The Justice department is gathering more information on the online message board “8chan,” which allegedly is being run from the Philippines, after a gunman posted a statement referring to the deadly attacks on a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, in the United States last Saturday.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he had instructed his staff to gather information before he decides whether to order the National Bureau of Investigation to look into 8chan, whose founder and the current owner is reportedly in the country.
“My staff is gathering more information before we decide if this is something for the NBI to look into," Guevarra said in a text message.
But the owner of the 8chan chat forum has described the moves to shut down his website because it hosted hate messages linked to the deadly US killings as “sinister” and “cowardly.”
In a video uploaded to Youtube on Tuesday, Philippines-based Jim Watkins said the deadly weekend attacks in the American cities of El Paso and Dayton were a tragedy.
But Watkins insisted 8chan had not broken any laws and devoted most of his seven-and-a-half-minute video to criticizing the subsequent moves to shut down his forum.
“It is actually sinister behavior. Ours is one of the last independent companies that offer a place you may write down your thoughts free from having to worry about whether they are offensive to one group or another,” Watkins said.
Guevarra said the founder of the online message board “8chan (infinitychan),” Fredrick Brennan, was reportedly still in the country.
He said he had already ordered the Bureau of Immigration to check the travel records of Brennan, 8chan owner Jim Watkins and his son Ronald.
Guevarra said Immigration ran a search for the name Fredrick Brennan and the name “Fredrick Robert Brennan” appeared. He is reportedly a holder of a 9G visa or working visa, and his last recorded arrival in the country was on July 1, 2017.
He is said to be still here in the country.
But Guevarra said they had no information as to his current location.
“There is no information on his actual whereabouts. The Bureau of Immigration cannot trace him once they come in, like the Filipino TNT [tago nang Tago),” he said.
As for the elder Watkins, the name that appeared in Immigration’s data is a certain Jimmy Ray Watkins who left the country on May 9.
Guevarra said Immigration could not get information on the son Ronald since there were several individuals in their data bank with the same name. Those individuals reportedly had different passports and different birth dates.
He said they were also still gathering information on the operations of 8chan and would later decide if the National Bureau of Investigation should step in to conduct its own probe.
Reports indicated that 8chan is being operated in the country and that Brennan, Watkins and his son are suspected to be staying in the country.
The Philippine National Police has also started verifying reports if 8chan is being operated in the country.
8chan is being linked to the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in the United States that happened over the weekend and resulted in the deaths of 20 people.
It was reported that a user, who identified himself as the gunman, allegedly posted an announcement on 8chan, and in a four-page message the user encouraged his “brothers” to “spread the contents far and wide.”
There were also reports that those behind the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the synagogue shooting in Poway, California, also announced their plans on 8chan.
Brennan, who is said to be in his mid-20s and who founded 8chan in 2013, had called for the shutdown of the site that has reportedly become a breeding ground for violence. With AFP