By India McCarty
As the world still grapples with the murder of Charlie Kirk, experts warn against the increased rise in online “gore forums” where individuals share and encourage each others’ violent fantasies.
“In every case I’ve handled — Aurora, STEM, even two 16-year-old girls who idolized the Columbine shooters — [the digital trail] shows up,” George Brauchler, a prosecutor who has handled some of many high-profile mass shootings, told Fox News. “Columbine just has a certain mystique and mythology to it that people can look back on and say, ‘I want to be like them.’ Or in the Aurora Theater case, ‘I want to be better than them. I want to create more victims than them.’”
Now, however, things have changed. Brauchler pointed to the “real-time exposure,” explaining, “Kids see killings and violence on social media instantly, up close. That kind of desensitization didn’t exist during Columbine or Aurora.”
Related: How to Talk to Your Kids About Graphic Violence They Might See Online
Many people take part in online “gore forums,” which “serve as digital hubs for the sharing of real-life killings, torture, and other forms of violence, catering primarily to ‘gore seekers’; a niche audience searching for graphic and disturbing material,” per a report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
The Anti-Defamation League analyzed one “gore forum,” WatchPeopleDie, earlier this year.
“Researchers found that extremist material — such as white supremacist and antisemitic manifestos and videos of white supremacist and antisemitic mass murders — was readily accessible,” the report stated. “As a result, WPD serves as a virtual space where users — young people in particular — can access extremist content alongside graphic violence, potentially desensitizing them and increasing the risk of ideologically motivated violence.”
On Sept. 10, 2025, a 16-year-old named Desmond Holly carried out a shooting at Evergreen High School, injuring two students and taking his own life. In the subsequent investigation, it was discovered Holly had spent time on WPD.
“I’m not ready to trade the First Amendment for an extra layer of security,” Brauchler said. “But we have to invest in law enforcement and digital forensics. These sites are out there, and they’re dangerous.”
He continued, “I want every level of government to be curious about the motives of anyone that engages in this kind of homicidal behavior. One, to find out what it is that may have triggered them or what fascinated them and what they had a passion for.”
As violent imagery and rhetoric grows more accessible online, it is more important than ever to stay aware of what your child is looking at and who they are interacting with online.
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