On April 23, 2025, an X account going by “HowlingMutant” replied to a post, writing: “But we do exist. Thousands upon thousands of men descended from rapists. And we all want sex. And sooner or later we’re going to stop asking nicely” to his nearly 200,000 followers.
It was a characteristic post for the account, which has long reveled in shock humor, misogyny, and white supremacist rhetoric. The person behind the account previously used the pseudonyms “depraved mutant,” “screaming mutant,” “punished mutant,” “hunted mutant,” and presently “HowlingMutant.”
In a February 9, 2026 post, he wrote: “You should not be mad at the Jews for crucifying Jesus…there are so many other things to be mad at them for…”
This type of content on Elon Musk’s X is not especially noteworthy: one study found that hate speech on X increased by 50% since Musk’s takeover. Unlike most other trolls who joke about antisemitism and rape, however, HowlingMutant is followed by Vice President of the United States James David Vance.
Vance’s follow on January 1, 2026 generated applause from the far-right. An X news item on that day read: “JD Vance Follows Edgy Account @HowlingMutant0 on New Year’s Day.” Responses to US Politics Alert’s reporting of the follow garnered such responses as “huge whitepill,” “I voted for this,”and “2026 is already a better year than 2025.”
Although Vance follows multiple far-right X accounts, as Decoherence Media reported earlier this week, HowlingMutant’s trolling tone stands in stark contrast to the pseudo-academic race science of other accounts like FischerKing or Crémieux. Many posts from Mr. Mutant joke about rape; in several, he refers to himself as a rapist or suggests that he wants to commit rape.
He has also posted about the Holocaust, writing that it’s “been used as a cudgel against any right wing movements for years,” joked about being sexually attracted to a pile of shoes at the Holocaust Museum, and has made jokes that reference Holocaust denial tropes such as “wooden doors” and the “roller coaster of death.”
Screenshots of X posts from HowlingMutant about the Holocaust: arguing that the Holocaust has “been used as a cudgel against any right wing movements for years”; joking about being sexually attracted to a pile of shoes at the Holocaust Museum; making a joke that references the “roller coaster of death” that’s a popular trope with Holocaust deniers; joking about a “gas chamber with wooden doors,” another popular trope with Holocaust deniers.
In December 2024, HowlingMutant appeared on a podcast hosted by white supremacist Patrick Casey, the former leader of American neo-fascist group Identity Evropa. He discussed why he first joined X, his history of getting banned several times, and why some political accounts don’t follow him (because of his posts about “being a retarded pedophile or something”).
An investigation by Decoherence Media found that the HowlingMutant account is run by Alexander Norden of New York City. Decoherence Media reviewed posts from the pseudonymous account, comparing biographical details and a picture shared by his X account to publicly-available information about Norden.
The man behind the mutant
The identification came as a result of HowlingMutant’s 2020 post claiming that he had recently read the J.G. Ballard novel “Concrete Island.” A search of the Goodreads page for the Ballard novel revealed a user named “Alex Norden” who completed the book on June 20, 2020, six days before the HowlingMutant post.
According to his LinkedIn, Norden, 43, started working as a deckhand for NYC Ferry in 2017. The job is described as requiring “maintaining passenger count for DOT reporting” and “providing a high level of customer service to all passengers.” This is consistent with multiple references to “working in the maritime industry” from the HowlingMutant account. Decoherence Media was unable to confirm Norden’s current employment.
Other biographical details that HowlingMutant has posted are consistent with Alexander Norden’s LinkedIn page. He’s mentioned employment as a janitor, experience as a telemarketer, and referenced an EMT license. Norden’s LinkedIn page lists employment as a janitor between 2010 and 2012, experience as a telemarketer between 2012 and 2013, and an EMT Basic Certification valid from 2014 to 2015.
Norden’s LinkedIn profile also clarified that he uses “he/him” pronouns.
A girlfriend of his posted a “happy birthday” message for Norden on July 13, 2023, a date consistent with HowlingMutant’s claimed birthday.
A picture posted by HowlingMutant on X of himself posing in the Dungeons of Westport House in Ireland matches photos from Alexander Norden’s Facebook account, according to multiple facial recognition models. He is wearing a black denim jacket in the X photo, which matches the same black denim jacket in pictures of him posted to the Facebook page of his girlfriend at the time.
HowlingMutant frequently refers to living in New York City, and multiple posts from an account with username “OctoMommyy” refer to HowlingMutant as “Alex.”
Further confirmation that Norden is behind the HowlingMutant account comes from data breaches. Records on Snusbase show that a phone number used for the “howlingmutant” Substack account (which links to the X account and uses the same profile picture) is linked to the name “Alex Norden.”
Norden responded to Decoherence Media's request for comment with, "Do your worst faggot."
Research by Jennefer Harper, journalist at Decoherence Media, contributed to this article.
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