Fucking lunatic
On April 12, 2022, a German teenager identified as Nino Luciano H. murdered a 74-year-old woman in Sibiu County, Romania. [2] The murderer had been sent to live with a foster family in Romania as part of a German child protection program. Before the murder, in late March, he had pushed an 82-year-old man down the stairs and attacked him with a knife. The man survived after being treated at a hospital, but did not remember the incident well enough to identify his assailant. The murderer told his online friends that he killed the woman because he believed she was Jewish, and told authorities that he killed her because he believed she was Roma, though the woman did not belong to either group. He recorded both incidents and shared them in online group chats. [3]
In March of 2023, the Romanian news outlet Libertatea reported that, some time before the murder, the teenager (identified in the article as “Luca” due to his age) had joined online communities described by the County Prosecutors Office as “racist, satanic, and Nazi” in character. According to the Libertatea article, “Luca” had painted the walls of his room with satanic and Nazi images, as well as the number 764. He also had terms like “764,” “6996” and “Necro” tattooed on his hands, and signs of self-harm on his body. Authorities also said that he had child pornography on his cell phone. The article described the repeated appearance of the number 764 as “a reference to an extremely violent online cult “764” that promotes child sexual abuse.”
Aside from these incidents, both “CVLT” and “764” would stay out of news headlines until September 12, 2023, when the FBI released a public service announcement, warning of “violent online groups deliberately targeting minor victims on publicly available messaging platforms to extort them into recording or live-streaming acts of self-harm and producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).” In addition to CVLT and 764, the statement named “676,” “Court,” “Kaskar,” “Harm Nation,” “Leak Society,” and “H3ll” as similar groups, and stated that these groups frequently “evolve and form subgroups under different monikers.” [4] According to a Guardian article from September 28, the FBI announcement came after an investigation related to the November 2021 gun possession arrest of Angel Almeida, who was reportedly part of the 764 group. [5] Per his detention memorandum, Almeida had previously been arrested for burglary in Florida. [6] An indictment filed in January 2023 alleged that he had enticed at least one minor into producing sexually explicit material, had attempted to do the same with at least one other minor, and had possessed and distributed sexually explicit material involving minors. [7] (The January 2023 indictment does not actually mention 764. The Guardian article alludes to unnamed sources regarding the connection between Almeida and the group.)
In March of 2023, the Romanian news outlet Libertatea reported that, some time before the murder, the teenager (identified in the article as “Luca” due to his age) had joined online communities described by the County Prosecutors Office as “racist, satanic, and Nazi” in character. According to the Libertatea article, “Luca” had painted the walls of his room with satanic and Nazi images, as well as the number 764. He also had terms like “764,” “6996” and “Necro” tattooed on his hands, and signs of self-harm on his body. Authorities also said that he had child pornography on his cell phone. The article described the repeated appearance of the number 764 as “a reference to an extremely violent online cult “764” that promotes child sexual abuse.”
Aside from these incidents, both “CVLT” and “764” would stay out of news headlines until September 12, 2023, when the FBI released a public service announcement, warning of “violent online groups deliberately targeting minor victims on publicly available messaging platforms to extort them into recording or live-streaming acts of self-harm and producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).” In addition to CVLT and 764, the statement named “676,” “Court,” “Kaskar,” “Harm Nation,” “Leak Society,” and “H3ll” as similar groups, and stated that these groups frequently “evolve and form subgroups under different monikers.” [4] According to a Guardian article from September 28, the FBI announcement came after an investigation related to the November 2021 gun possession arrest of Angel Almeida, who was reportedly part of the 764 group. [5] Per his detention memorandum, Almeida had previously been arrested for burglary in Florida. [6] An indictment filed in January 2023 alleged that he had enticed at least one minor into producing sexually explicit material, had attempted to do the same with at least one other minor, and had possessed and distributed sexually explicit material involving minors. [7] (The January 2023 indictment does not actually mention 764. The Guardian article alludes to unnamed sources regarding the connection between Almeida and the group.)