Another historical look at the OK sign in a 2018 article by David Neiwart of the Southern Poverty Law Center and covers much of the same ground as in the OP link.
Southern Poverty Law Center @splcenter 18h18 hours ago
Wondering about the "OK" symbol flashed during the Army-Navy game yesterday? Read our analysis of the history and meaning to learn more about this seemingly harmless gesture:
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/09/18/ok-sign-white-power-symbol-or-just-right-wing-troll
From the above link:
So what does it mean when someone flashes the OK sign? In the end, it can mean almost anything, but primarily it’s one of three things:
- It can be a harmless use of its traditional meaning that all’s well.
- It can be an ironic attempt to troll liberals with a symbol chosen to “trigger” their inner “SJWs.”
- It can be a surreptitious way of signaling your presence to other white supremacists.
The first of these (and its most common, but also most declining, use) is harmless. But it can’t credibly be claimed by anyone who has a record of involvement with the many far-right elements that swirl both around the Trump White House and outside it as well. Nor can it be claimed by street-protesting Proud Boys chanting far-right slogans.
The second is less directly harmful, but hardly innocent of wreaking havoc. The normalization of the radical right under the rhetorical protection of self-proclaimed “centrists” and “libertarians,” particularly those who spread conspiracy theories and are often labeled the “alt-lite,” is a legacy that could last a generation or longer.
The third is, of course, reflective of a toxic worldview and authoritarian politics, bent primarily on the destruction of liberal democracy. At the moment, it remains the smallest bloc of the three.
Yet trolling culture, the ethos that fuels the second motivation, has proven a direct gateway not just to the alt-right, but also to even more poisonous cultures such as that of woman-hating “incels”. It’s one thing to shrug off misbehavior by embracing the “troll” label, but it still means you’re a participant in a toxic subculture. It's easy for the second motivation to morph into the third.
So when someone flashes the “OK sign” with that knowing smirk, it’s not just a harmless act that can be dismissed. It may or may not mean that they are a white nationalist attempting a sly signal. But the sign unquestionably identifies the user as one thing: a troll.