Published 09.55
In Umeå, an 18-year-old boy is on trial on suspicion of over 70 crimes.
In 2024, a teenage boy committed two knife attacks in a Stockholm suburb – and in Ängelholm, a 15-year-old has been convicted of arson.
The crime is linked to an online-based sadist network that is growing stronger in Sweden.
This is the story of the Internet Sect 764.
Bradley Cadenhead was only ten years old when he first came across extreme violence videos on the internet. The video clips scared him so mildly that he is said to have called his father and cried.
At the same time, there was something that fascinated him.
Bradley, who was being bullied, plucked up the courage to look again. And again.
He sought out dark places on the net where like-minded people were. When he was 13, he threatened to carry out a school shooting in his hometown of Stephenville, Texas. Bradley spent some time in a juvenile facility, and when he got out he came into contact with a person who called himself “Trippy”. “Trippy” showed Bradley a server full of videos of extreme violence.
Bradley got stuck.
When the corona pandemic had passed and the teenagers were welcomed back to their schools in the United States in August 2020, Bradley stayed at home. He spent every waking moment on the internet, his eyes glued to the screen that showed one violent clip worse than the next.
Most of the time he hung out on the Discord platform. Together with “Trippy” he discussed various plans – then he decided to take the next step. In the winter of 2021, Bradley Cadenhead created his own server on Discord. He named it after the Stephenville zip code:
764.
Hit school
In just a few years, 764 has grown worldwide. The members use flattery and threats to find suitable victims, whom they then pressure and incite to harm themselves – and others.
Boys and young men in several countries have in the name of the movement, among other things, groomed, sexually exploited and blackmailed children, carried out several unprovoked stabbings and at least one murder.
764 have also reached Sweden.
Last spring, the police stormed into a high school in Umeå and arrested an 18-year-old student. As recently as 2024, he was sentenced to youth supervision after grooming and exposing an underage boy to violence and abuse via the Internet.
This time, the charges against him are significantly greater.
In the trial that took place during the early summer, he was accused of 77 crimes, including attempted murder and incitement to suicide. The crimes have been committed online in 764’s name.
The guy in Umeå calls himself “Chai.” He is described as something of a leader within 764.
– The structure is messy, there is like no membership register. But there is still a hierarchy and a core that calls itself the 764 Inferno. According to, among other things, the FBI, “Chai” is in the top tier, says journalist Gustaf Tronarp.
Gustaf Tronarp has been monitoring the 764 movement for many years. He recently released a book – Children in the Dark: The Hunt for 764 – in which he examines the internet cult.
– 764 is part of a larger online environment that is usually called “The com”. They are criminal groups that commit criminal acts in various ways. In 764, a lot is about grooming children and then there are branches that deal with attacks out in the real world. An example is “No Lives matter” which is strongly associated with 764, he says.
Knife attacks in Hässelby
September 2024. In the Stockholm suburb of Hässelby, a 14-year-old boy attacks a pensioner. The boy stabs the elderly man – who was on his way home after visiting his wife in a dementia home – in the back with a knife. The man is injured, but survives.
The 14-year-old previously attacked a woman in her 50s during the summer. He has the nickname “Slain”. He too is part of 764’s innermost circle.
“Slain” filmed both attacks and posted them online, when he stabbed the elderly man he was helped in real time by “Chai” in Umeå with how to do it.
– I have tried to understand him. It is about a guy from Umeå who has been active in these environments for a very long time. He’s had some friends at school, it’s not like he’s been lonely. No one I’ve spoken to has known about what he’s been doing online. He has really lived a double life, says Gustaf Tronarp.
In questioning, “Slain” has told how he carried out the attacks to gain a higher status within 764, but that he also felt scared and pressured.
– I had no sensible reason for doing it, he says in questioning.
Felt forced
Late on the night of November 3, 2025, a fire breaks out in a garage in Ängelholm, 30 cars are destroyed or damaged. In February, a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of starting the fire, which is classified as arson. In early July, he was sentenced to youth care for the attack.
The boy was also convicted of attempted arson on two other occasions and of child pornography offences, because he had abuse material on his mobile phone.
In questioning, he has said that he was part of 764, something he himself called a sect.
And when a 14-year-old boy attacked a woman from behind with a knife in Borås in January 2025, he did so at the urging of 764. The boy admitted to the stabbing and said in questioning that he felt compelled to commit the act. He was worried that he or his family would be harmed if he did not carry out the attack.
Can be stopped
If convicted, “Chai”, who is to undergo a forensic psychiatric examination, will most likely face a longer prison sentence. In the United States, Bradley Cadenhead is sentenced to 80 years behind bars for child pornography crimes.
Gustaf Tronarp believes that 764 can be stopped – but that it is difficult.
– The knowledge that the groupings exist must be improved. They are active where children are active. There is recruitment going on, for example, in Minecraft. Parents need to be more intensely curious about what their children are doing online. You can’t be content with them playing. You have to care, he says and continues:
– The problem of children getting hurt online has been overlooked, not least because the focus has been directed so much at gang crime in recent years.
Advocates violence and extreme nihilism
The self-proclaimed internet sect 764 was founded by then-teenager Bradley Cadenhead in 2021 and is named after his mailing address in his hometown of Stephenville, Texas.
The founder is currently serving an 80-year prison sentence for child pornography offences.
In several countries, young boys and men have, among other things, groomed, sexually exploited and blackmailed children, carried out several unprovoked stabbings and at least one murder. At least 50 chat groups are or have been active on the platforms Discord and Telegram, but members have hunted victims on everything from Minecraft and Roblox to forums for people with eating disorders and self-harm.
In the United States, Great Britain, Sweden and Germany, among others, 764 designated members have been sentenced to prison for murder, terrorist crimes and sexual abuse of children.
No Lives Matter (NLM) is an ideological and violence-affirming subculture that has been linked to several knife attacks around the world, including in Sweden, and which is closely linked to 764.
The group advocates extreme nihilism and urges its followers to commit violent crimes to create chaos and destabilize society. The members glorify violence and use social media to spread manifestos and plan attacks, according to Expo.
