[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 563 Introduced in House (IH)]
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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. Kamlager-Dove, 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Identifying Mass Shooters Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Perpetrators of mass shootings have utilized various
online channels to declare their intent to commit violence
through manifestos, blog posts, social media posts, and direct
messages prior to committing acts of terror.
(2) Inadequate oversight and accountability mechanisms on
online platforms creates an environment that enables hate
speech, extremism, radicalization, and violence.
(3) In 2018, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
shooter posted a video on YouTube stating his desire to be a
``professional school shooter,'' and proceeded to share photos
of himself posing with guns, along with troubling photos on
Instagram of his weapons arsenal and an animal he tortured,
prior to murdering 17 students and school staff members.
(4) In 2018, the Santa Fe High School shooter posted a
Facebook photo of a t-shirt with ``Born to Kill,'' and images
of Nazi and satanic symbols prior to murdering 10 students and
school staff members.
(5) In 2022, the Buffalo Tops grocery store shooter
declared on Discord, ``I will carry out an attack,'' posted a
manifesto on 4chan, and then livestreamed the murder of 10
Black people in a racially motivated shooting.
(6) In 2022, the Robb Elementary School shooter posted a
photo of a hand holding a gun magazine, 2 semi-automatic
rifles, a TikTok profile that warned ``Kids be scared,'' and
sent a direct message though Yubo notifying an individual of
his intent to kill prior to murdering 21 children and staff
members.
(7) The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs shooter
demonstrated a fascination with mass shootings and launched
personal attacks on Facebook prior to murdering 26 churchgoers,
including an unborn child.
SEC. 3. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of
Justice shall prepare and submit a report to Congress identifying
content patterns used by mass shooters through online platforms and
social media channels.
(b) Review and Consultation.--In preparing the report required
under this section, the Director shall, at a minimum--
(1) review information, data, and reports relating to
linguistic patterns used by previous mass shooters collected by
Federal, State, and local law enforcement as of the date of the
enactment of this Act;
(2) review academic studies, including studies analyzing
the relevance of social media in mass shootings described in
paragraph (1); and
(3) meet with, and consider any facts and analyses offered
by, prosecutors, defense attorneys, family attorneys, judges,
nonprofit organizations, victims service providers, culturally
specific organizations, Federal, State, Tribal, and local
courts, Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforcement
agencies, and individuals with academic expertise in
relinquishment.
(c) Identification of Items for Further Study.--In the report under
this section, the Director shall identify items for further study,
relating to the effectiveness of the best practices developed under
subsection (b). The Director shall publish a solicitation for
applications for research grants on such items not later than 30 days
after the date of the report.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Mass shooting.--The term ``mass shooting'' means any
incident in which four or more individuals, not including the
shooter, are shot or killed with a gun.
(2) Social media.--The term ``social media'' means a
channel for interactions among people in which they create,
share, or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities
and networks (specific activities including instant messages,
social media posts, blogs, uploading media content, through
social media platforms including, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
Flickr, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, TikTok, Snapchat,
Reddit, Twitch, 4chan, 8run, Yubo, and Discord).
SEC. 5. FEDERAL ADOPTION.
The National Institute of Justice shall prepare and submit to
Congress findings and recommendations for Federal legislation in
accordance with section 3.
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