Oregon 14-year-old accused in mass shooting plot got enmeshed in violent online network ‘764′

A 14-year-old Oregon boy now charged with attempted murder in an alleged bombing and

mass shooting plot

had become isolated by a recent move and then radicalized by the online extremist network ‘764,’ his lawyer said.

The teen, who lives in Clatskanie with his parents, had no ability to carry out the plans that the FBI has accused him of making, said defense attorney Chris Heywood.

The boy has been in juvenile custody since May 22, when FBI SWAT agents raided the family’s home with a search warrant after the FBI said it received a tip about his activity and found he had pledged allegiance to several online “nihilistic violent extremist” groups.

Investigators discovered “precise” plans in the home for an explosion and mass shooting at Three Rivers Crossing in Kelso, Washington, said Douglas A. Olson, special agent in charge of the Portland FBI office. The boy is accused of planning to set off a chlorine bomb and then shoot people fleeing the movie theater at the mall, about 50 miles north of Portland on Interstate 5.

The boy, who turned 14 in April, was initially charged in Columbia County’s juvenile court with two counts of unlawful possession of firearms, disorderly conduct, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

On Wednesday, prosecutors added attempted second-degree murder and attempted first-degree assault charges – a day before the FBI discussed the case at a news conference at the bureau’s headquarters in Portland.

Heywood will be back in juvenile court Friday afternoon to argue for the 14-year-old’s release pending trial. He’s been held at the Cowlitz County juvenile detention center across the river in Longview, Washington.

Heywood contends the FBI’s allegations are overblown.

“There is a lot more to this story than what has been released publicly. This is not a story of an actual attempt to harm others, but rather is a story of bullying, Oregon’s limited mental health resources and extremist internet groups dedicated to exploiting children,” Heywood said.

He said the boy was recently homeschooled, isolated and “ended up radicalized and indoctrinated by white supremacists,” in the online network ‘764,’ but couldn’t have pulled off what federal investigators allege he was planning, noting that the teen can’t drive. The boy had recently moved to tiny Clatskanie, population 1,753, from Roseburg.

Heywood also said the four handguns that the FBI said it seized from his home belonged to his parents.

The lawyer criticized the FBI and law enforcement’s press conference.

“We are disappointed that members of our government chose public spectacle over a child’s mental health and presumption of innocence,” Heywood said. “ We contest these allegations and look forward to our day in court.”

The FBI earlier this year issued a

public alert

about the group called 764, warning about the “sharp increase” in activity by what it described as a predatory

“nihilistic violent extremist”

group that targets and exploits children and other vulnerable people. Federal officials said the group members use threats, blackmail and manipulation to pressure young people into producing, sharing or live-streaming acts of self-harm, cruelty, sexually explicit acts and suicide.

The FBI last month told ABC News that the agency has opened more than 250 investigations into the online network and said the network also has ties to neo-Nazis and Satanism.

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X


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