Shirts tied to mass shootings sold openly on major online retail platforms

A report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a nonprofit that tracks extremism, has found that T-shirts associated with mass shootings are widely available on mainstream online retail platforms. The shirts include the “Natural Selection” and “Wrath” designs worn by the Columbine High School shooters, as well as a “Humanity Is Overrated” shirt tied to a 2007 school shooting in Finland.

ISD identified sellers offering these items on TikTok Shop, Redbubble, Temu, Etsy, AliExpress, and Walmart. In response, TikTok said it prohibits discriminatory and offensive products and removes them when found. Redbubble stated it bans content that glorifies violence and said it removed listings flagged by WIRED. Other retailers did not respond to requests for comment.

The report is part of a planned series aimed at helping parents, teachers, and law enforcement recognize warning signs of potential attacks. Katherine Keneally, ISD’s senior director of threat analysis, said the shirts are used by a group known as the True Crime Community, or TCC, which is an online fandom obsessed with mass killers. The TCC uses the shirts to covertly signal admiration for shooters and, in some cases, to indicate plans for violence.

Keneally noted that the shirts themselves are not illegal, but their purchase should be weighed against other risk factors, such as access to weapons or talk of violence. She said the easy availability of the apparel across mainstream platforms shows how extremist messaging can go unnoticed, and that better enforcement of existing safety policies by retailers could reduce access to these items.