Satanic Panic cultural cues like heavy metal framed innocent people as killers

Evidence

Heavy metal was also seen as a culprit and a signifier of Satanic activity, as was the game Dungeons & Dragons. Three teenage boys in Arkansas, the so-called West Memphis Three, were convicted on the flimsiest of evidence of the ritual murder of three little boys; one of the teens, Damien Echols, was sentenced to death, and all three would have died in prison had their case not been covered by a popular documentary series, which attracted intense celebrity support. The West Memphis Three were eventually released from prison after close to twenty years, as were several other people—daycare workers, babysitters, teachers—falsely accused of child abuse. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 278

Categorization

• XREF: The signaling function of cultural markers (metal, D&D) echoes the vault’s ‘immodesty’ work on how class/identity markers get read through moral-panic frames. — connects to: Portraying one group as Christ-killers conjured up the image of the other group; Ritual-abuse accusations function to justify violence against target groups — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 274; Fears of satanic worship spread across the United States in the 1980s, fueled by public accusations against heavy metal albums, Dungeons & Dragons, and day care workers. — What Sparked the Satanic Panic of the 1980s? (+2 more)
• SHARE: The West Memphis Three detail — convicts freed only by documentary fame — is worth sending to anyone following wrongful-conviction advocacy.

Broader Connections

• Ritual-abuse accusations function to justify violence against target groups #exemplifies (0.85) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 274
• Portraying one group as Christ-killers conjured up the image of the other group #complicates (0.72)