Misanthropic Extremism, Something You Never Expected

The recent growth in nihilistic acts of so-called “political extremism” is not what it seems

Photo by Declan Sun on Unsplash

Another mass shooting by a white man with a high-powered rifle on a rooftop has people all over the internet debating whether the shooter is a so-called “leftist” or “MAGA extremist,” or, as in the case of the Charlie Kirk murderer, a “Groyper” (a fan of neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, who is a self-proclaimed fan of Hitler). While much of this is relevant, the fact that mostly young white men are behind these acts is more pertinent in the current environment. That many of the most recent shooters are nihilists and misanthropes is an issue that continues to be overlooked.

According to a report by Ken Klippenstein, the shooter at the Dallas ICE detention center is described as a “vaguely libertarian” individual and fits the profile of someone who was nihilistic and misanthropic (a general hatred for humankind), challenging the White House’s narrative of “left-wing” violence. The Trump administration’s politicization of the event not only erases the migrant victims of the shooting but also glosses over the growth in young white mass shooters.

While much of the discussion right now is about violent rhetoric, we cannot overlook where most of it comes from and who is promoting it by putting big money behind it. However, the tactics used by many hate groups to recruit young white men are being utilized by various online communities that peddle violence. It shows just how easily people can be radicalized online and how white teenage boys and young men are often the targets of recruitment efforts.

There’s no question that the explosion in hate groups is intimately connected to the rise in right-wing acts of violence, from hate crimes to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Many of the same groups that spout hate and bigotry are funded by billionaires. While it may seem obvious why wealthy elites fund these groups (to divide the working class), their motivations are for them to declare publicly. Yet, websites that allow racist content, so-called “think tanks” that promote racist conspiracy theories, and organizations like Turning Point USA are supported by wealthy elites.

Nevertheless, over the last couple of years, a more nihilistic and misanthropic movement has been growing on various sites such as Discord, Telegram, and 4Chan. They employ offensive memes with Nazi or Klan imagery, and old Soviet communist imagery, despite not necessarily believing in any of the things the images resemble. Instead, their hate revolves around a general dislike of humankind and the belief that humans should be extinct.

I highlighted the explosion of these groups in May after the Department of Justice made some headway in targeting one. Because the groups are fragmented and often hide behind privacy and anonymity tools, tactics learned from hate groups, they are difficult to track and are often found only after they commit violent crimes. The group targeted by the DOJ in May was started in Texas and is known as 764, for the first three digits of the zip code in Stephenville, Texas, where 19-year-old Bradley Cadenhead lived and founded the group at just 15 years old.

The group’s membership exploded internationally almost immediately.

“Since 2021, at least 13 people connected to 764 have been arrested and charged with child exploitation material, and at least two school shooters were affiliated with the group. While the group originated in the US, it has spread all over Europe, with various arrests taking place,” reads my report earlier this year. “But because many of the offenders were minors as young as 14 years old, the details of those violent crime cases are hard to find.”

Many of these decentralized international groups operate sextortion networks. Some reports have uncovered ideological alignments with a Satanic, misanthropic, and accelerationist terror network called the Order of Nine Angles that emerged in 2021 from the neo-Nazi and nihilistic groups in the CVLT (cult) network. Several leaders in the CVLT network have been arrested in the U.S. for child pornography and coercing minors to commit self-harm.

The network worked collectively to entice and coerce children and teens to self-produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on a platform run by CVLT. There, they groomed children and teens for the eventual production of CSAM through various forms of degradation, including exposing the victims to extremist and violent content. The group targeted vulnerable victims, including those suffering from mental health challenges or a history of sexual abuse, according to an indictment.

“Victims were encouraged to engage in increasingly dehumanizing acts, including cutting and eating their own hair, drinking their urine, punching themselves, calling themselves racial slurs, and using razor blades to carve CVLT members’ names into their skin,” reads a DOJ press release. “CVLT members’ coercion escalated to pressuring victims to kill themselves on a video livestream.”

Repercussions against the victims if they hesitated, resisted, or threatened to tell parents or authorities came in the form of threats to send already-obtained photos and videos to their family and friends. CVLT regularly carried through on their threats against victims who stopped participating in the production of CSAM. The FBI issued a bulletin, warning about 764 and groups like it in March. Their reasoning behind the FBI’s public service announcement is the same as mine (and many others) in bringing awareness about the growing issue.

These groups are connected to “Saints Culture,” where mass shooters, the Unabomber, and acts of terrorism, like the Oklahoma City bombing, are deified. It’s an ideology that fuels many groups like the Terrorgram network. After being designated as a global terrorist organization in January, it was revealed, according to the FBI, that the Terrorgram network likely used groups like 764 to recruit people to conduct hate crimes and attacks on federal officials.

This coalition is often referred to as “The Community” by members of the various online extremist groups. The Maniac Murder Cult is another whose leader was charged by the DOJ for various crimes coordinated through the messaging platforms previously mentioned. Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old from Tbilisi, Georgia, was extradited to the U.S. from Moldova in May to face charges related to a school shooting in the U.S., a mass stabbing outside of a Mosque in Turkey, and a 17-year-old murdering a 74-year-old woman in Germany.

These growing movements are vast and difficult to define in a single article. Despite the threats they pose to children, especially, reporting on these groups is scant in mainstream media. The Dallas shooter may or may not have had links to any of the child exploitation surrounding these nihilistic and misanthropic groups, but there seems to be little question that this growing trend is likely behind the attack on the ICE facility in Texas, and possibly behind Charlie Kirk’s murder, among many more that have been detailed in previous indictments.

What we can not afford to ignore is how many young white men are deciding to settle their political grievances by the barrel of a gun. It may be important to identify the ideologies behind their actions, but it behoves parents to identify and confront shifts in attitudes and have the uncomfortable conversations. If you’re kid hasn’t been recruited to commit acts of violence, they could just as easily have been recruited to be a victim of exploitation, which is where the victims are typically young girls and teens.

Members of these groups start their recruitment efforts online in video games like Roblox and Minecraft, on social media, and in private chats. They typically begin with sharing seemingly benign commentary and memes disguised as simple irony, and steadily grow into sharing more bigoted, divisive, and hateful content. Hate groups have been weaponizing this strategy unabated for nearly two decades and have a tremendous head start. That these other groups are adapting and building on being unchallenged should alarm everyone.

FBI Recommendations For Parents

The FBI urges the public to exercise increased vigilance when posting personal photos, videos, or personal identifying information, or direct messaging online. Although seemingly innocuous when posted or shared, the images and videos can provide malicious actors with an abundant supply of content to exploit and manipulate or alter for criminal activity. Victims are vulnerable to embarrassment, harassment, extortion, or continued long-term re-victimization. The FBI recommends looking for warning signs indicating a victim may be engaging in self-harm or having suicidal thoughts.

The FBI recommends that family, friends, and associates consider the following potential indicators and warning signs:

• Sudden behavior changes such as becoming withdrawn, moody, or irritable.

• Sudden changes in appearance, especially neglect of appearance.

• Changes in eating or sleeping habits.

• Dropping out of activities and becoming more isolated and withdrawn.

• A new online “friend” or network prospective victims seem infatuated with and/or scared of.

• Receipt of anonymous gifts, such as items delivered to your home, currency, gaming currency, or other virtual items.

• Scars, often in patterns.

• Fresh cuts, scratches, bruises, bite marks, burns, or other wounds.

• Carvings, such as words or symbols, on the skin.

• Wearing long sleeves or pants in hot weather.

• Writing in blood or what appears to be blood.

• Threatening to commit suicide and openly talking about death, not being wanted or needed, or not being around.

• Idealization of mass shootings or mass casualty events.

• Family pets or other animals being harmed or dying under suspicious circumstances.

• Family pets uncharacteristically avoid or are fearful of your child or you.

• Law enforcement being called to the home under false pretenses (known as swatted or doxxed) by an unknown person.

The FBI recommends the public consider the following when sharing content (e.g., photos and videos) or engaging with individuals online:

• Monitor children’s and other vulnerable individuals’ online activity and discuss risks associated with sharing personal information.

• Use discretion when posting images, videos, and personal content online, particularly those that include children or their information.

For more information on how to protect children and others, refer to information on online risks here: Parents, Caregivers, Teachers - FBI.

Additional Resources

If you are worried about someone who might be self-harming or is at risk of suicide, the following resources may help:

• Consult your pediatrician or other health care provider who can provide an initial evaluation or a referral to a mental health professional.

• Connecting your child to a mental health resource can help them learn healthy coping skills for intense emotions and help reduce the risk of a serious injury.

• If it is an immediate, life-threatening emergency, dial 9-1-1.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provides a free service known as Take It Down, which helps minor victims, even if they are now an adult, remove or stop the online sharing of nude or sexually explicit online content. For more information, visit https://takeitdown.ncmec.org.

If you believe you are the victim of a crime using these tactics, retain all information regarding the incident (e.g., usernames, email addresses, websites, or names of platforms used for communication, photos, videos, etc.) and immediately report it to:

• FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov

• FBI Field Office (www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices or 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324)

• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.cybertipline.org or 1-800-THE LOST)

Reporting these crimes can help law enforcement identify malicious actors and prevent further victimization.

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I’m an independent investigative journalist who enjoys digging deeper into the stories you see on the news. Find my work at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber or making a donation via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.