Basic Finns | The “riikka” who cultivated racist language in Halla-aho’s guestbook seems to be Riikka Purra – “I have expressed myself in ways that I would not accept today”

in Barcelona on August 25, 2008, the weather was nice and mild. The temperature rose to a maximum of 26 degrees. According to the historical weather calendar, there was even a little rain.

A three-day conference of the European ECPR research community started at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ​​attended by researchers from different parts of the world.

Among them was conference brochure also a researcher from the University of Turku Riikka Niskakariwho specialized in normative theory and multiculturalism.

“A deadly combination?” was his research question about the topic.

The same in the evening of a flamboyant and contradictory internet writer Jussi Halla-ahon Scripta blog guestbook at 22:59 a message from the name “riikka” appeared.

“Greetings from Barcelona. There is no ‘alarming immigration problem’ to be seen here. Negroes sell pirate Vuittons on Las Ramblas, scarves are hidden and each in its own box. There must be some shit, even then,” he began his message.

He wished for the same kind of nationalism in Finland as there is in Catalonia, sighed in English with the word “sigh” and used the term “negros” for black-skinned people.

It is unlikely that there would have been two different Finnish-speaking Rigas in Barcelona on the same day, whose minds were tickled by multiculturalism. Therefore, there is reason to suspect that Scripta’s “riikka” was the same as conference guest Riikka Niskakari.

During his trip to Barcelona, ​​the 31-year-old Niskakari is now known throughout the country Riikka Purra. He is the chairman of Basic Finns, which he became in June Petteri Orpon (kok) government minister of finance.

In social In the last few days, the media has shared a lot of screenshots of the texts of “riika” who wrote Scripta. Some have been surprised by the harsh language used in the texts.

For example, in February 2008, “riikka” marveled at the story published by HS about Kenya’s upper class and encouraged the people of Scripta to “damn watch” how in the story “an evil and fat Negro makes fun of a thin and good Negro”.

Netizens have unearthed numerous texts from the archives of Scripta’s guest book, which criticizes immigration policy but is also known for its racist language. HS has verified that the texts it saw and quoted in this story are indeed found in the guest book and were written by the pseudonym “riikka”.

The same question has been asked many times on social media:

“Who wrote remarkably racist messages in Jussi Halla-aho’s guest book in 2008 under the name ‘riikka’?” asked, for example, the moniker Tapio Kuusitapio, who dug into the matter, on Monday.

From the news media Evening newspaper had time to grasp the topic already last February, when the paper published some of “Rika’s” writings and asked Purra if they were written by him.

The newspaper quoted, for example, the following text, which can be found in Halla-ahon Scripta’s guest book:

“Do you know what ‘the reeds rustle’ means? Well, that’s the sound these darker male characters make when they approach/pass by/in the escalator/elevator/wherever. It’s not whistling (that would be too obvious) but a fucking hiss between the teeth – the more eager Abdullah is, the more saliva comes with it.”

In recent days, more texts that were originally published in Scripta have been published. The texts use racist language, such as the expressions “moccasin” and “Turkish monkeys”. HS has gone through the texts written by “riika” in their entirety.

HS publishes texts or word forms cultivated in them as such, in order to get an accurate picture of the language used by “Rika”.

The texts often show strong anti-Islam and a hostile attitude towards people of Somali background.

“Yeah, it’s full of everyday racism here again. Please tell me, how can you eat those Somalis in Mäccäri, when there is no properly tortured animal between the hamburgers? Oh, how it was wonderful civil racism again today on the ground floor of Manskun Mäc, when our little guy ate Happy Meal Nuggets and at the neighboring table a Somali family BMI +30 pulled their own… Prkl. So. Kansaa vtuttaa”, the nickname “riikka” wrote on June 7, 2008.

Speech referring to violence was also cultivated in the texts.

“Nets today in the stadium spitting on beggars and beating black children, anyone..?” asked “riikka” on July 30, 2008.

“Netsit” is an ironic reference used in the blog to like-minded, anti-immigration netizens.

On September 25th of the same year, “Riga” had these thoughts regarding the discussion about weapons:

“If I were given a gun, there would be dead bodies even on the commuter train.”

If it’s really about Purra, the language he uses behind the nickname is clearly different from the public speeches of a highly educated politician. However, the main topic of discussion for the nickname “Riika” is the same as the politician Purran’s: criticizing and opposing immigration.

The nickname “riikka” also occasionally told about things related to his own life, such as living in Tampere, Turku and Kirkkonummi. He also said that he is married to a journalist.

Riikka Purra has lived in those cities and her husband is a journalist.

Sometimes the nickname “riika” and Riikka Purra’s thoughts revolve around exactly the same thoughts. For example, on June 25, 2008, Scripta’s “Riikkaa” was precipitated by the writing of two female researchers published by HS.

“Let’s learn how to promote totalitarianism in other political themes as well”, the nickname “riikka” led and published a long quote from the researchers’ text.

Three days later, HS published an article by the researcher Riikka Niskakar, now known as Purra, in which he responded to the researchers who angered the nickname “Riikka”.

Are they nickname “riikka” and Riikka Purra the same person?

Scripta’s founder and Purra’s political role model, parliament speaker Jussi Halla-aho (ps) says in his message to HS as follows:

“There are no memories of individual names and their writings.”

In 2008, the Guestbook of Halla-aho’s Scripta blog changed to Hommaforum, which focuses on talking about immigration.

Purra also responds by message to HS, in its entirety as follows:

“Hello, I have commented on the matter to Iltalehti (and on Twitter) in February. Nothing to add.”

Purra told Iltalehti as follows:

“It is not necessary for me to comment on Scripta’s guestbook entries from 2008. I have previously said that I read Halla-aho’s blog and participated in the discussion. The guest book can be read by everyone”, Purra had said and did not answer follow-up questions.

So Purra neither confirmed nor denied that he was “riikka”. He has also not responded to numerous attempts by Twitter users to clarify the matter.

The guestbook texts are already about 15 years old.

However, Purra continued the conversation on Twitter on the same day, when Iltalehti was preparing its article published on February 1. Based on his tweet, Purra still does not renounce his background as a pseudonym writer or the racist discussion culture of Scripta’s guest book, on the contrary.

He praised Scripta and its guest book as a “culturally and politically historically significant” discussion arena.

“It’s good that we read. Even. Even if the kids learned something from what they read.”

HS gave him an opportunity to elaborate. The following message was sent to Purra on Monday:

“In our opinion, the comments of the nickname ‘riika’ are extremely racist. In your tweet in connection with the Iltalehti story, you stated that: ‘It’s good that (Scripta’s guest book) is being read. Even. Even if the kids learned something from what they read. Does this mean that you will sign the texts that ‘riikka’ wrote in 2008?”

HS also asked Purra: “Do you think it’s a factual error if we write in our article that you – Riikka Purra – wrote ‘riikka’ in Scripta?”

Purra did not respond to this message sent by HS.

A couple of hours after contacting HS Purra published a blog text on Mondayin which he explained his previous writings – however, without denying or admitting that he is a “slut”.

“I have said before that I have written in the guestbook in question as well as on many other online forums and discussion groups. I started blogging right at the beginning of the 2000s, when it started to become more common,” Purra wrote.

Purra said that age and political duties have changed him and today he writes differently than when he was younger. He is 46 now.

“I have certainly written and said things that are stupid or insane or badly said or poorly chosen. By today’s standards, I’ve certainly used bad humor as well – I still do, by the way, like most people I know,” Purra wrote.

Why does Finance Minister Purra not deny that he wrote the texts, unless they are from his pen?

And if he no longer agrees with the scriptures, why doesn’t he say so? What kind of ideas does he now consider insane as a minister and what kind does he not?

Helsingin Sanomat cannot get an answer to such questions from Riikka Purra. Purra gives the only answer in his own writing.

Peter Orpo’s government’s beginnings have been difficult. Minister of Economic Affairs Vilhelm Junnila (ps) had to resign shortly after the formation of the government, when his previous texts and actions referring to Nazi connections became public.

Before her resignation, Junnila apologized for her previous words. Purra writes that he does not want to do this.

“It would never occur to me to start resigning or to regret what I did and said years and decades ago.”

He also states that he does not want to “play games with the media and the left”.

“Or whether I have written this and that or not. There would be no end to it.”

“So let those who are interested dig,” Purra wrote.

Later On Monday evening, Purra changed his mind and expressed that he wanted to break up with his previous statements. He said on Twitter that he sometimes wrote “angry and stupid”.

“My angry text is just angry text, nothing else. I do not accept and have never accepted any kind of violence,” Purra wrote shortly before ten o’clock in the evening.

He justified his previous texts by saying that he had been “sometimes very frustrated and hopeless about certain mild phenomena of immigration seen in Finland, for example the harassment and sexual crimes against women and the unequal practices of Islam”.

He also said that he no longer agrees on many things as before.

“Of course, I wouldn’t write anything like that in this position, stage of life and age, and I no longer agree with many things at all. I have expressed myself in ways that I would not accept today.”

He hoped that his performance in politics would be judged according to what he does in positions of trust and political duties.

He did not directly confirm that he was the “riikka” who wrote in Scripta’s guest book, but it was possible to assume so from the tweet.