Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy—known online as Sneako—is using FIFA World Cup games in New York City as the backdrop for Islamist propaganda videos.
Whereas World Cup founder Jules Rimet saw his event as a platform for sportsmanship, Sneako uses it to issue threats. The livestreamer, who converted to Islam in 2023 and has previous history of antisemitism, joins travelling football fans and declares in one video (2.5 million views and rising):
This is the Islamic republic of Newyorkistan!… Welcome to [Zohran] Mamdani’s New York!
Online rival “KaizerRev” reposted the video, summarizing it as proof that “Sneako wants the whole world to be Muslim.” The Egypt and Morocco football supporters De Balinthazy gravitates towards in NYC appear to have few objections to this.
The lesson here for conservatives is that social media-savvy extremists can build up an audience (despite—in the case of Sneako—having at least one haram tattoo). Aided by the laxity and moral relativism of the authorities, they can go a long way if left unchallenged. As one X account observed,
He wants every Western city to change and hopes that Islamism will rule worldwide.
On balance, right now Sneako’s Islamist-inflected livestreams could seem like wishful thinking. The same can’t be said of equivalent social media footage shot in many European cities, where it is harder to be confident that the Islamists are not winning.
