MORE ON THE STORMS COMING UP IN WEATHERWATCH 12. >> THANK YOU. MARK. AN ONLINE NETWORK OF VIOLENT PREDATORS IS RECRUITING YOUNG CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS, GAINING THEIR TRUST AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN EXTREME ACTS OF VIOLENCE. >> TONIGHT, THE TOP FBI OFFICIAL IN MILWAUKEE HAS A NEW WARNING FOR PARENTS AND INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER JAMES STRATTON HAS BEEN DIGGING INTO THE GROUP FOR MORE THAN A YEAR. THE FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE TOLD JAMES WHAT YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR. >> TONIGHT. FBI MILWAUKEE WARNING ABOUT NIHILISTIC GROUPS TARGETING KIDS SCROLLING THEIR PHONES ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR GAMING ONLINE. THEY BEFRIEND KIDS AND COERCE THEM INTO EXTREMISM. >> THE VICTIM CAN BE MANIPULATED OR COERCED INTO PRODUCING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL OR ENGAGING IN ACTS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY, DOXING, SWATTING, SELF-HARM AND OR VIOLENCE. >> MILWAUKEE FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE ALAN CARR, SPEAKING WEDNESDAY, SAYS THE GROUP’S OFTEN CALLED NIHILISTIC VIOLENT EXTREMIST GROUPS, OR NVS, OFTEN SPLINTER FROM A LARGER GROUP CALLED 764. CAN YOU GIVE ME NAMES OF SPECIFIC NVS THAT YOU’RE TRACKING HERE IN THE WISCONSIN AREA OR ACROSS THE COUNTRY? >> NO, I CAN’T GIVE YOU ANY SPECIFIC NAMES. AGAIN, WE UTILIZE THE TERM SEVEN, SIX, FOUR, AND THESE ARE DIFFUSE ONLINE NETWORKS. >> CARR SAYS SUSPECTS ARE GENERALLY MEN IN THEIR LATE TEENS AND 20S TARGETING KIDS ONLINE. TYPICALLY YOUNG GIRLS. FBI ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS INVESTIGATING 450 SUSPECTS, INCLUDING HERE IN WISCONSIN, COURT RECORDS SHOW. IT IS HAPPENING HERE. 12 NEWS INVESTIGATES REPORTED LAST MAY. FBI PREVIOUSLY INVESTIGATED A FRANKLIN 16 YEAR OLD, DOCUMENTS SHOW, BECAUSE HE HAD PICTURES AND VIDEOS ON TELEGRAM DEPICTING WHAT APPEARS TO BE YOUNG FEMALES CUTTING HIS SYMBOLS AND WORDS INTO THEIR SKIN AND PAINTING THOSE SYMBOLS ON THE WALL. IT’S UNCLEAR IF HE WAS EVER CHARGED. HIS RECORDS ARE SEALED DUE TO HIS AGE. TONIGHT, THE WARNING TO PARENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING ONLINE. TALK TO THEM ABOUT THE RISKS OF SHARING PERSONAL INFO, AND WATCH FOR THESE WARNING SIGNS. >> A FEW EXAMPLES INCLUDE SIGNS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY, THREATENING TO COMMIT SUICIDE, OR OPENLY TALKING ABOUT DEATH. SCARS FROM SELF-HARM, INCLUDING 764 RELATED TERMS. >> JAMES IS JOINING US LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM TONIGHT. JAMES, WE’VE HAD NOTABLE VIOLENT CASES INVOLVING THESE GROUPS. >> DIANA WAUKESHA, NIKITA K.SOB KILLED HIS PARENTS, RECORDS SHOW. HE CLAIMED TO BE A PART OF A GROUP CALLED THE ORDER OF NINE ANGLES AND WAS COERCED ONLINE INTO THINKING HE WAS PART OF A PLOT TO KILL PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP. ALSO, MADISON SCHOOL SHOOTER NATALIE RSVPNOW APPEARED TO FOLLOW A PROMINENT 764 MEMBER ONLINE, ACCORDING TO THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE. SHE ALSO APPEARED TO IDOLIZE OTHER ATTACKERS ONLINE BEFORE KILLING A TEACHER IN A CLASSMATE BACK IN DECEMBER OF 2024. JUST TWO REAL WORLD EXAMPLES OF THESE EXTREMIST GROUPS AND THE THREATS THAT THEY POSE.
FBI Milwaukee warns of violent nihilistic groups targeting kids online
FBI across the country is investigating 450 suspects, including in Wisconsin.
Updated: 6:45 PM CDT Apr 22, 2026
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FBI Milwaukee is issuing a new warning to parents and guardians about violent online groups targeting kids scrolling their phones, on social media or gaming online. The groups, often called nihilistic violent extremist groups, or NVEs, are often described under a blanket group labeled 764, according to FBI Milwaukee special agent in charge Alan Karr.The groups befriend kids and coerce them into extremism.”The victim can be manipulated or coerced into producing sexually explicit material, engaging in acts of animal cruelty, doxxing, swatting, self-harm and or violence,” Karr said.Karr wrote this open letter to parents and guardians Wednesday.Karr wouldn’t label specific groups, FBI Milwaukee or FBI are following, but say they often splinter from a larger group labeled 764. The suspects are typically men in their late teens and twenties targeting young girls, Karr said.FBI agents across the country are investigating 450 suspects, according to Karr.Court records show it is happening in the Milwaukee area. A search warrant, obtained by 12 News Investigates last May, shows the FBI in Milwaukee zeroed in on one teen in Franklin last summer, linking the now 16-year-old boy to the global operation.Investigators followed an online trail to the teen’s Franklin home. A search warrant states the now 16-year-old used the online chat service Telegram and that he had pictures and video as recently as last summer “… depicting what appears to be young females cutting symbols and words into their skin and painting those symbols on the wall.”Research done by the Anti-Defamation League shows Natalie Rupnow followed a 764-affiliated account on an obscure violent website, which 12 News Investigates is not naming. Rupnow is the teenager accused of killing two at a Madison school in December 2024. Karr would not answer questions from 12 News Wednesday relating to Rupnow.Karr says parents should understand what their kids are doing online, talk to them about the risks of sharing personal information and watch out for warning signs.”A few examples include signs of animal cruelty, threatening to commit suicide and openly talking about death, scars from self-harm, including 764-related terms,” he said.If you are aware of a crime using these kids of tactics, FBI asks you to call them at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or if you believe there is an immediate threat to safety to dial 911.Top HeadlinesFight at kids’ basketball game in Franklin leads to 12+ 911 callsShuttered Brookfield dance studio owes $73K in unpaid wages, lawsuit saysNearly $2,700 in merchandise stolen from Brookfield Pick ‘n Save store, police sayWATCH ‘Bear cam’ records the moment a bear scored a bag of Doritos from a porch
FBI Milwaukee is issuing a new warning to parents and guardians about violent online groups targeting kids scrolling their phones, on social media or gaming online. The groups, often called nihilistic violent extremist groups, or NVEs, are often described under a blanket group labeled 764, according to FBI Milwaukee special agent in charge Alan Karr.
The groups befriend kids and coerce them into extremism.
“The victim can be manipulated or coerced into producing sexually explicit material, engaging in acts of animal cruelty, doxxing, swatting, self-harm and or violence,” Karr said.
Karr wrote this open letter to parents and guardians Wednesday.
Karr wouldn’t label specific groups, FBI Milwaukee or FBI are following, but say they often splinter from a larger group labeled 764. The suspects are typically men in their late teens and twenties targeting young girls, Karr said.
FBI agents across the country are investigating 450 suspects, according to Karr.
Court records show it is happening in the Milwaukee area.
A search warrant, obtained by 12 News Investigates last May, shows the FBI in Milwaukee zeroed in on one teen in Franklin last summer, linking the now 16-year-old boy to the global operation.
Investigators followed an online trail to the teen’s Franklin home. A search warrant states the now 16-year-old used the online chat service Telegram and that he had pictures and video as recently as last summer “… depicting what appears to be young females cutting [his] symbols and words into their skin and painting those symbols on the wall.”
Research done by the Anti-Defamation League shows Natalie Rupnow followed a 764-affiliated account on an obscure violent website, which 12 News Investigates is not naming. Rupnow is the teenager accused of killing two at a Madison school in December 2024. Karr would not answer questions from 12 News Wednesday relating to Rupnow.
Karr says parents should understand what their kids are doing online, talk to them about the risks of sharing personal information and watch out for warning signs.
“A few examples include signs of animal cruelty, threatening to commit suicide and openly talking about death, scars from self-harm, including 764-related terms,” he said.
If you are aware of a crime using these kids of tactics, FBI asks you to call them at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or if you believe there is an immediate threat to safety to dial 911.
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WATCH ‘Bear cam’ records the moment a bear scored a bag of Doritos from a porch
