Introduction
The day after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the internet experienced a significant spike in calls for violence and civil war, highlighting a disturbing trend of glorifying mass shooters and perpetrators of targeted violence. This surge, documented by Moonshot, a company monitoring domestic violent extremism (DVE) spaces online, reflects the alarming impact such events can have on online discourse and behavior.
About SITE|SAFETYNET℠
I’m Robert Jordan, the founder of SITE|SAFETYNET℠, dedicated to enhancing K-12 school safety through comprehensive, real-time assessments. Our mission is to empower schools with tools and insights to create safer environments for students and staff. Utilizing a six-tier assessment framework and our proprietary 80-Point Safety Zone Assessment, we identify potential vulnerabilities in school security. Our Dynamic Safety Score (DSS) and SafetyNet|Report℠ offers actionable data and continuous monitoring, ensuring schools can effectively improve safety measures throughout the year.
Documented Spike in Violent Rhetoric
Moonshot’s six researchers identified 1,599 calls for civil war—a 633% increase from a typical day—across various online platforms, including 4Chan, Reddit, YouTube, and new far-right discussion sites. Elizabeth Neumann, Chief Strategy Officer for Moonshot, explained, “The uptick in online calls is fairly typical of online discourse in spaces that glorify violence. There is an online ecosystem out there working day in, day out to encourage violence of all kinds, from political civil war to mindless school shootings.”
Pattern of Increased Online Violence
The findings from Moonshot align with a longstanding pattern: every mass shooting or instance of targeted violence in the past decade has been followed by increased online calls for violence. Typically, perpetrators post about their violent intentions before acting in the real world. For instance, Matthew Crooks, who opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, had a documented online footprint with troubling content, including antisemitic and anti-immigration themes.
Surge in Threats Post-Attack
Following the shooting at the Trump rally, Moonshot recorded 2,051 specific threats or encouragements to violence online, more than doubling the usual daily volume. This data underscores the need for vigilant monitoring and proactive measures to mitigate the spread of violent rhetoric.
Collaboration and Advocacy for Gun Safety
Everytown for Gun Safety partnered with Moonshot on a report tracking online engagement in discussions of mass shootings and targeted violence from January through June of last year. The report highlighted the glorification of mass shootings and the valorization of perpetrators, revealing Google searches as gateways to platforms hosting such content. John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety, emphasized the need for platforms to enforce their policies more strictly to prevent the spread of violent content.
The Challenge of Moderating Harmful Content
Mainstream platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have devoted resources to removing harmful content, with mixed success. YouTube removed over 2.1 million videos in the first quarter of 2024 for violating its policies. However, fringe extremist platforms continue to increase, complicating efforts to curb violent rhetoric.
Call to Action for Public Safety
Salli Garrigan, a Moms Demand Action volunteer and survivor of the Columbine High School shooting, expressed the urgency of addressing the ease of access to violent content. As a mother, she finds it terrifying that such content glorifies one of the worst days of her life. Platforms like Reddit have stated their commitment to removing content that encourages violence, but the challenge remains significant.
Conclusion
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the subsequent surge in online calls for violence underscores the critical need for robust monitoring and proactive measures to combat the spread of violent rhetoric. Collaboration between advocacy groups, monitoring organizations, and online platforms is essential to ensure public safety and prevent the glorification of violence in digital spaces.
At SITE|SAFETYNET℠, we understand the importance of a safe and secure learning environment for children. Our comprehensive school safety assessments and continuous monitoring tools are designed to address potential threats proactively, ensuring that schools remain safe havens for students. By leveraging our expertise, schools can identify vulnerabilities and implement effective measures to safeguard their communities against the rising tide of online and offline violence.
Gunfire Erupts at Trump Rally: Lessons for K-12 School Safety
