8chan Founder Wants the Site Shut Down After Mass Shootings
Written by SOURCE on August 5, 2019
8chan founder Fredrick Brennan is calling for the shutdown of the website following Saturday’s El Paso Walmart shooting, the New York Times reports. Patrick Crusius, the suspected gunman who has already been charged with capital murder, posted a four-page manifesto on the site minutes before carrying out the horrific act which resulted in 20 people being killed and 26 more injured.
8chan has become an unfiltered, unchecked site fueling hate speech, and inspiring violent white supremacist behavior. Crusius claims he was inspired by the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, which also manifested on 8chan.
“Once again, a terrorist used 8chan to spread his message as he knew people would save it and spread it,” Brennan told The Washington Post. “The board is a receptive audience for domestic terrorists.” Brennan founded the site in 2011, but left in December for an unknown reason. Now he believes these string of events have left the site’s current operators with no choice but to “do the world a favor and shut it off.”
8chan is registered to the Nevada-based company N.T. Technology and is currently owned by Jim Watkins, an American living in the Philippines. His son, Ron, now runs the site alongside him.
After gunman John T. Earnest opened fire at the Chabad of Poway synagogue on April 27, killing one and injuring three people, a manifesto titled “An Open Letter” was published on 8chan around the time of the attack. The post was taken down nine minutes later. Ron jokingly addressed how the site would work to monitor these concerning posts that continuously appear on their message board.
