Discord manifesto – Investigators are examining a 75-page Discord PDF left by two teenagers who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego on May 18, killing three men before taking their own lives. FBI officials say the material reflects broad, wide-ranging hatred, while extremism
By the time police could brief the public, the aftermath of the May 18 attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego already carried an extra, chilling layer: a document left behind—one investigators are still reviewing—that extremism analysts say is steeped in neo-fascist, white supremacist ideology.
At a Tuesday press conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the San Diego field office Mark Remily said the materials reflected not a narrow grievance but a broad contempt for society. “They didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” Remily said. “It covered a wide aspect of races and religions.”
Police said the attackers were Caleb Vazquez, 18, and Cain Clark, 17. They attacked the Islamic Center on Monday morning. After a firefight with the center’s security guard, Amin Abdullah, they fled into a nearby neighborhood. Authorities said they fired seemingly at random at a landscape gardener before driving a short way and taking their own lives. Officials said they live-streamed part of the attack. posting it online along with their document. which contains entries attributed to both attackers.
The document—titled “The New Crusade” and described as a 75-page PDF—was posted inside a private channel on the messaging app Discord. according to extremism experts who analyzed it. It includes gushing tribute to Brenton Tarrant. the gunman who attacked two mosques in New Zealand in 2019. killing 51 people and injuring 89 more. Experts said the young attackers in San Diego appeared to view themselves as “disciples” of Tarrant. who is idolized in online communities dedicated to mass violence.
Investigators have focused on two driving forces embedded in the writings, according to experts who analyzed the material. First. the document appears aimed at gaining status in a domestic terrorism category researchers call “nihilistic violent extremists”—communities that worship mass shooters and delight in chaotic violence. Second. experts said the San Diego attackers were motivated by the “great replacement theory. ” a racist conspiracy theory claiming white people in America. Europe and elsewhere are being systematically “replaced” by non-white immigrants through an organized effort.
“I think that’s at the core of it,” said Matthew Kriner, executive director of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism. “The great replacement conspiracy theory is the ideological background that they’re falling back on.”
Experts say those themes sit inside a broader worldview called “accelerationism,” whose adherents seek to “wipe the slate clean” by committing atrocities they believe will trigger more violence, collapse society, and eventually lead to a “New World Order.”
Online communities that track extremist networks have increasingly used the phrase “nihilistic violent extremists” or “NVE” in recent years to describe clusters of accounts and followers whose motivation. experts say. often centers less on traditional politics and more on inflicting the maximum death and pain possible. Researchers said these communities are expanding even as they remain difficult to monitor.
Chase Reid. CEO and co-founder of Aslan. a service designed to identify violent actors operating online. said a large share of the buildup toward violence occurs within peers themselves. “A lot of the crescendo towards violence is going to take place among their peers,” Reid said. “These communities are invisible, and they’re nebulous.”.
Reid confirmed. along with other extremism experts. that the document penned by the San Diego shooters was posted to a private Discord channel. A separate confirmation came from a senior law enforcement official: investigators said the document Remily referred to at Tuesday’s press conference matches the PDF that was reviewed.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism wrote an analysis of the document found links to nihilistic violent extremism. It pointed to repeated references to previous non-white supremacist mass murders. including the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter. and said the material suggests such beliefs can be part of a broader ecosystem of nihilistic violent extremism. and by extension. the “True Crime Community (TCC).” The analysis described the TCC as an online subculture whose adherents have a deep fascination with mass murder. often to the point of glorification.
While the document appears crafted to win approval from an online “in-crowd. ” experts said it also contains clear endorsements of neo-fascist. white supremacist ideology—especially accelerationism. Kriner said the rhetoric includes “obvious, classic white supremacist, anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ” language.
Jared Holt. a senior researcher with Open Measures. said the attackers tried to replicate mass shootings carried out by other “accelerationists. ” highlighting Tarrant. Holt said the perpetrators idolized the gunman who carried out the New Zealand attack. shared his extremist ideology. and sought to use violence in pursuit of a political cause aimed at hastening societal collapse and rebuilding it in a fascistic and supremacist form. He added that these factors influenced multiple parts of the attackers’ planning. including the target they chose. the weapons they used. their attempt to broadcast the attack. and the clothing they wore.
A key theme in the writings. experts said. is the continued invocation of the “great replacement theory.” The words “replace” or “replacement” appear on 14 of the 75 pages being studied by law enforcement. The writers also urge readers to study a book titled “The Great Replacement,” written by their apparent idol, Tarrant.
The choice of target was also part of how experts said the document’s ideology played out. The attackers, analysts noted, chose to attack a mosque that is predominantly used by non-white San Diegans, including recent immigrants. The three victims of the attack were all non-white.
In the space between what investigators found and what experts say it reveals. a pattern emerges from the facts themselves: the attack timeline included live-streaming and a posted manifesto. and the manifesto’s themes—status-seeking among “nihilistic violent extremists. ” accelerationism. and “great replacement”—connect directly to the target chosen and the audience it was written for.
Islamic Center of San Diego Amin Abdullah FBI Mark Remily Caleb Vazquez Cain Clark Discord manifesto The New Crusade Brenton Tarrant accelerationism great replacement theory nihilistic violent extremists neo-fascist white supremacist ideology