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The person who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a rally on Saturday had a Discord account — though it was rarely used — according to the company.
“Discord removed the account according to our off-platform behavior policy and we are assisting law enforcement in their investigation,” Clint Smith, chief legal officer said in an emailed statement. “The suspect’s account was rarely utilized, has not been used in months, and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views, but with the investigation ongoing, we are not able to share any additional information at this time.” Discord didn’t respond to The Verge’s questions about how it traced the account and what
communities the account was part of.
Little is known about the shooter’s motives for the attack or his activities online. Though screenshots of fake accounts have been floating around social media, so far, nobody has turned up much information. The Associated Press reported that the shooter was wearing a T-shirt associated with the popular firearm YouTube channel DemolitionRanch. YouTube did not immediately respond to questions about whether it had traced any activity to the shooter.
Voting records show the shooter was a registered Republican in Pennsylvania, a state that requires voters to register with a major party to vote in primary elections. On the day of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, a person who shares the same name and address as the gunman donated $15 to a progressive political action committee, according to Federal Election Commission data. (The address associated with the donation in the FEC database lists the donor’s city as Pittsburgh instead of Bethel Park, the suburb that the shooter reportedly resided in. But according to Google Maps, it doesn’t appear as though that street address actually exists in Pittsburgh.)
Perpetrators of other violent attacks in the past have sometimes discussed their plans online, including on private Discord servers. Such was the case in 2022, when a white gunman opened fire in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, with the intention of targeting Black people. The killer had planned and documented the attack on Discord for months leading up to the shooting; on the day of the attack, he livestreamed the events on Twitch, and clips of the violence then spread across other platforms.
A gunman who attacked an Iowa high school in January of this year also posted on Discord about his plans leading up to the shooting. The alleged shooter also reportedly posted content on TikTok shortly before the attack, according to NBC News.
TikTok did not immediately respond to questions about whether the company had traced any user accounts to the Trump rally shooter. Meta also did not respond to questions.
