Overview

Kyle Spitze's Arrest and the 764 Discord Cult Crackdown refer to the February 2024 arrest of 24-year-old Kyle W. Spitze, who originally went viral for a video of his mom's late boyfriend Jeffery Scott West shooting him. Spitze leaked the video on social media in January 2024 as it spread on Reddit and Twitter / X. Then, Spitze was accused by many of leading a Satanic cult on Discord and Telegram known as 764 that allegedly harbored illegal, underage pornography and torture videos. Spitze's username on Discord was "criminal." Spitze and other 764 moderators were arrested by the FBI in late February 2024, leading to discourse and reactions online. The arrest came after the mysterious murder of Spitze's mother Melanie Spitze. Some alleged that Spitze was responsible for her death as well.

Background

Jeffery Scott West Shooting Kyle Spitze and Jeffery Scott West's Death

On August 25th, 2023, the Blount County Sheriff's Department responded to a call in Freindsville, Tennessee, about a shooting started by a domestic dispute.^[1] One man, 68-year-old Jeffery Scott West, had barricaded himself inside the home. He later committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.^[1] Before his death, West had shot his partner's son, 24-year-old Kyle Spitze, in the right ear. It was a non-fatal wound and he was taken to the hospital for treatment shortly after.^[1]

The story went largely dormant until January 15th, 2024, when X^[2] user @sag posted a video that was purportedly taken by Spitze on the night of the incident. In the video, West is seen pointing a gun at Spitze, eventually shooting him. It's visible that Spitze is bleeding on the ground after the shot and he runs out of the house soon after. Over two days, the post gained roughly 31.5 million views and 84,000 likes (screenshot shown below).

The video then went viral on Reddit^[3] and in other viral X^[4] posts in January 2024. In turn, many on X^[5] went viral for posts that used the screencap of the gun going off.

Kyle Spitze Allegations

On January 16th, 2024, X^[6] user @babyteethgirl tweeted, "I cannot believe my ex has gone viral LMFAO," in reference to Kyle W. Spitze. She further stated, "I hope it haunts him for the rest of his life what he is doing to me and multiple other girls and CHILDREN" (shown below, left).

@babyteethgirl continued in another tweet^[7] that Spitze had allegedly posted revenge porn of her, other women and minors to make money off them. She also alleged that he was a part of an online group called 764 (shown below, right). Other X^[8][9] users on the same day levied similar accusations.

The two aforementioned tweets from @babyteethgirl were used in a thread created by X^[3] user @dyingscribe on January 15th, which attempted to build evidence that Spitze was allegedly a groomer.

Some, like X^[10] user @GamesNosh on January 17th, 2024, resurfaced a post from the subreddit /r/NExpo,^[11] shared on July 25th, 2023, about "Discord and the grooming and extortion cult," centering on groups nicknamed "harm nation, 764, slitbunnies and starved summer." The Redditor also namedropped "Kyle William Spitze" and his Discord name "criminal" (shown below).

In another tweet on January 15th, 2024,^[12] a part of @dyingscribe's thread, the user shared two screenshots of Discord messages with the user "criminal," speculated to be Kyle W. Spitze (shown below).

X^[13] user @dyingscribe also shared a link to an /r/confessions^[14] post from June 23rd, 2022, in which the Redditor, OldRain7463, outlined the 764 Discord server that was purportedly known for "grooming minors and making them cut themselves." According to them, the 764 server was repeatedly banned but the admins would always regroup on Telegram.

Death of Melanie Spitze

On February 1st, 2024, X^[15] user @bx_on_x started a thread, leading with, "EXCLUSIVE – I’ve been alerted by a confidential source that Kyle Spitze, the man shot by his stepdad in the viral video below, has made several social media posts stating that his mother has been murdered."

@bx_on_x alleged multiple claims that were coming from her trusted source in an unnamed Telegram group where Spitze was sharing "disturbing content" such as "a graphic video of his dead mother, in which he 'appears to grope her breasts' while crying, along with photos of bloodied sheets." The post gained over 82,100 views and 350 likes in one month (shown below, left, click to expand).

In a follow-up tweet,^[16] @bx_on_x stated that the police in Friendsville, Tennessee had confirmed Melanie Spitze's death. @bx_on_x also shared a post from Spitze's Facebook that further confirmed his mother's passing (shown below, right).

News outlet Headline U.S.A.^[17] published an article on Melanie Spitze's death and the growing story on February 3rd, 2024. Headline U.S.A. included quotes from the U.S. Depart of Justice (DOJ) on the 764 cult, which classified it as an "an offshoot of the Order of the Nine Angles, or O9A—a neo-Nazi accelerationist group involved in multiple terrorist plots."

Headline U.S.A. also quoted the DOJ as saying, "The 764 cult represents a radical shift in the group to specifically target children and use [C.P.] and videos depicting animal cruelty, self-harm, and other acts of violence to accelerate chaos in society."

Kyle Spitze's Arrest

On February 27th, 2024, the FBI released a partially unsealed affidavit on the arrest of Kyle Spitze.^[18] The bureau executed a search warrant on Spitze’s phone on February 10th, 2024. There, agents reportedly found illegal, underage pornography in which they were able to identify the victim and then interview them.

The affidavit and Spitze's arrest were also reported on by Headline U.S.A.^[19] In the article, Headline U.S.A. also highlighted the arrests of other people linked to the 764 cult and O9A cult, such as the November 2021 arrest of 764 member Angel Almeida.^[20] Also, it highlighted the December 2023 arrest of 764 member Kalana Limkin.^[21]

Online Reaction

Following Spitze's February 2024 arrest, X^[22] user @bx_on_x spread the news on February 29th, 2024, gaining over 4 million views and 7,500 likes in a day (shown below, left, click to expand).

The tweet gained mass discourse and attention shortly after. For instance, on February 29th, X^[23] user @KaptainKrunch97 quoted the post with a picture of Jeffery Scott West, writing, "You've been vindicated," earning over 16,000 likes in a day (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References