s].” (Source: X)
Musk seemed to double down on this sentiment, replying with a simple “Yes” to another post which included a similar image of Hammer holding a gun overlaid with text that reads “First the traitors then the invaders.” The original post was captioned “No point in bailing the boat while traitors are still busy chopping holes in the bottom.” Both posts encourage violence against government officials whom they believe are facilitating a mass migration, a common belief shared by “Great Replacement” conspiracy theorists.
Elon Musk replying to a post about Citizen Vigilante. (Source: X)
Influencers Promote Film, Neo-Nazis and Others Encourage Violence
On X, far-right influencers jumped to promote the film and increase its reach. Chaya Raicheck, who goes by her online screen name Libs of TikTok, celebrated the movie by saying ,“This is the biggest F U to Germany and the open border globalists who really don’t want you to see this movie.” MAGA influencer Jack Posobiec posted on X over 10 times about the movie, even convincing Uwe Boll, the director, to come on his podcast to be interviewed.
In his Telegram channel, Posobiec asked, “What do you think of the message of Citizen Vigilante.” In the comments, users responded by glorifying anti-migrant vigilantism. One user wrote, “Vigilante action is already happening and will become normalized.” Others, referencing the film’s depiction of violence against judges and immigrants, said “pray the rot in the court room gets purged so justice can come,” “we need another crusade,” “vigilantism is the way,” and “a war against Muslims is just around the corner.”
Posobiec also posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform, suggesting the film outlines a vision to “[retake] our country from illegal aliens, antifa thugs, [and] the evil people profitting (sic) from the chaos.” Similar comments were made on Telegram posts by “Tommy Robinson News,” named after the violent anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who publicly goes by “Tommy Robinson.” Users made veiled threats such as “I sugrst (sic) muslims to leave when they still can” and “the same goes for theor suporters (sic) extreme leftards.”
A collection of comments made by users on a Telegram post from Jack Posobiec, asking his followers what they thought of Citizen Vigilante. (Source: Telegram).
Other users of some fringe platforms cheered on the violence depicted in Citizen Vigilante and used the film as inspiration to call for violence against immigrants in the real world. One user on Gab, a platform rife with violent rhetoric, said the “first thing [Citizen Vigilante] made me think of was the knife wielding Scotsman that stabbed four or five Islamists the other day,” followed by “the day is nearing where I’m hoping to see whole vigilante armies in Ireland and the UK.” The “knife wielding Scotsman” mentioned by the user likely references the June 20, 2026, suspected anti-Muslim attack in Edinburgh, Scotland, that left five people injured. The suspect, after being apprehended, defended his racist attack as “protecting the country.”
On Gab, a user compares the film to an anti-Muslim attack in Edinburgh, Scotland, and fantasizes about “whole vigilante armies in Ireland and the UK.” (Source: Gab).
In a Telegram channel titled “MurdertheMedia’s Sporadic Posting,” an offshoot of the former public channel of the white nationalist Proud Boys, users discussed how the movie remotivated them to advocate for violence. One user wrote, “I’m remotivated to once again double down on advocating for violence. Thank you Uwe Boll for showing us the way.” Another user mused, “Violence solves nothing. Except for war, genocide, pedos, degenerates, invasion, rapists, stupidity. But other than that, it doesn’t solve a thing.”
A chat thread from Telegram channel “MurdertheMedia’s Sporadic Posting,” where users encouraged and advocated for violence against immigrants. (Source: Telegram)
The film has been promoted by far-right extremists transnationally, such as Tribal Active Club Arizona (TAC-AZ), which is part of the white supremacist “Active Club” movement co-founded by neo-Nazi Robert Rundo. The TAC-AZ Telegram channel re-posted a video with American white supremacist Jared Taylor, founder of American Renaissance, interviewing the director of Citizen Vigilante, Uwe Boll. Proud Boys New Jersey posted a link to the film on their Telegram, which was shared on X by Elon Musk. The Republic of Texas Proud Boys and Rhode Island Proud Boys shared the film directly onto their channels.
Tribal Active Club Arizona shares a video of white supremacist Jared Taylor interviewing the director of Citizen Vigilante, Uwe Boll. (Source: Telegram).
If the online far-right’s reactions are any indication of the current climate around immigration, there is significant cause for concern about the risk of violence. History has proven that these are not just idle threats. It was only seven years ago that a 19-year-old gunman, motivated by a hatred of immigrants and belief they were “invading” the United States, opened fire in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 23 people and injuring 22 others.
As Citizen Vigilante discourse circulates unchecked across mainstream and fringe social media platforms, the line between fantasy and real-world violence has never been thinner. This online glorification of vigilante ‘justice’ against immigrants has historically preceded, not followed, mass tragedy.
