Operation Glass Veil: A Transatlantic Takedown of an Incel Extremist Network

In early 2023, investigators from the GIA in both the United States and Europe began quietly monitoring a dangerous offshoot of the incel subculture. Unlike the usual torrent of misogynistic grievances found on mainstream forums, this network, calling itself The Black Pill Brotherhood (BPB), was moving from rhetoric into organised extremist activity.

Phase I: A Digital Footprint

The first signs of trouble came when female journalists in New York, Berlin, and Paris received nearly identical death threats, each containing the cryptic phrase: “The glass veil will break.” Cybercrime units traced the wording to private, encrypted channels hidden across multiple platforms. From there, the outlines of a sprawling network emerged, linking individuals across the United States, the UK, Germany, France, and Spain.

Inside these channels, investigators found not just hateful tirades but practical guides to violence: manuals on bomb making, instructions for modifying firearms, and surveillance notes on potential “targets”, ranging from women in public life to men denounced as “traitors” for defending women’s rights.

Phase II: Infiltration

Undercover investigators created convincing digital personas, carefully mirroring the paranoia and slang of group leaders. Over months, they gained entry to inner circles, where discussions turned to concrete plans for a co-ordinated “day of retribution.”

Targets included women’s shelters in Chicago and Madrid, a university in Belgium, and nightclubs across several European capitals. Plans were logged in chatrooms, funds were transferred through cryptocurrency, and members were urged to build stockpiles of weapons.

Phase III: Operation Glass Veil

By late 2024, it became clear the group was preparing to act. Authorities launched Operation Glass Veil, carrying out simultaneous dawn raids across the United States and Europe.

More than 30 suspects were arrested in cities spanning Ohio to Berlin, Paris to London. In one American case, the self declared leader, a twenty seven year old former student, was found with bomb blueprints and a manifesto urging the violent “collapse of the sexual marketplace.” In Germany, a cache of illegal firearms and digital evidence was recovered, tying members to overseas cells.

Aftermath and Lessons

The takedown prevented imminent violence and revealed the extent to which misogynistic extremism is becoming a globalised phenomenon. What began as an online subculture had evolved into a transnational network with recruitment pipelines, financing mechanisms, and paramilitary aspirations.

Investigators stressed two urgent realities:

1. Detection: Encrypted platforms and hidden forums allow groups like this to radicalise and organise largely out of sight.

2. Prevention: Raids and arrests address the symptom, but long-term solutions demand cultural and educational interventions to stop young men being pulled into these echo chambers.

For women targeted by years of harassment, the operation brought momentary relief, but also a sobering truth. As one activist in Paris put it:

“Every time a group like this is dismantled, another will take its place. The deeper battle is against the culture that breeds them.”