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8chan founder hopes El Paso shooting 'final nail in coffin'

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AFP Manila
Last Updated : Aug 06 2019 | 6:45 PM IST

The American creator of the 8chan website linked to deadly US mass shootings said Tuesday he hoped the El Paso carnage would be the "final nail in the coffin" for the forum, which he accused of harbouring "domestic terrorists".

Fredrick Brennan told AFP in an interview in Manila that he sometimes regretted setting up the unmoderated message board in 2013 -- adding that turning it over to a new owner last year was a mistake.

8chan, which promotes itself as a site devoted to the "darkest reaches of the internet", is home to posts from right-wing extremists, misogynists and conspiracy theorists.

On Saturday, a young white male suspect was believed to have posted on the site a manifesto denouncing a "Hispanic invasion" of El Paso, shortly before going on a shooting spree at a Walmart store in the US border city, killing 22 people.

"I think this will be the final nail in the coffin for 8chan," Brennan said.

"Obviously he (the El Paso suspect) is a domestic terrorist. What else can you call him? He killed American citizens, he hates American society as it is set up," said the 25-year-old.

"Is it a cesspool for hate? The site is really big but yes, there is definitely a cohort on the site that's extremely hateful and that is very happy whenever these shootings happen."
Brennan, a wheelchair user who moved to the Philippines in 2014 for more affordable medical care, repeated his call for the site to be closed, adding: "I should have shut it down when I had the chance."

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First Published: Aug 06 2019 | 6:45 PM IST

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