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The moment before 15-year-old Natalie Lupnow fired fire at her Madison, Wisconsin, school I’ll kill you Two And last montha social media account that could be considered her posted a photo on X showing someone sitting in the bathroom stall flashing hand gestures that have become a symbol of white hegemony.
When news about the shooting broke, another X user replied, “Live stream it.”
Extremist researchers now believe that the second account belongs to 17-year-old Solomon Henderson. He says he walked to a high school cafeteria in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday, firing 10 shots, killing one classmate, and himself. The archives of another X-account linked to him show that he posted a similar photo to Rupnow at his final moments.
There is no evidence that Rupnow and Henderson plotted the attack together, but extremist researchers who tracked social media activities have told Wisconsin Watch and Propublica that two teenagers praise the mass shooters and sought the road He said he is active on the same online network as he has surpassed. Across the various social media platforms, networks exchange hateful memes along with terrorist literature, exchanging tips on how to effectively commit attacks and encourage each other.
Researchers have been tracking these networks for months as part of their work looking at the growth of online extremist networks that are growing across gaming, chat and social media platforms.
Two students died and one injured after filming at Nashville High School
Researchers’ analysis found only a few cases where Rupnow and Henderson appear to be directly interacting. However, in the days, days and weeks following the Madison shooting, Henderson appears to have stuck with Lupnot. He boasts in X that rupnow and he is “mutuals,” a common internet term for following each other, and says, “I am now a real school archer. It was something that was.” I shared another post.
Researchers who prevent violence to prevent violence by working with counterterrorism organizations, academics and law enforcement to track how extremist networks radicalize young people online, have said they have been concerned about physical safety. I agreed to share information unless it was named from. The news outlet reviewed qualifications with several experts on the field.
It is impossible to know for a complete and reliable basis that an online account belongs to a particular person without professional access to devices and accounts from law enforcement. Metropolitan Nashville Police Station I’m acknowledging it The existence of two documents that Henderson appears to have created both contain details about his social media accounts. Other researchers and groups – including Prevention LeagueCanadian extremism experts Mark Andre Argencino and Site Intelligence Group – We decided that these probably belong to Henderson.
Extremist researchers linked their accounts to Rupnow. Rupnow linked to Rupnow, who went to Samantha, revealing details of a general biographer, including personal acquaintances, and by tracking her activities on multiple social media profiles she lived in Wisconsin. In the bathroom post, one person whose account regularly interacted with was featured as being featured by her nickname “Sam.” Wisconsin Watch and Propovica were able to verify the connection between social media posts and accounts by following the researcher’s steps through archived social media accounts and screenshots.
Thursday, ABC News Law enforcement cited When reporting that a social media account connected to Henderson may have been in contact with Rupnow’s social media account. Information reviewed by Wisconsin Watch and Propovica details suspicious connections and interactions. Almost all accounts researchers have linked to Rupnow and Henderson are currently suspended.
A spokesperson for the Madison Police Department said the agency knows Rupnow is “very active on social media” and it’s “just starting” to receive and review documents from high-tech companies. Nashville Police said there was nothing to add to it beyond the previous statement.
Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14 years old, Erin West42-year-old was killed at the Christian School of Madison’s Abundant Living. Josselin Corea Escalante16-year-old died at Antioch High School in Nashville. Both attackers also committed suicide.
Rupnow and Henderson each had multiple X accounts, extremist researchers told Wisconsin Watch and Propublica. At the time of her attack, Rupnow only followed 13 other users. Two of these accounts are linked to Henderson.
In November, Lupneau shared a post from Henderson. Henderson appeared to want a happy Veteran’s Day to the man who killed more than 12 people at the University of Texas at Austin in 1966.
After Madison’s attack, someone wrote to Henderson and the others with X, saying that one of their “people” might have “shooted the school.” Henderson told another user, “I barely know her,” and told him he had never exchanged private messages with her. Later, in a 51-page screed under consideration by Nashville Police, he emulated and praised past attackers, including Rupnow, saying, “I can only loosely do it through some of them and online messaging platforms. “
After filming Rupnow, Henderson called her “Sainstress,” using common terms in the network, posting or re-sharing about dozens of times, and online persona of the racist genocide and her celebrated the fact that he took action. On one platform, he used her photo as his profile picture. In his writings, he said he scrawled the name of Lupnot and the names of other assailants in his weapons and gear.
The online network where two teenagers live has a variety of influences, ideology and aesthetics. With varying degrees of commitment and integrity, they attribute them to white supremacist, anti-Semitism, racist, neo-Nazi, occult, or demonic beliefs.
In this online world, the currency that buys influence is violence. This violence often involves children and teenagers who hurt other children and teenagers. Some encourage doxing and self-harm by mass attacks in non-virtual worlds.
“The network is best described as an online subculture that celebrates violent attacks and fundamentalizes youth and commits violence,” he said. One of the researchers for preventing violence. “Many of the individuals involved in this network are minors and we see intervention for their own safety and for those around us to give them the help and support they need. I want to do that.”
Some members of these communities, including Terrorgram; 764 And com, led to online and offline activities belief To own child sexual abuse material and sexually exploit the child Appeal To solicit hate crimes and seek murder of federal employees. The lawsuit is pending and the defendant has not filed a response with the court. This month, the US Department of State announced the Terrorgram Collective. Terrorist organizations“The group promotes violent white supremacy, calls for attacks on perceived enemies, and provides guidance and guidance materials on attack tactics, methods and targets, including critical infrastructure and government officials. ”
When details of the Nashville shooting began to emerge, researchers noticed that they saw some of Henderson’s accounts and posts within a network of around 100 users they were tracking. They previously reported the username of Henderson and one of the other accounts in the network to law enforcement, and submitted several reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
They were not aware of Rupnow’s account prior to her attack, but they were able to find her within the network after the fact.
Alex Newhouse, an extremist researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder, said these subcultures attack each other to carry out past attacks and mimic past attackers to enact past violence. He said it has a long history. Henderson was involved online. “The Antioch ones are very obviously imitations,” Newhouse said.
Henderson’s diary shows that he had been thinking of an attack a few months before Lupnow, but her shooting caught his attention. A few hours later, he retweeted another post. (RW stands for right wing.)
However, two teens entered this online subculture, and their writings revealed their despair about their personal lives and the world around them, expressing violent and hateful views .
After the Madison shooting, another social media user focused on their association and tweeted to the FBI, accusing Henderson and others of having prior warnings. They “need to be locked up,” the poster said, “I have no questions.”
The FBI declined to comment. After Henderson’s attack, social media users returned to tweets.
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