Van attack puts spotlight on violent sentiment in incel community

A social media message allegedly posted by the accused in the deadly Toronto van attack on Monday is shedding some light on a mostly male online community that experts say endorses violent rhetoric against women. 

Toronto police say they're looking into a "cryptic" message posted on Alek Minassian's Facebook profile minutes before pedestrians were mowed down on a northern stretch of Yonge Street.

Facebook has said it deleted the account associated with the widely circulated post, which refers to involuntary celibacy, often shortened to ``incel.''

Ryan Duquette, of the Toronto-based digital forensics consulting firm Hexigent, says it's not clear who accessed the account when the message was posted based on the information that's publicly available.

 Facebook and police both declined to provide more information about the post's origins.

An associate professor at Dublin City University who studies gender and social media says incels mostly consist of men who are resentful of their inability to find a partner and typically blame women for their sexual rejection.