The man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday had a Discord account, although it was rarely used, according to the company.
“Discord removed the account in accordance with our off-platform conduct policy, and we are assisting law enforcement with their investigation,” Discord chief legal officer Clint Smith said in an emailed statement. “The suspect’s account is rarely used and has not been used in several months. We have found no evidence that the account was used to plan this incident, promote violence or discuss his political views, but as the investigation continues , we are unable to share any additional information at this time. Discord did not respond. edgeQuestions about how to track an account and which communities the account belongs to.
Little is known about the shooter’s motivations or his online activities. While screenshots of fake accounts have been circulating on social media, no one has provided much information so far. Associated Press Reports said the gunman was wearing a T-shirt related to DemolitionRanch, a popular YouTube gun channel. YouTube did not immediately respond to questions about whether any activity by the shooter had been traced.
Voting records show the shooter was a registered Republican in Pennsylvania, a state that requires voters to be registered with a major party to vote in the primary. On the day President Biden took office, a person with the same name and address as the shooter donated $15 to the Progressive Political Action Committee, according to the Federal Election Commission. (The address associated with the donation in the FEC database lists the city of the donor as Pittsburgh, not Bethel Park, the suburb where the shooter reportedly lived. But according to Google Maps, that street address does not appear to actually exist in Pittsburgh.)
Perpetrators of other violent attacks in the past have sometimes discussed their plans online, including on private Discord servers. That was the case in 2022, when a white gunman opened fire at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, with the intention of targeting Black people. The killer planned and recorded the attack on Discord months before the shooting; on the day of the attack, he live-streamed the entire incident on Twitch, and the violent footage was subsequently spread on other platforms.
One of the gunmen who attacked an Iowa high school in January also posted his plans leading up to the shooting on Discord. According to NBC News, the alleged shooter also posted content on TikTok shortly before the attack.
TikTok did not immediately respond to questions about whether the company had tracked down any user accounts of the Trump rally shooter. Mehta also did not respond to questions.
