Latest news with #BradleyCadenhead
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Temitope Oriola: Fighting violent online network preying on kids requires all-of-society approach
The RCMP announced on Thursday the terrorism-related arrest of a 15-year old Alberta boy. He is being charged under Section 810.011 of the Criminal Code — Fear of terrorism offence. This section of the Criminal Code states that 'A person who fears on reasonable grounds that another person may commit a terrorism offence may, with the attorney general's consent, lay an information before a provincial court judge.' This suggests that the RCMP had reason to believe the boy might carry out an act of terrorism. The boy allegedly belongs to '764', a loose, nodal, rhizomatic, supranational network of online violent entities. The RCMP news release describes 764 network as 'a transnational online ecosystem of violent online predators who routinely lure youth, particularly those in vulnerable sectors, and encourage them to commit sexual acts, self-harm, and the torture of animals. Elements of The Com/764 network are known to have extreme ideological views and are victimizing children through desensitizing and radicalizing them to violence.' This is indeed a national security concern and global problem. In March 2025, the FBI issued a warning regarding 'a sharp increase in the activity of 764 and other violent online networks which operate within the United States and around the globe.' The statement notes that the networks 'methodically target and exploit minors and other vulnerable individuals.' Crimes like rape, murder, child pornography, sextortion, kidnapping, et cetera, have been linked to the network around the world. There have been arrests, charges and/or convictions of its members in Brazil, the U.K., Spain, U.S., Romania, Sweden, and Australia, among others. 764 is believed to have been founded by a Texas teenager, Bradley Cadenhead, in 2021. It has multiple sub-entities. One of the more telling is 'No Lives Matter.' The nihilism — ostensible meaninglessness of life — presupposed by the network is evident in the name. The network encourages members to engage in and livestream self-harm and suicide. This is a quintessentially vile 21st century network. Its activities have been catalyzed by the relative anonymity and instantaneity of the Internet and social media platforms. While we are right to focus on the Facebooks of this world, others like Discord, Twitch and Telegram are being deployed by 764. In September 2022, while appearing before the Standing Committee on Human Rights for the Senate, I stated the need to focus on all forms of terrorism. Jihadi terrorism had been the epicentre of national security concerns with relatively scant attention to 'homegrown' terrorism. That gave an inadvertent latitude to the incel network, for example, to carry out attacks they had been discussing online for weeks without seemingly being interrogated. It contributed to tragedies such as the van attack by Alek Minassian in Toronto in 2018. Words have meanings. It appears we are entering a new era of co-locating and cross-fertilizing people's online and offline words and actions. We learned the hard way. The arrest of the 15-year-old may be viewed as a lesson from the Incel rebellion. The RCMP deserves commendation for moving swiftly before any apparent damage could be done. Dealing with transnational actors like the 764 network requires an all-of-society approach. The significance of the role of social media companies cannot be overstated: what content they allow on their platforms, minimum requirements of registration (if any), and surveillance of suspicious words and images. It is also crucial to strengthen legislation regulating social media organizations. Nonetheless, there is no substitute to parental responsibility. Parents must be vigilant about the online activities of their children. It may be cool at first that a child almost always remains in their room but being camped in the basement for days and weeks on end meeting with online friends should elicit parental curiosity. Social engagement of young people is important. Such online groups prey on social isolation, alienation and boredom of young people. We need to provide opportunities for sports, volunteering and other avenues to bond with non-criminal peers. Such activities may also contribute to building the confidence of our young people. Mental health support is fundamental given the self-harm and suicidal ideation that are integral to the imprimatur of 764. I strongly recommend the RCMP resource page on what signs parents can observe to prevent entanglement of children in violent online networks. Temitope Oriola is professor of criminology and recipient of the J. Gordin Kaplan Award, the University of Alberta's most prestigious honour for research excellence. 'X': @topeoriola We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don't publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: letters@ Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal |The Edmonton Sun.
Business Mayor
11-05-2025
- Business Mayor
FBI opens inquiry into 764, online group that sexually exploits and encourages minors to self-harm
The name of the group sounds innocuous enough: 764. But the ordinary-seeming number hides one of the most disturbing trends in the US's criminal landscape, disguising a brutal and sinister online group that exploits its victims in cyberspace and is now a top target for US law enforcement. Last week, the FBI revealed it has opened investigations into 250 individuals affiliated with 764 and other online networks of predators who befriend minors and other vulnerable people and coerce them to create sexually explicit material and commit acts such as harming themselves or animals. The federal agency has investigated the phenomenon since at least 2023 and warned the public about 764, a loose network of people that engage in violent, predatory behavior. The FBI reported that all its 55 field offices were investigating 764 and similar networks. In 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline received more than 1,300 reports connected to groups such as 764 that perpetrate sadistic online exploitation, a more than 200% increase from 2023, according to the organization. 'It is really important that law enforcement is looking into the individuals that are perpetrating this abuse and seeing if they can have any successful investigations,' said Kathryn Rifenbark, the CyberTipline director. The network started with Bradley Cadenhead, a teen in a zip code in Texas from which the 764 name is derived who played Minecraft and watched ultra-violent 'gore' content online, according to an investigation conducted by Wired, Der Spiegel, Recorder and the Washington Post. He created a Discord server called 764 to distribute child sexual abuse material and seek out vulnerable children. He and others on the server lured women into video chats and extorted them to cut themselves or perform live sexual acts, the news organizations reported. In 2021, Discord identified 764 and its hundreds of users and reported them to law enforcement, according to the report. Cadenhead was arrested and sentenced to 80 years in prison in 2023, but there are now predators in 764 and various splinter groups around the world. In April, Leonidas Varagiannis, a 21-year-old US citizen in Greece, and Prasan Nepal, a 20-year-old in North Carolina, were arrested and charged for allegedly leading a 'core subgroup' known as 764 Inferno in which they 'ordered their victims to commit acts of self-harm and engaged in psychological torment and extreme violence against minors', according to a press release from the justice department. 'The network is loosely coordinated based on individuals of like mind' who 'wish to cause harm to other humans, especially kids', said Ben Halpert, founder and president of Savvy Cyber Kids, a group that aims to educate young people about cyber safety and ethics. In November 2023, schools in Vernon, Connecticut, started receiving bomb threats and warnings of mass shootings, according to Thomas Van Tasel, a detective with the local police department. It turned out a member of a 764 group had befriended a local teenage girl online and encouraged her to send sexually explicit and self-mutilation material. He then extorted her for information, including about a local teacher, which he used to make the threats, Van Tasel said. The local teen was also suspected of making bomb threats. Eventually, the two broke up, and another person, who lived in Europe, started claiming he was the local teen during threats, which led police to her, Van Tasel said. The student had been on the honor roll most her life, according to her parents. The police did not disclose her name because she was a minor when she helped the 764 member and they also considered her, in some part, a victim, which is common, Van Tasel said. skip past newsletter promotion Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion 'We were able to charge her with conspiring with others in the group to make these bomb threats, but ultimately, the biggest goal with her was to get her some treatment so that she herself could recover,' Van Tasel said. Victims are often afraid to deny offenders' requests or to report the predatory behavior because they worry the offenders will share their sexually explicit or self-mutilation videos or because the offenders know where they live and could 'swat' them, Rifenbark said, referring to the practice of making fake calls to the police that provoke an armed response. She is unsure whether the increase in reports of online exploitation is primarily because there are more victims or just greater reporting due to increased awareness of the predatory behavior, at least in part due to media coverage of 764. Jessica S Tisch, commissioner of the New York police department, and Rebecca Weiner, the department's deputy commissioner for intelligence, also wrote this week in the New York Post that 764 and similar groups are 'the stuff of nightmares, and dismantling these virulent networks is now a top national security priority across the United States and Europe'. 'Parents, do you know what your kids are doing online?' they wrote. 'If not, the answer may terrify you.' Van Tassel said he provided information on the person who preyed on the Connecticut teen – and someone he worked in partnership with – to the FBI, and the investigation is pending. As to the local teen, Van Tassel said she is doing better and returning to the activities she was engaged in before getting caught up in 764. He added: 'Any victim that is part of this problem is looking at years of therapy.'
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- The Guardian
FBI opens inquiry into 764, online group that sexually exploits and encourages minors to self-harm
The name of the group sounds innocuous enough: 764. But the ordinary-seeming number hides one of the most disturbing trends in the US's criminal landscape, disguising a brutal and sinister online group that exploits its victims in cyberspace and is now a top target for US law enforcement. Last week, the FBI revealed it has opened investigations into 250 individuals affiliated with 764 and other online networks of predators who befriend minors and other vulnerable people and coerce them to create sexually explicit material and commit acts such as harming themselves or animals. The federal agency has investigated the phenomenon since at least 2023 and warned the public about 764, a loose network of people that engage in violent, predatory behavior. The FBI reported that all its 55 field offices were investigating 764 and similar networks. In 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline received more than 1,300 reports connected to groups such as 764 that perpetrate sadistic online exploitation, a more than 200% increase from 2023, according to the organization. 'It is really important that law enforcement is looking into the individuals that are perpetrating this abuse and seeing if they can have any successful investigations,' said Kathryn Rifenbark, the CyberTipline director. The network started with Bradley Cadenhead, a teen in a zip code in Texas from which the 764 name is derived who played Minecraft and watched ultra-violent 'gore' content online, according to an investigation conducted by Wired, Der Spiegel, Recorder and the Washington Post. He created a Discord server called 764 to distribute child sexual abuse material and seek out vulnerable children. He and others on the server lured women into video chats and extorted them to cut themselves or perform live sexual acts, the news organizations reported. In 2021, Discord identified 764 and its hundreds of users and reported them to law enforcement, according to the report. Cadenhead was arrested and sentenced to 80 years in prison in 2023, but there are now predators in 764 and various splinter groups around the world. In April, Leonidas Varagiannis, a 21-year-old US citizen in Greece, and Prasan Nepal, a 20-year-old in North Carolina, were arrested and charged for allegedly leading a 'core subgroup' known as 764 Inferno in which they 'ordered their victims to commit acts of self-harm and engaged in psychological torment and extreme violence against minors', according to a press release from the justice department. 'The network is loosely coordinated based on individuals of like mind' who 'wish to cause harm to other humans, especially kids', said Ben Halpert, founder and president of Savvy Cyber Kids, a group that aims to educate young people about cyber safety and ethics. In November 2023, schools in Vernon, Connecticut, started receiving bomb threats and warnings of mass shootings, according to Thomas Van Tasel, a detective with the local police department. It turned out a member of a 764 group had befriended a local teenage girl online and encouraged her to send sexually explicit and self-mutilation material. He then extorted her for information, including about a local teacher, which he used to make the threats, Van Tasel said. The local teen was also suspected of making bomb threats. Eventually, the two broke up, and another person, who lived in Europe, started claiming he was the local teen during threats, which led police to her, Van Tasel said. The student had been on the honor roll most her life, according to her parents. The police did not disclose her name because she was a minor when she helped the 764 member and they also considered her, in some part, a victim, which is common, Van Tasel said. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'We were able to charge her with conspiring with others in the group to make these bomb threats, but ultimately, the biggest goal with her was to get her some treatment so that she herself could recover,' Van Tasel said. Victims are often afraid to deny offenders' requests or to report the predatory behavior because they worry the offenders will share their sexually explicit or self-mutilation videos or because the offenders know where they live and could 'swat' them, Rifenbark said, referring to the practice of making fake calls to the police that provoke an armed response. She is unsure whether the increase in reports of online exploitation is primarily because there are more victims or just greater reporting due to increased awareness of the predatory behavior, at least in part due to media coverage of 764. Jessica S Tisch, commissioner of the New York police department, and Rebecca Weiner, the department's deputy commissioner for intelligence, also wrote this week in the New York Post that 764 and similar groups are 'the stuff of nightmares, and dismantling these virulent networks is now a top national security priority across the United States and Europe'. 'Parents, do you know what your kids are doing online?' they wrote. 'If not, the answer may terrify you.' Van Tassel said he provided information on the person who preyed on the Connecticut teen – and someone he worked in partnership with – to the FBI, and the investigation is pending. As to the local teen, Van Tassel said she is doing better and returning to the activities she was engaged in before getting caught up in 764. He added: 'Any victim that is part of this problem is looking at years of therapy.' If you or someone you know is a victim of such exploitation, you can report it and get help at or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Time of India
Signs your child is being targeted by a child predator cult, warns FBI
Image credits: Getty Images The FBI is warning parents about a disturbing online threat targeting children. A neo-Nazi sextortion group known as '764' is being investigated in hundreds of active cases across the U.S. According to the bureau, the group targets children as young as 9 years old, coercing them into creating explicit and harmful content. To help parents protect their kids, the FBI has released key warning signs and safety tips to spot potential grooming or exploitation early. The cult-like group is spreading quickly in the United States and has ties with connections to neo-Nazis and Satanism. The members of this group contact children through gaming chat rooms, social media and phone apps and then 'methodically target and exploit minors.' Discord and Telegram have been their targeted channels of contacting youngsters, as per CBC. Operation Sindoor 'Did not want to...': Pak def min gives absurd excuse for army's failure to withstand Op Sindoor Blackouts, sirens & Pak's failed attacks: 10 things that happened in the last 36 hrs '1971 war was not remotely as terrifying': Residents of border areas shell-shocked According to ABC News, 764 is the largest network with 250 open cases, at least one in every FBI office. What does the FBI say? Image credits: X/@AlexkennedyIran The bureau issued a public service announcement on Tuesday saying, 'These networks use threats, blackmail, and manipulation to coerce or extort victims into producing, sharing, or live-streaming acts of self-harm, animal cruelty, sexually explicit acts, and/or suicide.' Members circulate the photos with each other and threaten the victim about posting them publicly to keep them under their control. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Download Chrome Symptomdepot Undo The FBI has described the members as 'nihilistic violent extremists … seeking to destroy civilized society.' 'Some threat actors may be engaging in criminal activity solely for sexual gratification, social status, or a sense of belonging, or for a mix of other reasons that may not be ideologically motivated,' said the agency. Warning signs your child is being targeted by 764 Image credits: X/@AlexkennedyIran The FBI has issued some warning signs to look out for in order to figure out if your child is being targeted by the gang. These are: Kids engaging in self-harm or expressing suicidal thoughts Suddenly acting withdrawn or moody Sudden changes in eating, sleeping and dressing habits Pets being injured or dying under mysterious circumstances Kids carving words or symbols into their skin Kids writing in blood or similar-looking liquids What is the 764 cult ? Image credits: X/@AlexkennedyIran The 764 cult is an outgrowth of a much larger and older organization called the Order of Nine Angles , which has ties in neo-Nazism and Satanism. The gang was founded by Bradley Cadenhead when he was 15 years old, in 2020 and named it after his own zip code. Recently, "Trippy" and "War" , two 20 and 21-year-old members of the gang, were arrested by the police in Greece. The two allegedly led a core subgroup called the 764 Inferno, which was a core members, invite-only group, and had exploited at least eight minors as young as 13 years old. Trippy later went on to become the head of the gang in August 2021, after the founder was arrested by the FBI. The results of the activities of the gang have been fatal to the extent that a Canadian father recently lost his 15-year-old daughter to suicide after she was exploited by the gang for at least two years. He said to The Fifth Estate that he missed the early signs of his daughter's exploitation, which included self-harm. "That's the part that I hate," he said, "It was happening right in front of me and I didn't recognize it," he added. One needs to be really aware of and monitor one's child's digital footprints and activity to ensure that they are protected from such digital threats that have proved to be fatal in many cases. Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
New York Post
08-05-2025
- New York Post
Violent online networks like ‘764' show how terrifying the dark web is for young children
Parents, do you know what your kids are doing online? If not, the answer may terrify you. Last month, the FBI issued a warning about the growing threat of violent online networks targeting minors. Lurking on gaming platforms, social media or self-help forums, members of these networks lavish attention on their targets. After the grooming comes the demands: that victims carve occult symbols or the names of their abusers onto their bodies (a practice known as 'fansigning'). That they share sexually explicit videos or mutilate their pets on camera. That they livestream their own suicides. When victims disengage, they're doxed and swatted, threatened with violence, blackmailed or extorted. Most victims are teens. Some are younger. It's the stuff of nightmares, and dismantling these virulent networks is now a top national security priority across the United States and Europe. 4 764 propaganda that was shared on Telegram. But most parents have no idea they exist. Many of these networks, with names like 764, the Com, No Lives Matter and True Crime Community, belong to a loosely connected subculture called nihilistic violent extremism. This is influencer culture at its darkest, where status comes from creating the worst-possible content. Videos of beheadings, dismemberings, torture and child pornography freely circulate. Consuming ultra-violent content online fuels real-world creation. Take 17-year-old Solomon Henderson, who shot and killed a student at his school in Antioch, Tenn., in January, wounding two others before taking his own life. 4 Bradley Cadenhead, who went by Felix and Brad764 online, created 764 in 2020 when he was 15 and named it after his zip code. Erath County Jail He left behind a manifesto, now standard procedure for online extremists. No surprise his manifesto and social-media footprint are rife with tragedy, self-loathing and rage — along with horrific imagery and references to nihilistic extremism and neo-Nazism It glorified school shooters he idolized — including Natalie Rupnow, who killed two of her classmates and wounded six more in December 2024 in Madison, Wis., before taking her own life. She frequented school-shooter-obsessed forums of the True Crime Community and admired prior attacks. That Henderson was a black self-identified white supremacist and that Rupnow was a rare female school shooter underline the strange, shape-shifting nature of nihilistic violent extremism. 4 Tennessee school shooter Solomon Henderson, 17, shot and killed a student at his high school earlier this year before committing suicide. WSMV via Metro Nashville PD Crackdown underway Last week, two alleged leaders of 764 were arrested — one in North Carolina and one in Greece, after an investigation by the FBI, NYPD and partners. They're accused of directing minors worldwide to cut symbols into their bodies, produce explicit videos and engage in self-harm. These arrests are a breakthrough, but the threat remains. A 764 member in Kentucky recently pleaded guilty to plotting to kill a minor who refused to continue making coerced sexual videos. An Arizona man associated with 764 allegedly forced a 13-year-old girl to carve his alias, satanic symbols and swastikas into 'every possible place' on her body, threatening to leak sexually explicit images of her if she didn't comply. 4 Wisconsin school shooter Natalie Rupnow killed two of her classmates last December before taking her own life. Natalie Rupnow/X And in California, minors were blackmailed into filming themselves performing torture rituals. Worse still, today's victims can become tomorrow's abusers. A 15-year-old Eastern European girl who convinced a Minnesota man to livestream his self-immolation had been terrorized by 764 before she became one of their recruiters. These aren't isolated examples. Since we began investigating this threat three years ago, we've identified over 500 cases — and those are just the ones we know about. In addition to arrests, the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force has been working to alert law enforcement worldwide to the dangers of these networks. NYPD detectives and FBI agents have briefed school officials and community partners worldwide, flagging indicators: cutting and fansigning, isolation, doxing, swatting and retributive bomb threats seen in schools since the pandemic. This work is urgent, vital and growing. Be on the lookout But while law enforcement is working aggressively to identify and dismantle these networks, early intervention starts with the people closest to the kids, not after a case is opened. The truth is arrests aren't enough. We need awareness. We need parents to understand what's out there. We need teachers to recognize the signs. We need tech companies to take responsibility for what's happening on their platforms. And we need survivors to know they're not alone — that there's a way back. The good news is, recovery is possible. We've worked with families who've pulled their kids out of these networks and helped them start over — safe and supported. When that happens, we don't just save one life. We protect future victims and prevent others from becoming victimizers. It takes vigilance. It takes early intervention. And it takes adults who are paying attention. If you're a parent, ask your kids what they're doing online. Don't just monitor — engage. If you're a teacher, don't ignore the strange symbols or sudden withdrawal. Ask questions. If you're a friend, speak up. This is a new kind of extremism — grounded in the belief that nothing matters and that causing harm is the only way to feel anything at all. We can stop it. But only if we know it's there. Jessica Tisch is commissioner of the New York City Police Department, where Rebecca Weiner is deputy commissioner for intel and counterterrorism.
