764 (or "
the com") is a decentralized
transnational sextortion network with alleged ideological ties to the
Order of Nine Angles.
[1] It is classified as a
terror network by the
U.S. Department of Justice, and is considered by the
FBI as a "tier one" terrorist threat.
[2] The Canadian
RCMP also classifies 764 as an "ideological
violent extremist network".
[3][4] The network is most present on
Discord and
Telegram and usually targets children ages 8 to 17, particularily marginalized children or those suffering from mental health challenges.
[5][6][7] Perpetrators are usually young men and men in their fourties.
[6] 764 was founded in 2021 by Bradley Cadenhead, a teenager from
Stephenville,
Texas, the group derives its name from the town's area code.
[8][9][10]
Victims are forced to commit recorded acts of self-harm to disseminate internally or shared on social media platforms.
[11][1] They are often asked to carve names on their skin as "cutsigns", a form of
branding to showing their subjugation to the group.
[4][12][6] They are given the end goal of commiting
suicide on livestream for the network's entertainment or for the perpetrator's own sense of fame within the network.
[13][14]
Due to the network's loose-knit nature, different sub-groups are known under different names, these sub-groups include
CVLT,
Court,
Kaskar,
Harm Nation,
Leak Society,
7997,
8884,
2992,
555,
Slit Town,
545,
404,
NMK,
303, and
H3ll.
[14][15][16] When aggregated, the community surrounding these groups are commonly referred to as "
the com", shorthand for the "
the Community".
[14][6]
764 was founded by then-15-year-old Bradley Chance Cadenhead of
Stephenville,
Texas, who used the username "Felix" on
Discord.
[8] Cadenhead, who was bullied in school before dropping out in 2021, learned to produce
child pornography on a sextortion Discord server named CVLT.
[8][9][17] CVLT, which was founded in 2019, often blackmailed victims into self-harm and producing child pornography for commercial gain.
[18] According to
Unicorn Riot, CVLT was founded by a Discord user known as "Rohan" and is believed to have lived in France.
[18] In 2021, a member of CVLT, 22-year-old Kaleb Christopher Merritt of
Spring, Texas, kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old girl in Virginia.
[19][18][12] Cadenhead's splinter group also leveraged
animal torture, incest, rape,
self-harm, and bestiality from their victims.
[1][10][11]
CVLT, and later Cadenhead's 764, sought ideological inspiration from the
Order of Nine Angles (O9A).
[20] This involved the adoption of various esoteric ideas and tenets including
neo-Nazism,
Western esotercism,
Satanism, and
Wicca and making apparent "blood oathes" to Satan.
[20][21] The network later entered a "partnership" with the neo-fascist Ukrainian "
Maniac Murder Cult", which gained notoriety for attacks against homeless people.
[22][14][11] The alleged leader of the "Maniac Murder Cult", 20-year-old Michail "Commander Butcher" Chkhikvishvili, was arrested in
Moldova and extradited to New York where he faces federal hate crime charges for plotting to poison Jewish children.
[23]
In April 2022, 17-year-old member Nino Luciano H., known as "Tobbz", livestreamed himself stabbing a 74-year-old woman, whom he believed to be
Roma, to death in
Mediaș,
Romania on a 764-affiliated Discord server.
[22][24][25] This was allegedly so he could "prove himself" as a member of the "Maniac Murder Cult".
[22] Nino Luciano H. was born in Germany but was raised by a foster family in the nearby village of Dumbrăveni, Romania.
[25][22] Two months prior, he livestreamed himself attacking an 82-year-old man.
[9] He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in August 2023.
[9] He had tattoos of an X on four of his fingers, a swastika on his wrist, "Necro" written on his forearm, and "764" and "6996" on his arms.
[9][26]
In October 2023, a 14-year-old boy known as "Slain", who was a member of 764 and ran an offshoot named "No Lives Matter", was arrested after livestreaming eight attacks and three stabbings in
Hässelby, Sweden.
[27][28][29]
According to
Der Spiegel, 764-related arrests have been made for child pornography, kidnapping and murder in at least eight countries, including two men in Germany.
[6] The FBI estimates that thousands of children have fallen prey to 764 and similar groups.
[6] The
Australian Federal Police claimed that they were intensifying efforts to disrupt networks linked to 764.
[30]
In September 2023, the FBI published a bulletin warning the public of the network.
[31] The Canadian RCMP published two advisories about the network in July and August 2024.
[4][3]
In November 2021, 22-year-old Angel Almeida of
Queens, N.Y., was arrested for his implication in the network and possession of a firearm while being a felon.
[21][20] Found inside Almeida's house was a bloodied piece of paper with a sketch of the
Zodiac Killer alongside
runic symbols and other memorabilia of the Order of Nine Angles.
[21] Almeida's arrest tipped off law enforcement on the 764 network.
[20] In December 2023, 18-year-old Kalana "vore" Limkin of
Honolulu, Hawaii, was arrested for running a 764 splinter group.
[32][14][7]
In March 2023, 17-year-old founder Bradley Chance Cadenhead pled guilty to nine counts of possession of child pornography.
[33] An
Erath County judge sentenced Cadenhead to an 80-year state prison sentence, citing his self-described status as a "cult leader".
[34][8] After Cadenhead's arrest in August 2021, the group was led by 21-year-old from
Timișoara, Romania named Francesco (nicknamed "Riley").
[9] He was sentenced to three years in prison in August 2023 for production of child pornography, with the Romanian
DIICOT citing the fact that he "subscribed to antisocial values from the Maniac Murder Cult".
[22][9]
In March 2023, 18-year-old member Cameron Finnigan of
Horsham, U.K., was arrested and charged for plotting to attack a homeless person.
[35] He pled guilty to charges of encouraging or assisting suicide, possession of indecent images and two counts of criminal damage.
[36]
In January 2024, the
Brazilian Federal Police arrested two teenage leaders of a suspected splinter group in
Ananindeua,
Pará and
Tabatinga,
Amazonas.
[37][14] The operation led by the federal police, codenamed "Discórdia", carried out seven search warrants in five Brazilian states.
[37]
In January 2024, 47-year-old member Richard Anthony Reyna Densmore of
Kaleva, Michigan, was indicted on federal child pornography charges.
[2] Densmore, who was known as "Rabid" and ran a splinter group named "Sew3r", was later sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty.
[38][13] Following Densmore's sentencing,
Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's
National Security Division said that the group sought to do "unspeakable harm to children to advance their goals of destroying civilized society, fomenting civil unrest, and ultimately collapsing government institutions", he also classified the network as a "transnational threat".
[39][10]
In February 2024, a 14-year-old from
Lethbridge,
Alberta who was linked to the network was arrested on charges of distributing child pornography, non-consensual distribution of intimate images, and possession of explosives.
[40][41]
In March 2024, 24-year-old Kyle William Spitze of
Friendsville,
Tennessee, who was known as "criminal" on the network, was indicted on federal child pornography charges.
[18][42] Spitze had garnered notoriety in 2023 for a video of his stepfather shooting him in the ear during an altercation.
[42] In October 2024,
New South Wales Police announced the arrest of 28-year-old Jake Thomas Vandermeel and a 14-year-old boy in
Western Australia in connection with the network.
[43][30]
In August 2024, U.S. Senator
Mark Warner (D-VA) pressed Discord regarding their "safeguard minors and stop the proliferation of violent predatory groups" in response to the FBI bulletin regarding 764.
[44]
