Egg Boy
Part of a series on 2019 Christchurch Mosque Shootings. [View Related Entries]
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About
Egg Boy, also known as Eggboy and/or Eggboi, is the nickname given to William Connolly, a 17-year-old boy, who hit Australian Senator Fraser Anning with an egg, following Senator Anning's statement on the 2019 Christchurch Mosque Shooting, in which Anning blamed the shooting on Muslims and immigration. Videos of the egging, as well as the subsequent violent takedown of Connolly by several men on the scene, went viral, leading to a variety of remix videos, memes and expressions of appreciation for Egg Boy.
Origin
On March 15th, 2019, a shooter opened fire at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing at least 50 people.
That day, Australian Senator Fraser Anning released a statement about the shooting, stating "the real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place" (shown below).
The following day, on March 16th, 2019, an Australian teenager hit Senator Anning in the head with an egg. Anning, then, punched the boy in the face, and the boy was wrestled to the ground by several adults on the scene.
That day, ABC news' Henry Belot posted a video of the attack to Twitter, where it received more than 41,000 retweets, 70,000 likes and 9 million views in less than 24 hours (shown below).[1]
Someone has just slapped an egg on the back of Australian Senator Fraser Anning's head, who immediately turned around and punched him in the face.
politicsabc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/abcnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">abcnews pic.twitter.com/HkDZe2rn0X— Henry Belot (@Henry_Belot) March 16, 2019
Spread
Additionally, Twitter user @carlyylalaa tweeted a second angle of the egging, becoming one of the first to call Connolly "egg boy." They wrote, "A teenager has egged Senator Fraser Anning following his disgusting comments in the wake of the Christchurch shooting. Australia has a new hero, thank you egg boy." The post received more than 29,000 retweets, 75,000 likes and 2.25 million views (shown below).
A teenager has egged Senator Fraser Anning following his disgusting comments in the wake of the Christchurch shooting.
Australia has a new hero, thank you egg boy. pic.twitter.com/eEOKA8FFsW— Carly Heading (@carlyylalaa) March 16, 2019
Many online praised the teenager for the attack, referring to him as "eggboy," while criticizing Anning for smacking the boy in the face (examples below). The hashtag soon became a worldwide trending term.[2]
Others posted remix videos of the egg smash. That day, YouTuber Mashd N Kutcher posted a remix of the video. The post received more than 51,000 views in two days (shown below).
That day, Australian journalist Paul Barry posted a video of Connolly being apprehended and restrained by several men on the scene. The video shows Connolly being choked and verbally harassed by a grown man. Another man off-screen tells the man to take his arm off Connolly's neck. The post received more than 24,000 retweets, 29,000 likes and 2.5 million views in two days (shown below).
This is what Fraser Anning’s right-wing lads did to the boy. #auspol #FraserAnning pic.twitter.com/sJNzRLppG5
— Paul Barry (@TheRealPBarry) March 16, 2019
Additionally, that day, artist Sebi White posted a t-shirt design featuring Connolly's likeness and the nickname "eggboy" on Instagram. [3] The artist said that they would make t-shirts of the image, donating the proceeds to the Christchurch Shooting Victims Fund. The post received more than 4,000 likes in two days (shown below).
Although Connolly's Twitter account was suspended shortly after the egging, Connolly tweeted[5] in a since-deleted post, "This was the moment when I felt so proud to exist as a human being. Let me inform you all guys, Muslims are not terrorists and terrorism has no religion. All those who consider Muslims a terrorist community have empty heads like Anning." A screenshot of the tweet continued to go viral throughout the weekend (shown below).
Several media outlets covered the egging, including CBS,[6] Fast Company,[7] Newsweek,[8] CNN,[9] Time[10] and more.
GoFundMe
That day, GoFundMe [4] user "Egg Boi" posted a campaign entitled "Money for EggBoi." The fund will be used for "legal fees" and "more eggs." Within two days the campaign collected more than $51,000 or its $50,000 from donations by more than 2,500 people.
The GoFundMe also features a conversation with Connolly, in which he says that the money raised will be given to the Christchurch mosque (shown below). The GoFundMe's creator later confirmed that "[Connolly] is committed to sending a majority of the money to the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attacks."
Dean Cain Tweet
On March 17th, actor Dean Cain, who played Superman on the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, tweeted, "I would have knocked that kid cold." The post received more than 500 retweets, 8,000 likes and 4,000 comments (shown below, left).[11]
Others responded to the comment by chastising Cain (examples below, center and right).
The Project Interview
On March 22nd, 2019, the news program The Project interviewed Will Connolly over the egging. Three days later, on March 25th, the interview was posted on Twitter.[12] The post received more than 1,400 retweets, 5,200 likes and 218,000 views in 24 hours (shown below). During the interview, Connolly said, "This egg has united people. Tens of thousands of dollars have been raised for the victims."
Ever since he cracked the egg that divided the nation, Melbourne teenager Will Connolly, better known as #EggBoy, has been both vilified and dubbed the “hero of the Earth”.
Will approached us to set the record straight. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/31VogQPs5C— The Project (@theprojecttv) March 25, 2019
Several people expressed their opinions on the interview. Some praised Connolly's actions and enjoyed his candor (examples below, left and center). Others expressed concern that the interview was "condoning violence against politicians" (shown below, right).
That day, Twitter[12] published a Moments page on the interview. Several media outlets covered the interview, including The Washington Post,[13] Splinter,[14] NBC,[15] CBS[16] and more.
Donation
On May 28th, 2019, Connolly posted on Instagram that he had donated nearly $100,000 to the Christchurch Foundation and Victims Support. He wrote,[18] "Finally!!! After a huge amount of red tape,$99,922.36 has today been transferred to the Christchurch Foundation and Victims Support. For those of you who don’t know, there were 2 Go Fund Me pages set up to help cover the cost of my legal fees and to ‘buy more eggs’. Gratefully, Gordon Legal acted probono for me so I don’t have any legal fees. I decided to donate all monies to help provide some relief to the victims of the massacre." The post received more than 93,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).
People online reacted positively to the announcement of Connolly's donations, praising the teenager for his efforts (examples below).
On May 28th, Twitter[19] published a Moments page on the donation. Additionally, several media outlets reported on the donation, including CNN,[20] NBC,[21] BBC,[22] Mashable[23] and more.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Washington Post – Fraser Anning, egged after mosque attacks, may be Australia’s most reviled politician
[3] Instagram – @sebi.white's Post
[4] GoFundMe – Money for EggBoi
[5] Twitter – @AamirMi13431215's Tweet
[6] CBS – Teen who egged controversial lawmaker is donating funds to New Zealand massacre victims
[7] Fast Company – A GoFundMe for Australian “egg boy” has raised nearly $50K
[8] Newsweek – EGG BOY: TEENAGER WHO EGGED FAR-RIGHT SENATOR WILL DONATE CROWDFUNDING MONEY TO CHRISTCHURCH VICTIMS
[9] CNN – Far-right Australian lawmaker finds himself -- literally -- with egg on his face
[10] TIME – 'You Are a Good Egg.' Fundraiser for Australian Teen Who Egged Senator Raises Over $30,000
[11] Twitter – @RealDeanCain's Tweet
[12] Twitter – @theprojecttv's Tweet
[13] Twitter – 'Egg Boy' defends his actions and says the incident helped raise thousands for Christchurch victims
[14] The Washington Post – Australia’s ‘egg boy’ says he ‘united people.’ Scientists may have cracked why.
[15] Spinter – Egg Boy Says His Egging ‘United People,’ Racist Politician Can’t Throw a Punch
[16] NBC – 'Egg Boy' teen defends egging anti-Muslim Australian senator
[17] CBS – 'This egg has united people': Teen breaks silence after egging Australian senator
[18] Instagram – @willconnolly__'s Psot
[19] Twitter – 'Egg Boy' Will Connolly praised for donating almost $100K to Christchurch attack survivors
[20] CNN – Australia's 'egg boy' donates $70,000 to Christchurch victims fund
CNN Digital Expansion Shoot, Joshua Berlinger
[21] NBC – Australian 'Egg Boy' donates $70,000 to Christchurch victims
[22] BBC – Australia's 'Egg Boy' gives donations to NZ attack survivors
[23] Mashable – Viral 'Egg Boy' announces he's donated his GoFundMe money to charity
