By Benjamin GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | 2025 Truth Endures©
Part Two: The Internet Never Forgets (or Forgives)
The shooter didn’t get here alone.
Not really.
Sure, maybe they sat alone in a bedroom. A basement. A breakroom.
But they weren’t isolated from influence—just the opposite.
They were plugged into a digital bloodstream that fed them exactly what they wanted, and everything they didn’t need.
Welcome to the echo chamber. Population: too many.
Where the Internet Becomes an Incubator
A lonely, angry person finds a tribe. This occurs somewhere between YouTube rabbit holes, toxic forums, and Reddit threads that should’ve been shut down years ago.
Not a real one. Not the kind that helps you move or calls when you’re sick.
But one that says,
“You’re right to be angry.”
“They are the problem.”
“You don’t need help—you need revenge.”
That validation is addictive.
And the internet is the perfect dealer:
- Algorithms push increasingly extreme content.
- “Communities” form around hate, resentment, and fear.
- Every post, every comment, every manifesto builds a narrative: You are justified.
From Scrolling to Staging
It starts with watching. Then posting. Then commenting.
Then, maybe, fantasizing.
And eventually, planning.
A shooter doesn’t always invent the blueprint.
They download it—literally. From forums that dissect earlier mass shootings like game film. From chat groups where people joke about body counts and praise past killers like fallen heroes.
Some shooters even leave behind digital footprints—manifestos, livestreams, final posts—as if they’re signing off from a sick performance art.
And let’s not pretend it’s rare.
We’ve seen it again and again.
And again.
The Illusion of Community, the Reality of Collapse
Here’s the twisted irony:
Most of these online “connections” are built on mutual isolation.
It’s a virtual group hug from people who hate everything.
They don’t help each other grow—they help each other decay.
Not everyone in these spaces will act violently. Nevertheless, they create an environment where the leap from “I hate them” to “I’ll show them” feels smaller.
More rational.
More inevitable.
We Let the Fire Burn and Call It Free Speech
Let’s be honest:
We’ve been slow—very slow—to acknowledge how much harm can be done behind a keyboard.
We slap “content warning” stickers on hate, shrug off threats as trolling, and hide behind terms like “edgy humor.”
Meanwhile, more lives are lost.
This isn’t about censoring opinions. It’s about recognizing when opinions become weapons.
A shooter adopts a belief before they pick up a gun. They believe that their anger matters more than your life.
And someone, somewhere, probably upvoted that.
Up Next in the Series:
Part Three: The Myth of the Lone Wolf
They always say, “He acted alone.” But did he? Or was he just the only one who pulled the trigger?
About the Author:
Benjamin Groff is a former police officer and radio news anchor. He has hosted programs for CNN and ABC News affiliates in Colorado and Wyoming. His career in law enforcement began in 1980 and lasted more than two decades. This gave him firsthand insight into the criminal mind and public safety. Moreover, it provided him with an understanding of the human stories that often go untold. His writing draws on these experiences, blending street-level truth with a journalist’s eye for the bigger picture.
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