I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 563 

To direct the National Institute of Justice to collect, study, and analyze 

online content created by mass shooters in an effort to early identify 

potential mass shooters. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Mr. MFUME (for himself, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

MOULTON, Mr. CARSON, Mr. EVANS, Ms. PORTER, Ms. KAMLAGERDOVE, Ms. BROWN, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PAYNE, 

Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. 

PLASKETT, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. IVEY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, 

Mr. LYNCH, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. SABLAN, and Mr. DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To direct the National Institute of Justice to collect, study, 

and analyze online content created by mass shooters 

in an effort to early identify potential mass shooters. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Identifying Mass 

5 Shooters Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Perpetrators of mass shootings have utilized 

4 various online channels to declare their intent to 

5 commit violence through manifestos, blog posts, so6 cial media posts, and direct messages prior to com7 mitting acts of terror. 

8 (2) Inadequate oversight and accountability 

9 mechanisms on online platforms creates an environ10 ment that enables hate speech, extremism, 

11 radicalization, and violence. 

12 (3) In 2018, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas 

13 High School shooter posted a video on YouTube 

14 stating his desire to be a ‘‘professional school shoot15 er,’’ and proceeded to share photos of himself posing 

16 with guns, along with troubling photos on Instagram 

17 of his weapons arsenal and an animal he tortured, 

18 prior to murdering 17 students and school staff 

19 members. 

20 (4) In 2018, the Santa Fe High School shooter 

21 posted a Facebook photo of a t-shirt with ‘‘Born to 

22 Kill,’’ and images of Nazi and satanic symbols prior 

23 to murdering 10 students and school staff members. 

24 (5) In 2022, the Buffalo Tops grocery store 

25 shooter declared on Discord, ‘‘I will carry out an at26 tack,’’ posted a manifesto on 4chan, and then 


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1 livestreamed the murder of 10 Black people in a ra2 cially motivated shooting. 

3 (6) In 2022, the Robb Elementary School 

4 shooter posted a photo of a hand holding a gun 

5 magazine, 2 semi-automatic rifles, a TikTok profile 

6 that warned ‘‘Kids be scared,’’ and sent a direct 

7 message though Yubo notifying an individual of his 

8 intent to kill prior to murdering 21 children and 

9 staff members. 

10 (7) The First Baptist Church of Sutherland 

11 Springs shooter demonstrated a fascination with 

12 mass shootings and launched personal attacks on 

13 Facebook prior to murdering 26 churchgoers, includ14 ing an unborn child. 

15 SEC. 3. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Na18 tional Institute of Justice shall prepare and submit a re19 port to Congress identifying content patterns used by 

20 mass shooters through online platforms and social media 

21 channels. 

22 (b) REVIEW AND CONSULTATION.—In preparing the 

23 report required under this section, the Director shall, at 

24 a minimum— 


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1 (1) review information, data, and reports relat2 ing to linguistic patterns used by previous mass 

3 shooters collected by Federal, State, and local law 

4 enforcement as of the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act; 

6 (2) review academic studies, including studies 

7 analyzing the relevance of social media in mass 

8 shootings described in paragraph (1); and 

9 (3) meet with, and consider any facts and anal10 yses offered by, prosecutors, defense attorneys, fam11 ily attorneys, judges, nonprofit organizations, victims 

12 service providers, culturally specific organizations, 

13 Federal, State, Tribal, and local courts, Federal, 

14 State, Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies, 

15 and individuals with academic expertise in relin16 quishment. 

17 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF ITEMS FOR FURTHER

18 STUDY.—In the report under this section, the Director 

19 shall identify items for further study, relating to the effec20 tiveness of the best practices developed under subsection 

21 (b). The Director shall publish a solicitation for applica22 tions for research grants on such items not later than 30 

23 days after the date of the report. 

24 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) MASS SHOOTING.—The term ‘‘mass shoot2 ing’’ means any incident in which four or more indi3 viduals, not including the shooter, are shot or killed 

4 with a gun. 

5 (2) SOCIAL MEDIA.—The term ‘‘social media’’ 

6 means a channel for interactions among people in 

7 which they create, share, or exchange information 

8 and ideas in virtual communities and networks (spe9 cific activities including instant messages, social 

10 media posts, blogs, uploading media content, 

11 through social media platforms including, Facebook, 

12 Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, LinkedIn, 

13 WhatsApp, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, Twitch, 

14 4chan, 8run, Yubo, and Discord). 

15 SEC. 5. FEDERAL ADOPTION. 

16 The National Institute of Justice shall prepare and 

17 submit to Congress findings and recommendations for 

18 Federal legislation in accordance with section 3. 

Æ 


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