By some measures, tens of thousands of Americans say they're being gang-stalked. A YouTube video proving how the NYPD has grown into a gang-stalking machine has more than 25,000 views and hundreds of comments agreeing.

So what is Gang stalking and how did it take hold of America?

What Is Gang Stalking?

Gang stalking, aka group stalking, is the unusual experience of being followed, surveyed, and harassed by covert a group of people. Self-named “targeted individuals” (T.I.’s for short) believe they’re being stalked by coordinated groups that have microwave weapons or electromagnetic fields that can disrupt our minds. With this tech, they gain access to the T.I.'s minds and try to dominate them by driving them into a downward spiral.

Gang stalkers target T.I.'s to ruin their lives, incarcerate them, make them homeless, or force them into mental breakdowns. According to T.I.’s, these surveillance organizations are government agencies, authorities, and officials.

The most important bit: Clinical professionals take them seriously. Their claims are often dismissed by courts and professionals as delusions, who are more concerned about them having mental illnesses, like schizophrenia. But the DOJ recently charged Chinese officials for stalking American citizens. Wasn't that an explicit confession of spy-level gang stalking happening in America?

How Did Gang Stalking Start?

Unsurprisingly, the term gang stalking was born in the early 2000s from the Internet. Social scientists wanted to investigate the unhinged phenomenon and brought it to the spotlight from the deep dark cyberspace. While it was slow on its uptake, by 2011 the subreddit r/Gangstalking had opened its virtual gates, and by 2019 memes began trickling in. One early gem posted by @ TheDawnIsYourEnemy set the stage for “schizoposting”: 

This meme trend combines gang stalking with skinwalkers, schizophrenic imagery, and... honestly, we’re not even sure. The bottom line is that these memes expanded to pages like iFunny, TikTok, and various other corners of the web.

The digital footprint is considered to be rather permanent and trackable. And yet, targeted individuals sought shelter in these websites and platforms (quite counter-intuitive, if you ask us). In the end, all the memes and online activity exacerbated the problem. The paranoia got memed—then believed—then memed again. It's a conspiracy ouroboros that makes it impossible for these guys to get proper help. So, you can vent on Reddit, of course, but it still sounds contradictory.

But gang stalking has been going on for way longer than memes that intend to ridicule the experience.

Gang Stalking Term Origin

Gang stalking as a conversation point got more serious after 9/11 and with the rise of the internet, but some researchers are saying that people have been noticing being followed or policed from before that. A scientific paper from 2020 traces back gang stalking to the 80s. According to the study, up to 0.66% of adult women and 0.17% of adult men in the western world may have been gang-stalked at some point in their lives.

Gang Stalking: How to Stop It

If you believe you're a victim of gang stalking by an elite team of invisible agents, please make a mental health professional, not Reddit, your first stop. But for the curious, here's the T.I. rulebook:

1. Wear headphones 24/7: To block the microwave mind-control signals (seriously, google the Microwave Auditory Effect). 
2. Record Everything: Even if a bush rustles, and don't forget to post about it.
3. Personal Safety Tools: T.I.’s recommend to be prepared with pepper spray.
4. Reverse Gang Stalking: This is a bit harder to do if you can't recognize where the signals are coming from.
5. Lawyer Up (Eventually): As a last resort, sue the government. Unfortunately, it will probably not work.

How to Deal with Gang Stalking

According to T.I.’s, the best way to deal with gang stalkers is to keep yourself safe, not give in into their scare tactics or mind control, and validate your experiences through the internet. Additionally, here is what the T.I. advise you NOT to do if you’re being gang-stalked. 

• Don’t Go to the Police: Because they’re in on it.
• Don’t Engage: Confronting stalkers directly only gives them more incentives to go after you.
• Don’t Hide: Going off-grid would just make it convenient for them to dispose of you. 
• And Please, Don’t Hurt Yourself: Because, memes aside, your mental health and true safety matters.

Are we all being watched? Well, by algorithms, the IRS, and your ex on Instagram—probably yes. But is gang stalking that common? Putting the numbers together, the truth is that many people who think are being bullied might actually be spared. So, the next time your microwave beeps weirdly, take a breath. It’s probably not the FBI, and it’s just your lunch.