FBI officers say they’re conducting greater than 250 investigations throughout all of their subject workplaces into a gaggle they describe as a “nihilistic violent extremist network” that appears to “sow chaos” and “bring down society.”
The FBI is investigating the so-called “764” on-line predator group that’s identified to push victims to “create graphic pornography, harm family pets, cut themselves with sharp objects, or even die by suicide,” ABC Information first reported earlier this week.
Authorities say that hundreds of individuals all over the world may very well be susceptible to being victimized, with the youngest victims being underneath 10 years previous, FBI Assistant Director David Scott informed the information group.
“We see a lot of bad things, but this is one of the most disturbing things we’re seeing,” mentioned Scott, head of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.
The feds are contemplating 764 as a possible type of home terrorism. An affidavit filed in federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., highlighted that the group’s “accelerationist goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the United States Government.”
Some predators even go so far as holding events to look at movies of victims harming themselves, ABC Information reported.
All 55 of the FBI’s subject workplaces are dealing with at the very least one 764-related investigation. Particulars of what the bureau’s Boston workplace is trying into weren’t instantly accessible Wednesday.
The group has hit New England, with ABC Information referencing an incident from final 12 months in Vernon, Conn., the place native police arrested a lady for “conspiring with a 764 devotee overseas to direct bomb threats at her own community.”
“When police searched her devices, they found pornographic photos of her, photos depicting self-mutilation, and photos of her paying homage to 764,” the nationwide outlet reported.
Authorities arrested the group’s leaders final month, which the feds mentioned marked a “significant takedown with the violent online network.”
Leonidas Varagiannis, often known as “War,” 21, a US citizen residing in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Prasan Nepal, often known as “Trippy,” 20, of North Carolina, had been arrested and charged with working a world little one exploitation enterprise, in response to the Division of Justice.
“These defendants are accused of orchestrating one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered – a network built on terror, abuse, and the deliberate targeting of children,” Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi mentioned in an announcement. “We will find those who exploit and abuse children, prosecute them, and dismantle every part of their operation.”
