Latest news with #SolomonHenderson
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Yahoo
Parents warned following connection to Antioch school shooter and neo-Nazi ‘murder cult' leader
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — New court documents reveal a violent online cult may have influenced a deadly school shooting at Antioch High School earlier this year. The 17-year-old shooter, Solomon Henderson, reportedly claimed to act on behalf of a group called the 'Maniac Murder Cult.' 'Today you see someone, it's a young person, he is troubled, and he finds something online; maybe it's on the dark web, and there is some kind of hate speech, or there is something where all of the sudden he is able to relate to that,' said retired FBI Special Agent Scott Augenbaum. 'It doesn't happen all that often, but look what happens when it does.' RELATED: DOJ says leader of neo-Nazi 'murder cult' influenced Antioch school shooter Henderson left an audio message before the shooting, naming 'Commander Butcher' as his inspiration. That name, officials say, belongs to 21-year-old Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian national who federal prosecutors believe is the alleged leader of the online extremist group. 'It's not always going to be on traditional websites like Facebook or X or Instagram; it is going to be hidden from plain sight,' Augenbaum said. 'The unfortunate thing is any high schooler with a computer can access this information really easily.' Chkhikvishvili was extradited to the U.S. and appeared in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday. He faces several charges, including soliciting hate crimes and encouraging acts of mass violence. Investigators say the group promotes a manifesto known as the 'Hater's Handbook' which they believe has inspired real-life killings. 'I was always get asked, 'Why can't law enforcement shut these things down?'' Augenbaum explained. 'Because a lot of them are anonymous. They are hidden to us.' Juvenile court records of Antioch school shooter released When tracking international online comments, Augenbaum said they have to navigate the line between hate speech and threats, saying it takes a direct threat for law enforcement to act. 'You can't monitor people's social media feeds just because they feel a certain way,' Augenbaum said. 'It becomes different when they post online that they are looking to kill U.S. citizens or violently overthrow the U.S. government.' He told News 2 it has been a challenge to keep up with the rapid rise of digital extremism. 'We've always been playing catch up,' Augenbaum said. 'These criminals, these extremists, are hiding their internet connection, which makes it very challenging.' Antioch High School Shooting | Continuing Coverage For parents, Augenbaum has a warning. 'We can't control the bad guys too, but we can control how we react, so these are the things for parents that if you see, your kid has some kind of an anonymous router, which is called a Tor router, that means they are on the dark web,' Augenbaum explained. 'I'm a father of two boys. There is nothing good that is gonna come out of them being on the dark web.' 'Cybercrime, extremist hate speech, we are seeing so much of it on the dark web, and parents make sure that your kids do not know more than you do,' Augenbaum concluded. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Yahoo
Juvenile records show Nashville teen on probation at time of Antioch High School shooting
Juvenile court records of the teen who fatally shot a student before fatally shooting himself Jan. 22 at Antioch High School was on probation at the time of the shooting for pulling a box cutter on a student. Two weeks before Solomon Henderson fatally shot 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante, a Jan. 8 ruling said Henderson required treatment or rehabilitation and was ordered to judicial diversion, a court-ordered program for juvenile offenders, after a 2024 incident when he brought a box cutter to school. The records release comes after Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation this year allowing for such documents to be released. Henderson was charged with carrying a box cutter on school property in October 2024 as well as reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. The file notes that Henderson was ordered to stay away from a student, whose name was redacted in the report. It also said Henderson would be home schooled and supervised by his mother. More: Antioch school shooting: Nashville suspect, 17, posted alt-right paraphernalia, photos from past school shootings Records show the box cutter incident happened on or around Oct. 24, 2024, and the victim in the case was a female student.. When questioned by school administration, the female student said the two were walking to lunch when she said "hey" to Henderson. When he didn't hear her, the report said the female said "hey" again and her turned to her and pulled the box cutter from his jacket pocket and exposed the blade before walking to a table and sitting down. The report said Henderson said he would "cut anyone" that walks up on him. Henderson told school officials the unnamed student came up with her friends saying they were going to "jump him." A second incident reported in Henderson's file showed the teen was charged in November 2023 with one count each of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor for downloading child pornography. More: Nashville police: Antioch High School student fired 10 shots in 17 seconds The teen admitting to downloading sexual images and videos of minor children and posting them to various Discord server accounts, records show. Henderson was released to his parents and was ordered to not use social media and not have access to the internet, cell phones or computers, according to filings. Chaos unfolded at Antioch High School at 11:09 a.m. Jan. 22 as Henderson, armed with a pistol, opened fire in the school's cafeteria, fatally wounding Escalante before using the weapon on himself. MNPD Chief John Drake said it was not clear if the shooting was targeted, or if there was a motive behind it. He said at the time that an investigation was underway, and there were a variety of leads. In the wake of the shooting, Adrienne Battle, the MNPS director, said multiple safety measures were in place at Antioch High, including school resource officers, a secured vestibule at the entrance and cameras with weapon-detection software. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville teen brought weapon to Antioch High before shooting
03-05-2025
Nashville school shooter who killed 1 student and himself had brandished a box cutter at school
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Nashville high school student who fatally shot a classmate before killing himself in January was on probation after threatening a student with a box cutter months earlier, according to juvenile court files obtained through an open records request. Solomon Henderson, who was 17 at the time, was charged with carrying a weapon on school property with intent and reckless endangerment with a weapon after a confrontation on Oct. 24, 2024. The victim said she was walking to lunch with a group when she said 'hey' to Solomon. When he did not respond, she said 'hey' again. Solomon, who is Black, then turned around and told her to get away, using an expletive, and called her the N-word, the victim told police. He pulled a box cutter out of his pocket and exposed the blade before walking to a table in the cafeteria and sitting down. When an administrator confronted Solomon, 'he became upset saying stuff like I'll cut anyone that walks up on him,' according to the court filings. He also said he believed that the victim and her friends were going to jump him. As part of his probation, he was not allowed to possess guns. Solomon's juvenile record also includes charges from November 2023, when he was 16 years old, for downloading and distributing sexual images of minors. The record does not give any indication of the ages of the minors in the images. In that case, he was released to his parents with strict conditions including no use of social media, a cellphone, the internet, or a computer, with the exception of school work. Juvenile court records have been unavailable to the public in Tennessee until recently. Citing the Antioch High School shooting and a desire to know more about the shooter's history, Tennessee lawmakers this year passed a bill that allows someone's juvenile court records to be made public if the person committed a homicide on school grounds and has died. The records released to The Associated Press on Friday show that Solomon was given judicial diversion after his arrest for brandishing the box cutter. Court documents from the day after the incident indicated he was to have no contact with the victim and that his mother was planning to homeschool him. It is unclear exactly when he returned to Antioch High School, but on Jan. 22, Solomon shot and killed Josselin Corea Escalante, who was 16 and Hispanic, in the school's cafeteria before turning the gun on himself. Another student who was grazed by a bullet was treated and released from the hospital the same day. Police said Henderson fired 10 shots from a 9 mm pistol within 17 seconds of entering the cafeteria. The pistol was loaded with nine rounds when recovered by police. The gun was bought by someone in Arizona in 2022, and it was not reported stolen, police said. The gun's origins are still under investigation. Although the name of the victim in the box-cutter incident is redacted from the juvenile records, police have previously said they could not establish a connection between Solomon and the victims in the shooting. They have said the gunfire may have been random. Not long after the shooting, anti-hate analysts quickly identified dozens of pages believed to have come from Henderson, filled with calls for violence and racist comments, including neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies, expressions of shame that he was Black and praise for specific people who carried out well-known shootings. The writings also include plans for the school shooting, but they do not name Escalante as a target. Police and the FBI have been investigating two documents totaling more than 300 pages combined that they believe Henderson created. 'It is clear that Henderson was significantly influenced by web-based material,' especially on 'non-traditional sites that most would find harmful and objectionable," police said.
Hamilton Spectator
02-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Nashville school shooter who killed 1 student and himself had brandished a box cutter at school
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Nashville high school student who fatally shot a classmate before killing himself in January was on probation after threatening a student with a box cutter months earlier, according to juvenile court files obtained through an open records request. Solomon Henderson , who was 17 at the time, was charged with carrying a weapon on school property with intent and reckless endangerment with a weapon after a confrontation on Oct. 24, 2024. The victim said she was walking to lunch with a group when she said 'hey' to Solomon. When he did not respond, she said 'hey' again. Solomon, who is Black, then turned around and told her to get away, using an expletive, and called her the N-word, the victim told police. He pulled a box cutter out of his pocket and exposed the blade before walking to a table in the cafeteria and sitting down. When an administrator confronted Solomon, 'he became upset saying stuff like I'll cut anyone that walks up on him,' according to the court filings. He also said he believed that the victim and her friends were going to jump him. As part of his probation, he was not allowed to possess guns. Solomon's juvenile record also includes charges from November 2023, when he was 16 years old, for downloading and distributing sexual images of minors. The record does not give any indication of the ages of the minors in the images. In that case, he was released to his parents with strict conditions including no use of social media, a cellphone, the internet, or a computer, with the exception of school work. Juvenile court records have been unavailable to the public in Tennessee until recently. Citing the Antioch High School shooting and a desire to know more about the shooter's history, Tennessee lawmakers this year passed a bill that allows someone's juvenile court records to be made public if the person committed a homicide on school grounds and has died. The records released to The Associated Press on Friday show that Solomon was given judicial diversion after his arrest for brandishing the box cutter. Court documents from the day after the incident indicated he was to have no contact with the victim and that his mother was planning to homeschool him. It is unclear exactly when he returned to Antioch High School, but on Jan. 22, Solomon shot and killed Josselin Corea Escalante, who was 16 and Hispanic, in the school's cafeteria before turning the gun on himself. Another student who was grazed by a bullet was treated and released from the hospital the same day. Police said Henderson fired 10 shots from a 9 mm pistol within 17 seconds of entering the cafeteria. The pistol was loaded with nine rounds when recovered by police. The gun was bought by someone in Arizona in 2022, and it was not reported stolen, police said. The gun's origins are still under investigation. Although the name of the victim in the box-cutter incident is redacted from the juvenile records, police have previously said they could not establish a connection between Solomon and the victims in the shooting. They have said the gunfire may have been random. Not long after the shooting, anti-hate analysts quickly identified dozens of pages believed to have come from Henderson, filled with calls for violence and racist comments , including neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies, expressions of shame that he was Black and praise for specific people who carried out well-known shootings. The writings also include plans for the school shooting, but they do not name Escalante as a target. Police and the FBI have been investigating two documents totaling more than 300 pages combined that they believe Henderson created. 'It is clear that Henderson was significantly influenced by web-based material,' especially on 'non-traditional sites that most would find harmful and objectionable,' police said.
