A newly launched website is flagging and amplifying social media posts that "celebrate" the killing of Charlie Kirk, an ally of Donald Trump.
According to CNN, the "Expose Charlie’s Murderers" site, whose registration is anonymous, claims to have collected nearly 30,000 submissions by midday Saturday.
The site promises to roll out a searchable database filtering submissions by general location or job sector. It describes itself as a “permanent and continuously-updating archive of Radical activists calling for violence". It was registered via a privacy service with an address in Iceland.
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"This website will soon be converted into a searchable database of over 30,000 submissions, filterable by general location and job industry. This is a permanent and continuously-updating archive of Radical activists calling for violence," the website says.
Many of the people whose posts have been shared on the site do not identify as activists, nor do many of the posts explicitly call for violence, according to CNN. The site’s administrators have not offered comments to the news channel. The site also established an account on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
Canadian independent journalist Rachel Gilmore, whose post is listed at the top of the website, said that she is “terrified” about retaliation from Kirk’s “far-right fans” after the shooting. The journalist said that she had received a “tsunami” of threats and called the last 48 hours of her life “a living hell.”
{{/usCountry}}Canadian independent journalist Rachel Gilmore, whose post is listed at the top of the website, said that she is “terrified” about retaliation from Kirk’s “far-right fans” after the shooting. The journalist said that she had received a “tsunami” of threats and called the last 48 hours of her life “a living hell.”
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | 5 facts on Tyler Robinson, shooter accused of killing Charlie Kirk
"My name is first on the website the North American far-right is using to target people they say “celebrated” Charlie Kirk’s death," Gilmore said in a video posted on X. "There’s just one problem: I never did that. But the people sending me threats don’t seem to care".
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Rebekah Jones, a former Florida coronavirus data scientist, whose name also appears on the website, said she has contacted the police twice about death threats and about the “hit list”, according to CNN.
Surge in online abuse
There has been a surge in online abuse and calls for persecution on social media in the US following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, according to AFP.
Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday afternoon during a Q&A session on the Utah Valley University (UVU) campus in Orem, Utah. He was being asked questions about mass shootings in America when he was shot in the neck.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on Thursday night after relatives and a family friend alerted authorities that he had implicated himself in the crime.