Bradley Cadenhead was just ten years old when he first came across extreme violence on the internet. The videos scared him enough that he reportedly called his father and cried.
At the same time, there was something that fascinated him.
Bradley, who was bullied, plucked up the courage and looked again. And again.
He sought out dark places on the Internet where like-minded people could be found. When he was 13, he threatened to carry out a school shooting in his hometown of Stephenville, Texas. Bradley spent time in a juvenile detention center, and when he got out, he came into contact with a person who called himself “Trippy.” “Trippy” showed Bradley a server full of videos with extremely violent material.
Bradley got stuck.
When the coronavirus pandemic was over and teenagers were welcomed back to their schools in the United States in August 2020, Bradley stayed home. He spent all his waking hours online, his eyes glued to the screen that showed one violent clip worse than the next.
He spent most of his time on the Discord platform. Together with “Trippy,” he discussed various plans - then he decided to take the next step. In the winter of 2021, Bradley Cadenhead created his own server on Discord. He named it after the postal code in Stephenville:
Hit the school
In just a few years, 764 has grown worldwide. Its members use flattery and threats to find suitable victims, whom they then pressure and incite to harm themselves - and others.
Boys and young men in several countries have, in the name of the movement, among other things, groomed, exploited and blackmailed children sexually, carried out several unprovoked knife attacks and at least one murder.
764 has also reached Sweden.
Last spring, police stormed a high school in Umeå and arrested an 18-year-old student. As recently as 2024, he was sentenced to youth supervision after grooming and exposing an underage boy to violence and abuse online.
This time, the accusations against him are significantly more numerous.
In the trial that took place in early summer, he was charged with 77 crimes, including attempted murder and incitement to suicide. The crimes were committed online in 764's name.
The guy in Umeå calls himself “Chai.” He is described as something of a leader within 764.
The structure is chaotic, there is no membership register. But there is still a hierarchy and a core that calls itself 764 Inferno. According to the FBI, "Chai" is among the top layers, says journalist Gustaf Tronarp.
Gustaf Tronarp has been following the 764 movement for many years. He recently released a book - Children in the Dark: The Hunt for 764 - in which he examines the internet cult.
764 is part of a larger online environment that is usually called “The com”. These are criminal groups that commit criminal acts in various ways. 764 is a lot about grooming children and then there are branches that deal with attacks in the real world. One example is “No Lives Matter” which is strongly associated with 764, he says.
Knife attacks in Hässelby
September 2024. In the Stockholm suburb of Hässelby, a 14-year-old boy attacks a pensioner. The boy stabs the elderly man - who was on his way home from visiting his wife at a dementia care home - in the back with a knife. The man is injured, but survives.
The 14-year-old had previously attacked a woman in her 50s during the summer. He has the nickname "Slain". He is also part of 764's inner circle.
"Slain" filmed both attacks and posted them online. When he stabbed the older man, he received real-time help from "Chai" in Umeå on what to do.
I have tried to understand him. It is about a guy from Umeå who has been active in these environments for a very long time. He has had some friends at school, it is not that he has been alone. None of the people I have spoken to have known about what he has been doing online. He has really lived a double life, says Gustaf Tronarp.
In interrogation, "Slain" has told how he carried out the attacks to gain higher status within 764, but that he also felt afraid and pressured.
"I had no reasonable reason for doing it," he says during questioning.
Felt forced
Late at night on November 3, 2025, a fire breaks out in a garage in Ängelholm, destroying or damaging 30 cars. In February, a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of starting the fire, which is classified as arson. In early July, he was sentenced to juvenile detention for the attack.
The boy was also convicted of attempted arson on two other occasions and of child pornography crimes, as he had abuse material on his mobile phone.
During interrogation, he said that he had been a member of 764, something he himself called a sect.
And when a 14-year-old boy attacked a woman from behind with a knife in Borås in January 2025, he did so at the urging of 764. The boy admitted to the stabbing and said during questioning that he felt compelled to commit the act. He was worried that he or his family would be harmed if he did not carry out the attack.
Can be stopped
If convicted, "Chai", who will undergo a forensic psychiatric examination, will most likely face a longer prison sentence. In the United States, Bradley Cadenhead has been sentenced to 80 years behind bars for child pornography crimes.
Gustaf Tronarp believes that 764 can be stopped - but that it is difficult.
Awareness of the existence of the groups must be improved. They operate where children are active. Recruitment is ongoing, for example in Minecraft. Parents must be more intensely curious about what their children are doing online. You can't just let them play. You have to care, he says, and continues:
The problem of children being harmed online has been overlooked, not least because so much focus has been placed on gang crime in recent years.
The self-proclaimed internet cult 764 was founded by then-teenager Bradley Cadenhead in 2021 and is named after his mailing address in his hometown of Stephenville, Texas.
The founder is currently serving an 80-year prison sentence for child pornography crimes.
Young boys and men in several countries have, among other things, groomed, exploited and sexually blackmailed children, carried out several unprovoked knife attacks and at least one murder. At least 50 chat groups are or have been active on the Discord and Telegram platforms, but members have hunted victims on everything from Minecraft and Roblox to forums for people with eating disorders and self-harm.
In countries including the United States, Great Britain, Sweden and Germany, designated 764 members have been sentenced to prison for murder, terrorist crimes and sexual abuse of children.
No Lives Matter (NLM) is an ideological and violence-prone subculture that has been linked to several knife attacks around the world, including in Sweden, and which has close links to 764.
The group advocates extreme nihilism and urges its followers to commit violent crimes to create chaos and destabilize society. Members glorify violence and use social media to spread manifestos and plan attacks, according to Expo.
