Extremism researchers probe Madison shooter's online footprint for clues on motive

Show Caption

Extremism researchers are scrambling to understand the motive of the Madison school shooter, who appears to have left behind a long trail of troubling online accounts and postings, including a TikTok account that posted racist and violent content. Meanwhile, the secure messaging app Telegram regularly suggests extremist channels to users, a new report finds. And a new Ohio bill would expand the state’s antisemitism laws in the wake of a recent neo-Nazi protest.

It’s the week in extremism, from Paste BN.

Extremism researchers analyze Madison shooter’s online footprint

Officially, federal and local law enforcement agencies aren’t saying much about the online activity of Natalie Rupnow, the 15-year-old student who shot and killed two people and injured six more before turning the gun on herself at a Christian school in Madison, WI. Officials say they are still searching for a motive in the shooting.  

But experienced extremism researchers have been poring over clues from Rupnow’s apparently extensive online activity all week, and are starting to build a picture of what drove the young woman to commit the shooting.

• As of Friday, two key pieces of evidence had been confirmed: A photograph on Rupnow’s father’s Facebook account showing what appears to be Rupnow wearing a shirt connected to an online subculture that venerates the Columbine High School shooters; and a TikTok account identified by researchers at the Anti-Defamation League.
• A Facebook page apparently created by Rupnow’s father shows the young woman shooting a gun at a local firing range. She is wearing a T-shirt for the German industrial rock band “KMFDM.” Both of the shooters in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre were photographed wearing KMFDM T-shirts, and the band has gained a cult following online among people obsessed with school shootings
• On Wednesday, researchers at the Anti-Defamation League announced they had identified a TikTok account run by the Madison shooter. As Paste BN reported, the account shared racist and violent videos, including one featuring photographs of Luigi Mangione, who is accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. That video contains the text “When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive.”       

Extremism researchers told Paste BN they have identified several more online accounts believed to belong to the 15-year-old, including accounts on X, Tumblr and the online gaming platform Steam.

Like the TikTok identified by the Anti-Defamation League, these accounts shared photos and videos of the Columbine shooting and other mass shootings and appeared to show an obsession with these events, researchers said. One linked to a letter possibly written by the teen prior to the shooting.

Telegram regularly suggests extremist channels: Report

An extensive new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center reveals the secure messaging and social media app Telegram, which has become a refuge for domestic extremists, regularly drives users towards more extremist content.  

• From the report: “Telegram users are regularly suggested extremist channels, even when browsing channels that are ostensibly about nonpolitical subjects such as celebrities or technology. Even users who elect to consume extremist content from one ideology or belief system, such as antigovernment conspiracies or election disinformation, can find themselves being ‘suggested’ channels from other extremist ideologies such as antisemitism or white nationalism.”
• Telegram has become the major gathering place for domestic extremist groups including the Proud Boys, who maintain dozens of channels on the platform.
• “Telegram is one of the most important platforms right now for extremists and hate groups,” said Megan Squire, deputy director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Unfortunately our research shows that its new ‘Similar Channels’ feature dramatically accelerates the pace at which users can find harmful content.” 
• The app is also no stranger to controversy. Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov was jailed earlier this year, accused of a wide range of crimes related to Telegram’s alleged complicity in allowing users to trade in child pornography and drugs and to launder money.

After neo-Nazi parade, Ohio bill on antisemitism

A bill passed by the Ohio Senate this week that would expand the definition of antisemitism in state law has both been praised for tackling hate speech and criticized as stifling free speech.

• Ohio Senate Bill 297 passed the Ohio Senate comfortably on Wednesday. It would add to Ohio law the definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
• The alliance defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
• The bill is progressing through the statehouse less than a month after a small group of neo-Nazis marched through a neighborhood near Downtown Columbus.
• The bill has sparked criticism for being overly broad. But it also has its supporters, especially among Jewish groups.

Statistic of the week: Over 17,000

That’s how many times the hashtag #FreeLuigi, referring to Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month, was posted across social media from Dec. 9 to 14.

That’s according to a new analysis by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue released this week. The veneration for Mangione “has highlighted the acceptance of vigilante violence by many in the United States as a method for societal change,” ISD researchers write in the report.