By Don Varyu, Sept. 17,2025

On the day Charlie Kirk was killed, a teen gunman also terrorized a high school in Evergreen, Colorado. He walked through the hallways, shot two of his classmates, and terrorized all the others.…before turning the gun on himself and pulling the trigger.
I know two of those terrorized kids. One, a sophomore, bolted out the emergency exit of the cafeteria after warnings of the gunman approaching, along with dozens of friends. They raced up a hill, through trees, and into a residential neighborhood where they frantically pounded on front doors, praying that someone would let them in. They had no idea if the gunman might be right behind them. At one door, a woman hurried them in…settled them…then took all their names so she could report to police that they were safe.

One of this girl’s friends was back at the school, standing right next to one of the victims when that victim was felled by a bullet. This is the world we live in—and have for a long time. The infamous Columbine school shooting in 1999 happened only 20 miles away.
Every kid present in those two schools on those fateful days…a quarter century apart…was wounded in the soul. Plus, every teacher, every counselor, every coach, every lunchroom attendant, every janitor, and every administrator. And maybe most of all, every parent who got a panicked call from their child—and especially those who did not.
Can these wounds ever truly go away?
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Of course, on the day of the Evergreen horror, its terror was largely ignored by a national media transfixed by the assassination of the uber-Christian right-wing provocateur, Kirk. He was murdered by a 22-year-old from a deeply conservative Mormon family. His grandmother says they were all MAGA, and she didn’t know of a single Democrat in her entire family. Predictably, this was ignored in favor of various lunatic narratives from the conservative right, beginning with immediate claims by South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace that, “it sounds like the shooter was a tranny—or pro-tranny.”
It actually sounds more like purposeful hatred spewed by an evil and deranged wench. She was the canary sounding the false alarm in the GOP’s putrid echo chamber.
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In any case, the background on the Evergreen shooting is far more troubling and telling than that of Kirk’s. I’m going to bypass yet another lament on the mental illness of a nation that allows absurdly easy access to guns. Such neglect is morally indefensible; but you’ve all this before.

Instead, my point is to examine the national media and question whether they understand true purpose of their jobs--and to ask whether they have the courage to ask the right questions.

First, the background:

The shooter at EHS was a “lone gunman”—but he was hardly alone. According to the Anti-Defamation League, he belonged to an encrypted online forum called WatchPeopleDie. It features videos of murder, rape, suicide, and dismemberment, as well as accidental deaths. Members interact, post videos and messages, and spur each other to commit similar depraved acts. At least three school shootings are now directly tied to this one site. In addition, the Evergreen shooter talked about buying a GoPro video camera so he could live-stream his carnage, as had mass shooters in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Buffalo, New York. He did not record a video.
His online co-conspirators saw pictures of the gear he had assembled, and one commented, “You got close to a full setup now man time to make a move 👍..” Another asked, “is bro gonna become a Hero”—“Hero” here being their designation for those who go out and carry out such murderous acts.
The connective tissue of the site and its users is white supremacy. They celebrate crimes against victims including (but not limited to) blacks, Muslims and Jews.
Many, including the Evergreen shooter, will also post videos and other content on TikTok and other sites.
Whether intentionally or coincidentally, in the days following Evergreen Donald Trump announced the “framework” of a long-awaited deal that would allow TikTok (a Chinese-run site) to remain online in America. Trump had signed a bipartisan bill forcing its sale in order to continue here…but, as always, Trump repeatedly pushed back the deadline.
At this writing, it is unclear whether the “framework” will actually involve any sale to some U.S. owners. And more importantly, whether the reimagined U.S. arm will be constituted as an American company.

This is important because U.S. ownership in whatever form should bring TikTok in America under the auspices of the U.S. Communications Decency Act. That act currently carries a get-out-of-jail-free card for all American social media sites. It’s called Section 230 and gives the owners absolute immunity from prosecution or lawsuits for any content carried on their platforms. Currently, aside from the mass murder forums, also left untouched is content that includes urging young girls to cut themselves or even commit suicide. Companies like Meta (Facebook, Instagram) complain that their audience is so immense that “moderation” of everything would be too onerous—it would cost too much. (Meta’s market cap is two trillion dollars.)
Five days after the shooting, the perfectly incompetent and impossibly dim-witted Kash Patel, head of the FBI, was still obsessing over Kirk. But his office, for some reason, issued a statement saying that they knew of the Evergreen shooter’s plans as far back as July; but because they couldn’t figure out his name, there was nothing they could do.
Specifically, a spokesperson admitted that they had identified the anonymous account holder on the site as, “…discussing the planning of a mass shooting with threats non-specific in nature”, but added, “during the assessment investigation, the identity of the account user remained unknown, and thus there was no probable cause for arrest or additional law enforcement action at the federal level."
Well, that’s two different things, no? I would imagine planning a mass shooting in and of itself would rise to the level of “probable cause for an arrest”…but of course, none would be possible if the FBI didn’t know who to arrest. I get that. But this seems like sluffing off responsibility too easily.
I am also the furthest thing from a cyber security professional, but I’m assuming here if such a threat were made against a President, there might be a considerably higher probability that someone within the U.S. government might be able to track down the killer’s identity. But maybe not.

Questions:
Here are (to me) obvious questions that should be asked over and over again to Trump and his hapless spokespeople:

To Trump:

Have you heard of the WatchPeopleDie forum? If not, why not? If so, when and how did you hear of it?
Have you discussed it with Kash Patel and/or Pam Bondi? If not, why not?
Would you characterize that site as a home for domestic terrorism? If not, how would you describe it?
If your announced TikTok agreement goes through, will it contain a mechanism for eliminating this site and all other content like it? If not, why not? If so, how will that be done?
Will you demand revocation of Section 230 so that companies can be sued or charged for transmitting information that is literally lethal in nature? If not, why not?
What message do you have for all the students and families who were terrorized by the shooting?

To Kash Patel:

When did you first learn of the WatchPeopleDie forum?
Would you describe this as a home for domestic terrorists? If not, why not?
When did you first learn of your agency’s investigation into the person who eventually shot two students in Evergreen, Colorado?
Do you contend that all possible FBI efforts were made to identify the gunman?
Has the FBI infiltrated the forum with agents posing as collaborators in order to learn more about its workings…and to help identify participants?
Why did your bureau wait five days to disclose your investigation of the shooter? Did you confer with President Trump before issuing the statement?
Do you support full FBI resources to disable this site, and others like it? If not, why not?
What message do you have for all the students and families who were terrorized by the shooting?

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I’d like to make two things clear.

First, TikTok is not the only offender. The Evergreen shooter also posted on Elon Muisk’s X.

Second, I continue to have high respect for the agents working at the FBI. I have no idea if they’re being deployed properly, but I trust that whatever they’re doing, they are doing it well. In American history, I wonder if the gap in terms of intelligence and effectiveness between the employees of an agency and its leader has ever been wider than in today’s FBI.
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Recently Trump hosted a dinner for the nation’s leading tech mega-billionaires. To a man, they prostrated and embarrassed themselves, fawning over Trump’s benevolent leadership and personal brilliance.
These people are cowards; with even a shred of integrity, they would never be caught in the same room with him. But they are not stupid. They mock him behind his back, but because they know Trump has the power to pull their Section 230 protection, they recoil into fetal positions. Loss of 230 could steal their superpower; and thus, dilute the holy water of “shareholder value”.
In modern America, there is no limit to the number of Americans who will be killed in order that every last dollar in shareholder remains inviolate.

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3 Things

Kirk...and Evergreen