Several mass shooters in recent years have used Discord as a platform for sharing their plans, an alarming pattern relevant to reports that Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson, confessed to the shooting in a Discord chat.
Robinson appeared to admit guilt in a Discord chat group the day after Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University, according to screenshots obtained by the Washington Post.
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“It was me at UVU yesterday. I’m sorry for all of this,” read a message reportedly sent by Robinson on the night after the attack.
The group chat, consisting of more than 20 members, reportedly reacted in real time to Kirk’s assassination. In a follow-up message, Robinson reportedly wrote: “Thanks for all the good times and laughs. You’ve all been so amazing.”
Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether Discord was used operationally in the assassination plot or if anyone online knew of it in advance.
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Discord disputed that any “planning details” were disclosed on the instant messaging application, though the company acknowledged the existence of an account operated by Robinson.
“We have not found or received any evidence that the suspect planned this incident on Discord or promoted violence on Discord,” a spokesperson for the social media site said.
Discord is no stranger to content moderation concerns, as the tech company has previously faced calls for more online oversight regarding radical activity in violence-themed chatrooms.
The unfolding saga in the Kirk assassination investigation casts a spotlight on how past perpetrators of high-profile shootings had taken to Discord to announce their plans, ideate about committing mass violence, and at times coordinate logistics.
Buffalo supermarket shooting
On May 14, 2022, 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron opened fire at a Tops Friendly Markets store in a predominantly black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, taking 10 lives and injuring three more people.
In the aftermath, authorities retrieved thousands of chat logs linked to Gendron off of Discord, which were written in the form of an online diary and dated over a stretch of several months.
From mid-November 2021 to May 2022, the postings recounted reconnaissance of the target performed in the lead-up to the attack. These entries, laying out a monthslong plot in excruciating detail, revealed multiple visits to Tops Friendly Markets to survey the store’s layout and analyze a Google graph feature for the location’s busiest times. As part of preparations for the racially motivated mass shooting, the Discord account admitted to strategically targeting that area in Buffalo because of its large black population.
Discord verified that Gendron had invited “a small group” of users to view the diary-style chat logs via a private Discord server about half an hour beforehand.
“A private, invite-only server was created by the suspect to serve as a personal diary chat log,” a Discord spokesperson said. “Approximately 30 minutes prior to the attack, however, a small group of people were invited to and joined the server. Before that, our records indicate no other people saw the diary chat log in this private server.”
Discord removed the server and all associated content “as soon as” the company was made aware of it in the wake of the supermarket shooting, the spokesperson said. Up until that point, Gendron’s posts were accessible to invitees as well as anyone whom they may have shared access with.
At least 15 users joined Gendron’s server shortly before the supermarket shooting spree, a source with knowledge of Discord’s internal investigation told CNN.
Other than the online diary, Gendron reportedly received weapons tips in another Discord server where members mostly discussed guns and tactical gear. Reports say Gendron sought specific advice on ammunition, which weapons to use, and the best bulletproof vests, such as “What kind of bullets will defeat body armor?”
In a Discord channel titled “to-do-list,” Gendron seemingly documented step-by-step plans for the impending attack. The agenda items included “fully load mags,” “test out Winchester ammo,” and “stream Twitch on Discord,” with an “X” appearing next to each task, apparently completed. Gendron did indeed livestream the shooting through Twitch, a video-streaming platform also popular among gamers, and advertised the link on Discord.
Apalachee High School shooting
On Sept. 4, 2024, 14-year-old Colt Gray allegedly shot 11 victims, killing two students and two teachers, at Apalachee High School, marking the deadliest school shooting in the history of Georgia.
In May 2023, more than a year before the attack, Gray is alleged to have discussed on Discord his desire to commit a mass shooting on school grounds.
Anonymous tips forward to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center reported threatening posts from a Discord profile that referenced plans for a future massacre and contained pictures of guns.
“I’m committing a mass shooting and I’m waiting a good 2-3 years,” the Discord account wrote in a chatroom, according to screenshots included in an FBI incident report. “I can’t kill myself yet, cause I’m not contributing anything to culture, I need to go out knowing I did.”
Text above a photograph posted of two firearms reads, “I’m ready.”
Federal forensics traced the Discord account to a teenage suspect in Georgia, and local law enforcement located Gray, who reportedly used a Russian username in which the letters, when translated, spelled out “Lanza,” an apparent reference to Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza.
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In a press statement, Discord said the site removed the account “believed to be associated with” Gray for violating the platform’s policy against violent extremism following the initial investigation.
Authorities, however, did not arrest Gray at the time because investigators could not find enough evidence to tie him to the Discord account due to “inconsistent” metadata.
Perry High School shooting
On Jan. 4, 2024, 17-year-old Dylan Butler fatally shot a sixth-grader and wounded seven others, including four students and three staff members, before killing himself at a high school in Perry, Iowa. Perry High School principal Dan Marburger died days later as a result of injuries he sustained during the shooting.
Butler allegedly sent messages on Discord about “gearing up” in the school bathroom moments before the mass shooting.
Under the Discord username “took2much,” Butler reportedly told a group of online friends that he was at the school and ready “for what’s to come.”
“I’m f—ing nervous,” the Discord account messaged after 10 minutes. “I’m in the bathroom, gearing up.”
Using a racial slur, the account added: “There’s a n— in the bathroom. I need him to leave so I can assemble my guns.”
A spokesperson for Discord confirmed that the company believed the account belonged to Butler.
“Discord has a zero-tolerance policy against content that glorifies violence and violent extremism, which is reflected in our Community Guidelines,” the spokesperson said. “We took immediate action against the suspect and his content, and are currently cooperating with law enforcement to assist them in their continuing investigation.”
Butler also appeared to have been a part of a since-shuttered Discord chatroom dedicated to discussing school shootings.
In November 2023, another user flagged the Discord chatroom, called “School Massacres Discussion,” to the FBI, but an agent who reached out over email asking for further information reportedly did not respond to screenshots the tipster accordingly supplied of the server. The now-defunct chatroom was then shut down sometime prior to the Perry High School shooting.
The Washington Examiner contacted Discord for comment on this story.