Eindhoven man made victims carve his nickname into their bodies in violent chat groups
The police arrested a 25-year-old man from Eindhoven in June who allegedly played a significant role in sadistic and extremely violent chat groups within the ‘764’ or ‘Com’ online network. Among other things, the man forced several victims to carve his nickname into their bodies and post photos on these chat groups, the investigative journalism program Zembla reported. The authorities are very concerned about these groups.
The Eindhoven man is suspected of terrorism, and the trial against him started on Tuesday. He allegedly led several 764 chat groups, including some in which images of violent attacks on people and manuals for things like bomb-making and murder were shared.
Zembla identified three other Dutch people active in these violent chat groups: a 28-year-old man from Amsterdam and two boys from Sittard and Zaandam. NRC previously identified at least 25 Dutch teenagers and children in the global network, estimated to consist of thousands of members.
Members of the Com network recruit vulnerable children and teenagers, force them to commit self-mutilation, animal cruelty, sexual abuse, and even suicide, and then share images of this in dozens of chat groups on platforms like Telegram and Discord. Other extreme material also circulates in the cat groups, ranging from torture to child sexual abuse images.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) is deeply concerned about the “extremely damaging” content of these groups. The police said that the content is so gruesome that even specialized investigators sometimes struggle to view it.
“It is very easy to become a victim and very difficult to escape, so our priority is to get to the bottom of the issue and track down the perpetrators, but also help the victims,” prosecutor Linda van den Oever told Zembla.
The police told Zembla that several criminal investigations have already been conducted into members of 764 groups, and dozens of victims have been identified in the Netherlands.
The 764, or Com community, originated in the United States. Members recruit victims on gaming platforms popular with young children and social media. The FBI has reportedly linked over 250 cases to the sadistic movement.
There are also examples of violence stemming from this community in Europe, according to Zembla. In 2022, a 17-year-old boy from a 764 group stabbed a woman to death in a Romanian village while livestreaming. In Sweden, teenagers stabbed random passersby. And in Germany, a medical student allegedly incited a 13-year-old boy to commit suicide during an online broadcast.
The 764 movement is also mentioned in the latest threat assessment from the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV). According to the Dutch agency, the movement focuses on indiscriminate violence, chaos, and societal collapse. The NCTV said that the group’s influence in the Netherlands is small, but vigilance is required.
