Online ‘gore’ forums are ‘gateway to extremism’ in mass shootings, normalizing horror for kids: experts

Authorities are examining the online activity of the 22-year-old suspect charged in the fatal shooting of conservative speaker Charlie Kirk, and experts warn that digital subcultures are increasingly fueling acts of violence.

In a crime that shocked the nation, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson is accused of carrying out what investigators describe as a carefully planned assassination. Unlike most mass shooters who expect to die during their attacks, an expert tells Fox News Digital that Robinson devised escape routes and left behind a detailed digital trail.

"This one is incredibly interesting because of how long he says, through the text that has been disclosed, he had been planning this and for how long it seems like he laid in wait," said George Brauchler, a prosecutor who has handled some of the nation’s most high-profile mass shootings.

"Most of them have no plans to escape. They have plans to die right there, either by their hand or the good guys who stop them. But this is someone who planned to get away with this. He’s different in a way."

Investigators are still piecing together Robinson’s motives.

"He grew up, it looks like, in a decent home, surrounded by an intact family, all the markers that you want for youth," Brauchler said. "And somehow brought himself to a place where he was willing to shoot and kill another human being in cold blood. That’s a heck of a decision."

From Columbine to Aurora, mass shootings often carry echoes of past tragedies. Brauchler notes that Columbine remains a dark touchstone for copycats.

"In every case I’ve handled — Aurora, STEM, even two 16-year-old girls who idolized the Columbine shooters — it shows up," he said. "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,'" he continued.

What has changed since 1999 is the digital landscape, Brauchler said, noting that online forums amplify manifestos, glorify killers and celebrate body counts like video game scores. After Kirk’s murder, graphic crime scene images spread within minutes — a chilling reminder of cultural desensitization.

"What’s different now is the real-time exposure. Kids see killings and violence on social media instantly, up close. That kind of desensitization didn’t exist during Columbine or Aurora," Brauchler said.

The troubling details of this incident, and others like it, fit a pattern recently identified by the ADL Center on Extremism. Analysts at the organization have observed similar trends in at least four school shootings carried out by minors over the past year.

"We need to figure out what they’re watching, what they’re exposing themselves to — because it’s clearly driving some of these kids to believe this kind of horror is normal," Brauchler warned.

On Sept. 10, 2025, a 16-year-old named Desmond Holly carried out a shooting at Evergreen High School, injuring two classmates before taking his own life. At a press briefing the following day, a spokesperson from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office stated that Holly had been "radicalized by some extremist network" though declined to go into further detail, the organization reported.

According to research by the ADL, the shooter had spent a significant amount of time in online environments that promote violent and extremist ideologies. Investigators found that he ultimately adopted these beliefs himself.