Malicious Intent

Malicious Intent

From Small Town Dicks by Audio 99

June 5, 2026 · 1h 16m · Season 18 · Episode 8

About this episode

The episode discusses the investigation following a school shooting and the role of digital footprints in understanding the perpetrator's motives.

In January 2025, a 17-year-old opened fire in his school cafeteria, killing a teenage girl before turning the gun on himself. In the aftermath, Matt Kriner faces a different kind of investigation. His job is to dig through the suspect's vast digital footprint, a record rife with racist and violent rhetoric, and piece together not just what happened, but why. And what it might take to prevent it from happening again. Matt Kriner has a background in intelligence analysis and is the Executive Director Institute for Countering Digital Extremism (ICDE), which he co-founded to provide guidance to government agencies and tech companies helping prevent online radicalization and offline extremist harms. Matt is the expert witness for several key legal cases against accelerationist perpetrators in both the U.S. and Canada, and his insights may be found in a variety of outlets, including the PBS Documentary The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram.

People in this episode

Guest: Matt Kriner

Topics covered

  • school shooting
  • digital extremism
  • online radicalization
  • investigation
  • youth violence

Keywords

  • school shooting
  • digital footprint
  • Matt Kriner
  • extremism
  • investigation
  • youth violence
  • online radicalization

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Institute for Countering Digital Extremism

Books & works: The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram

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