Experts warn the Internet of radicalization of the Internet of new attacks of targeted attacks
– For todayNow you can listen to FOX news headlines!
Federal investigators are examining the online activity of suspected Utah activist Charlie Kirk, as questions grow about how digital spaces fueled the assassination of President Donald Trump.
A viral post from the Tiktok account on X listed several of the latest and noted many suspects identified as transgender or unemployed, calling it an “epidemic of Trans violence.”
But experts say those claims miss the mark. The real danger, they warn, is playing with hidden red corners, quarrels and other discussion platforms, where confirmation and confirmation feed each other and oppress people who live alone in violence.
Former New York State Security Adviser Michael Balson told Fox Digital News that suicides have increased over the past decade and that the targets are no longer limited to politicians.
UVU professor and former FBI agent warns of new pattern of political violence after political assassinations after Charlie Kirk
Then Republican Secretary-elect Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is taken away by the US Secret Service after taking a bullet during a meeting on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photos by Anna MoneyMakerty)
“We see activists and media figures being targeted,” said Balnoboni. “Those people who feel sad or unimportant and believe that they will commit an act of heroism. The case of threat shows how the situation of threat is magnified.”
He also described online hate as a spark that turns complaints into actions, allowing angry users to find each other and fan the flames.
“Like-minded people feed off each other in the spaces of social media until someone takes the next step and decides to kill. That is the key to solving radicalization today.”
Investigators are reviewing digital evidence tied to the suspect in Kirk’s slaying and murder, including the messages he sent after the shooting, according to court filings and statements from law enforcement. Work Agencies also inspect timber related to timber, home security came home.
This classified photo shows suspect Tasser Tyler James Robinson, left, and victim Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, right. (Office of Gov. Spencer Cox; AP Photo / Alex Brandon)
Similar digital footprints have been filled in other cases. A Buffalo Supermarket pilot kept a “secret” private diary”, according to the findings of a New York State investigative report.
The Uvalde Gunman used the app Teen Chat Yubo and Instagram DMS to send disturbing messages before his attack. Previous shooters in El Paso and Christchurch posted manifestos on 8chan before discovering their crimes.
The common thread, experts say, isn’t gender or political identity, it’s the digital divide.
Examining the severity of the safety concerns surrounding the shooting of Charlie Kirk
LEFT: Republican presidential opponent Donald Trumpial Donald Trump is escorted by Secret Service agents after a gun was fired at a campaign rally in Butler 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. Right: a photo of the gunman, Thomas Crooks, taken earlier that day. (Photos by Jeff Swensen/Gentty, obtained by FOX News Digital)
Former FBI investigator and International Security expert Daly told FOX News Digital The pattern of mitigating radicalization in these shootings mirrors
“Their reasons for becoming criminals are often very similar to what we’ve seen with ISIS recruits – a combination of ideology, personal appeal and a personal search,” Daly said. “It doesn’t always happen overnight. There are breadcrumbs, small behavioral changes, that build over time as they gain validation from online communities.”
He said hackers are exploiting common digital platforms such as gaming servers and chat apps to reach young users.
“Those same gaming and chat sites that used to be harmless now offer direct access to the minds that knock,” Daly said. “Young people live in these spaces, and that’s where they’re most at risk.”
RETIWESTIWEST GBI Special Agent JASON PASONISORT HASON Pack, who has responded to many shooting scenes, said the temptation to see a pattern in people is understandable but misleading.
“Identities don’t predict violence. Trying to predict risk based on labels alone is like trying to predict the weather with a fort cookie,” Pack told fox digital news.
After Kirk’s murder, lawmakers react to deadly political climate: ‘Violent words precede violent actions’
Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was speaking on his “return to America tour” when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson / The Salt Lake Tribune / Getty Images)
This puts the focus where he believes – on behavior, not biography.
He said the FBI’s model of behavior is focused on the way that goes from ear to ear, which includes complaint, correction, confirmation in online communities, in planning and at the end of the “breat point” when the attacker decides violence will solve a personal problem.
“People on the path to violence go into places like forums or spaces because those spaces give them anonymity, validation and a sense of belonging that they don’t have in real life,” Pack said. “Those corners of the Internet can run like an open sewer, and people in the dark often drink from the wrong end of the pipe.”
BELBONI said that the environment that protects such attackers from being made, from the epidemic is divided into panic with automation and artificial intelligence.
“We’ve lived through years of anxiety – the pandemic, job losses, now we’re afraid of AI,” he said. “Add deep political polarization, and you get people online being told they’re useless and ostracized by society. Some decide to take action.”
He said today’s environment represents “one night – bolf night” to get the law.
Retired FBI agent warns of ‘killing culture’ after learning Kirk suspect lived with trans partner
“These are not programmed cells,” Balnoboni explained. “They are people who don’t have the radar or anyone who has weapons, motivation and access, the most difficult situation for the FBI and the police to wait for.”
Daly agreed that encryption and block reading of the batch.
“People are moving to encrypted sites that are difficult, if not sometimes impossible, to get into,” Daly said. “Even with today’s technology, it can be increasingly difficult for law enforcement to see what’s going on behind those walls.”
According to the New York Attorney General’s report on the Buffalo case, these forums provided “public sentiment and tactical instructions” that accelerated the attacker’s offensive.
The killing of Kirk, who was shot during a public event in Orem, Utah, was the most prominent political attack since the assassination of the July 2024 rally against Trump in Pennsylvania. Both incidents fueled fears of divisive violence.
Authorities said preliminary evidence in the Kirk case showed Gunman’s motive stemmed from an online relationship and personal grievance more than ideology.
Experts warn remaining celebrations of Charlie Kirk’s Deam Signal Shintral Everstream politically dangerous
The pack said it saw normal power.
“In the 1990s it was the cheap 190s. After the city of Oklahoma it was the radicals who fought against the government. Each period brings a set of situations where people try to tie together,” he said. “Sometimes those groups show extensive change, sometimes it’s random. You can’t tell who you are – you learn by behavior.”
A visitor looks at the faces of some of the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing at the Oklahoma National Memorial Museum in Oklahoma City on June 12, 2001, one day after the killing of Timothy McGeigh. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
All three experts agree the solution lies in monitoring and communication, not details.
“It takes a larger group to have an effective intervention process. Families, friends, anyone who sees troubling behavior should speak up,” Daly said.
BALnoni called for prevention and awareness.
“Don’t glorify the shooter. Don’t even use the name,” he said. “And if families see a change in behavior or access to weapons, to report it. That’s where the intervention starts.”
The packaging reflected that idea.
“What helps a person to return to the edge of connection,” he said. “Sometimes it’s family, sometimes it’s friends, sometimes it’s faith that reminds them that they didn’t go alone.”
Click here to download the FOX News app
As political anger rises and social-media anger fuels new attacks, investigators warn that focusing on youth is missing the point.
They were at great risk, sleeping how much they complained, the internet’s clashing loneliness of social violence in the shadows of reddit threads, private servers and a few outside chat rooms.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicide and immigration crime. Send story tips to Stepheny.Price@fox.com.
