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Westman represents a growing trend within targeted violence wherein individuals attack an apparent symbolic target (though likely driven more by personal grievance with the target) and have little to no specific ideological motivation for the attack nor the target.

ICDE identified numerous indicators associated with militant accelerationism Saints, NVE, mass shooter fixation, antinatalism and efilism, and other forms of targeted violence such as glorification of Luigi Mangione and Guy Bartkus.

A YouTube account that appears to be associated with Westman had two relevant videos detailing a targeted violence manifesto written in Cyrillic and a walk through of Westman’s weaponry covered in references in white lettering--the same as the Christchurch and Buffalo terrorists’ weapons.

Westman was motivated by numerous violent extremist and targeted violence influences and should be considered a violent actor who was heavily motivated by militant accelerationism mass shooter culture. They were potentially connected to nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) ecosystems online.

ICDE analysis of the attacker’s digital footprint and targeted violence manifesto highlighted how Westman had no single or clear ideological motivation.

Please reach out if you’d like to learn more about our work. We’re looking for support to continue to expand our operations and protect vulnerable communities from predators like the 764 network.

764 is a nihilistic violent extremist network that preys on our kids. ICDE was founded to combat these types of extreme online harms, and we are actively working with tech companies and law enforcement to continue to disrupt 764's ability to operate across multiple popular platforms.

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