Online ‘gore’ forums are ‘gateway to extremism’ in mass shootings, normalizing horror for kids: experts

Authorities are studying online activities of 22-year-old suspect accused of fatal shooting Conservative speaker Charlie Kirk, As experts warn, digital subcultures are increasingly aggravating violence.

Calculated attack

Tyler Robinson, 22, is accused of doing what investigators say Well-planned assassination. Unlike most mass shooters who expected to die in the attack, one expert told Fox News that Robinson designed the escape route and left a detailed digital trail.

“It’s very interesting because of how long he’s talking about it, through the words he’s been planning it and seems to be waiting for it,” said prosecutor George Brauchler.

“Most of them have no plans to escape. They have plans to die there or die with their good people. But this is the one who plans to escape from this goal. He is a little different to some extent.”

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Investigators are still piecing together Robinson’s motivations.

“He grew up and it seems like he was surrounded by a decent home with a complete family, all the marks you want for the young man,” Brauheller said. “Somehow brings himself to a place where he is willing to shoot and kill another person in cold blood. It’s a decision.”

Columbine’s lasting shadow

From Columbine to Aurora, Massive shootings Often with echoes of past tragedies. Bruchler notes that Columbine remains a dark touchstone for imitators.

“In every case I deal with, Aurora, STEM, and even two 16-year-old girls who worship Columbine Shooters-will appear,” he continued, “Columbine has only a certain myth and myth that people can look back and say, I want to be like them. Or in the case of Aurora Theater, I want to be better than them. I want to create more victims than them.”

Charlie Kirk

Brockler said what has changed since 1999 is the digital landscape, noting that online forums amplified the manifesto, glorify killers and celebrates body counts like video game scores. Graphic crime scene images spread within minutes after Kirk’s murder, which reminds people of cultural desensitization.

“The difference now is real-time exposure. See murder and violence Get close immediately on social media. This desensitization does not exist during Columbine or Aurora. ” Brauhele said.

From online fantasy to real-world murder

The disturbing details of the event, along with other similar details, fit the recently identified pattern ADL Center for Extremism. Analysts for the organization have observed trends in at least four school shootings conducted by minors over the past year.

“We need to figure out what they are looking at, and they are exposed to their own things – because it obviously drives some of these kids to believe that this horror is normal,” Brauchler warned.

On September 10, 2025, a 16-year-old Desmond Holly injured two classmates before taking his life after a shooting at Evergreen High School. The group reported that at a press conference the next day, a spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Holly had been “radicalized by some extremist cyber,” although he refused to give further details.

According to ADL’s research, Sagittarius spends a lot of time in an online environment that promotes violent and extremist ideologies. Investigators found that he eventually adopted these beliefs himself.

The report said the shooter maintained an account on a graphic content forum called Watchpeopledie, and he interacted with the posts to discuss the attacks at Parkland (2018), Buffalo (2022) (2022) and a 2017 mosque in Quebec City.

Records obtained by the organization show that the shooter joined the platform on December 26, 2024 — somewhere between two other school shootings: one in the Rich Living Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, and the other at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee.

However, this shooter is not the only attacker associated with this online space. In a report released in August 2025, ADL revealed that the individuals behind the Madison and Nashville shootings, Natalie Rupnow and Solomon Henderson, are also users of the site. In the same month, a teenager in Morocco issued a declaration and announced plans for a massive stabbing of Watchpeopledie as well as X and 8Kun.

ADL’s findings suggest that the platform often hosts white supremacist, anti-Semitism, and other extremist materials. The group notes that users, including minors, are subject to high graphic violence often celebrated by the community, which may lead to desensitization and increase the risk of radical and ideologically driven violence.

Nevertheless, facing these spaces still brings constitutional challenges. “I’m not ready to swap the First Amendment for an additional layer of security,” Brauheller said. “But we have to invest in law enforcement and digital forensics. These sites are there, and they’re dangerous.”

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“I hope that governments at all levels are curious about the motives of anyone who engages in this kind of murder.” “First, find out what might have triggered them, or something that is fascinated by them and passionate about them.”

Brauheller added that the FBI reportedly issued early warnings to evergreen shooters, but the massive threat of online threats made timely interventions nearly impossible.

The way forward

Bruchler said prevention starts with vigilance.

“See what to look at, say what to say, if you worry,” Blauhele stressed, recalling how the trick stopped two teenagers from attacking at Vesta High School on the Hill. “That’s how this thing was destroyed before they could make it happen. It’s a ruling mom and an anonymous student tip.”

He also advocates for armed school resource officials in each building.

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“Massive shooters are cowards, Brookler speaks out.” They plan from two perspectives of beliefs. One, because they will have the upper hand because they will have the upper hand because they will be the only guns in the school. This is not a 100% guarantee, but when they see officers in uniform, they often don’t take action. ”

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that no system could guarantee security.

“Evil exists,” he said. “But tragedy can be prevented when the community is vigilant and law enforcement has tools to monitor threats.”

Stepheny Price is involved in crimes, including missing persons, homicides and immigration crimes. Story tip: stepheny.price@fox.com.