What does KMFDM mean? Picture of alleged Wisconsin school shooter Natalie Rupnow sporting rock band slogan goes viral

On December 16, a 15-year-old student named Natalie Rupnow fatally shot a teacher and a fellow student at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. She also injured six others rendering two in critical condition.

In the wake of the incident, an alleged image of Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha, has now gone viral. It shows her taking a mirror selfie wearing a black t-shirt with the letters “KMFDM” written in white and red.

KMFDM is the initialism of the German phrase, “Kein Mehrheit Fur Die Mitleid” which means, “no pity for the majority.” Notably, KMFDM is the name of a popular multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg, Germany.

The same Black shirt design and band logo is also historically tied to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, where killer Eric Harris wore the exact KMFDM attire in public photos.

So far, it remains unclear whether Natalie Rupnow was influenced by the Columbine tragedy or it was a random fashion choice.

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All you need to know about the meaning of KMFDM amid the Natalie Rupnow incident

The band KMFDM was formed in Paris in February 1984 by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko and German painter and multimedia artist Udo Sturm as a performance art project at the inauguration of an art exhibition at the Grand Palais.

At present, the band is led by Konietzko and his wife and American singer Lucia Cifarelli. It has two other members, Andy Selway and Andee Blacksugar. All other original members have parted ways.

The name KMFDM has been taken from a grammatically incorrect phrase “Kein Mehrheit Fur Die Mitleid” which literally translates to, “no majority for the pity.” However, in August 1998, following the release of their albums, the band confirmed the phrase would actually be, “no pity for the majority.”

Notably, before the explanation, fans of KMFDM theorized that K, D, and M stand for “Kill Depeche Mode,” while the MF refers to the popular cuss word. This was because the band jokingly coined the expression during their first U.S. tour.

During a 2003 interview, Sascha explained the origin of KMFDM. He shared that on the morning of the art exhibition, he was trying to find a motto and came upon a German newspaper. He began “cutting out words and threw them all into a cap.” When they finally picked them out at random, they stood for “Kein Mehrheit Fur Die Mitleid.” While they knew it was an “improper” term, at that point it made “perfect sense.”

Later, when he was on his way back to Hamburg and told co-founder Raymond Watts about it, the latter found it difficult to pronounce. As a result, they turned it into the acronym, KMFDM.

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Exploring the recent Wisconsin shooting involving Natalie Rupnow

On Monday morning around 11 am, after killing a teacher and another student, and injuring six others in her school, Wisconsin teenager Natalie Rupnow died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

She took her life before the police arrived on the scene after a grade 2 student called 911 at 10:57 am to report about a gunfire happening inside the school. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes spoke about the incident during a press conference on Monday night.

“The shooting happened inside a classroom in a study hall of students from mixed grades,” Barnes said.

He explained that there wasn’t any “breach” from outside and the attack happened inside the school. Whether there were any potential warning signs is being investigated. Responding to the rumor that Natalie Rupnow was a member of the trans community, he said:

“I don’t know whether [the shooter] was transgender or not. I don’t think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may have wanted to identify. And I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this.”

Barnes continued:

“So, whether or not she was, he was, they were transgender is something that may come out later -- but for what we’re doing right now, today, literally eight hours after a mass shooting in a school in Madison, it is of no consequence at this time.”

Barnes shared that a handgun was used for the crime. However, the origin of the weapon remains undisclosed. The motive also remains unclear at this point.

Officials are in touch with Natalie Rupnow’s father and “trying to determine what he knew or may have not known about what happened today,” as per Barnes. He added, “But again, he lost someone as well.”

Chief Barnes clarified that nobody is currently being charged with the crime and they have no reason to believe” that the parents were involved. They are “fully cooperating” alongside other members of the family.

A viral document online about the incident is also being analyzed and “the person who posted [the document] is alleged to have a connection with the victim.” He hasn’t been located yet. A search was conducted at the shooter’s home.

According to school representative Barbara Wiers, it doesn’t have a metal detector. However, there are other security protocols in place, such as CCTV cameras around the campus and lockdown procedures which were implemented.

By Monday evening, two out of six wounded victims were discharged from a local hospital, while two others were reported to be stable. Another two were still serious with life-endangering injuries. All of their identities remain undisclosed.

Natalie Rupnow attended the K-12 Abundant Life Christian School along with nearly 420 others with 60 faculty members on a 28-acre campus. The institution will remain closed under police monitoring for the time being.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers called it “unthinkable” while President Joe Biden called it “unacceptable” and asked Congress to “act” on “gun violence” measures.