In Wake of El Paso, Dayton Agency to “US-Based Domestic Violent Extremists, Perpetrators of Hate Crimes”

In the aftermath of the Dayton and El Paso mass shootings the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be looking to social media more and more in what it claims is a drive to prevent mass shootings before they occur.

“Authorities are looking at social media channels like 8chan in an effort to stop future mass shootings,” CBS News reports.

They said many attackers are inspired online with message boards and social media giving attackers the platform they seek.

“The attack in El Paso, Texas, underscores the continued threat posed by domestic violent extremists and perpetrators of hate crimes,” the FBI states in an August 4 press release, requesting the

American public to report to law enforcement any suspicious activity that is observed either in person or online.

“Many shooters spend almost two years planning their attack … Usually it’s a desire for some omnipotent control, even if its just momentary,” FBI agent Andres Simmons tells CBS News. “And there’s also a degree of desire for infamy and notoriety.”

The FBI’s announcement comes less than one week after Yahoo News reported on a Phoenix FBI Field Office Memo stating that those circulating “anti-government, identity-based and fringe political conspiracy theories” online are worthy of intensified law enforcement scrutiny because they “very likely motivate some domestic extremists to commit criminal, sometimes violent activity.”