SHEETS ARE SO PASSE:

Alexandre Bissonette wore the hat. 

A Canadian, Bissonette hadn't voted for Donald Trump. He lived in a French-speaking province, far from the U.S. president's campaign rallies and "America first" appeals. But some of the first photos to emerge of the 27-year-old after he stormed a Quebec City mosque and killed six Muslim men in January 2017 showed him wide-eyed with a slight smirk and a red "Make America Great Again" cap casting a shadow over his pallid face.

"Make America Great Again" has become more than a U.S. political slogan. For Bissonette and other white nationalist, radical right and anti-immigrant extremists all over the world, it's a symbol; a kind of political messaging that transcends the specifics of country and language. 

"The hat and the MAGA acronym have really become shorthand for this white nationalist movement," said Barbara Perry, a professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and an expert on the far right.

Searching for MAGA symbolism is one of the easiest ways to notice online extremists and members of hate groups, Perry and other researchers have found -- a game of "Where's Waldo?" for racists. A 2018 study by extremism researcher J.M. Berger that analyzed tens of thousands of alt-right Twitter accounts found the most common word in their profiles was "MAGA" and the most frequent pairing of words was "Trump supporter."

And this embrace of pro-Trump symbols isn't limited to social media. MAGA hats and slogans have shown up in Britain at rallies supporting anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson, on banners in Australia following the terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, and as an accessory for prominent European white nationalists who wear it to troll their fellow citizens.

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