{"id":141669,"date":"2026-01-28T21:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/141669\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T21:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:19:14","slug":"online-extremist-group-targeting-el-paso-and-texas-teens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/141669\/","title":{"rendered":"Online extremist group targeting El Paso and Texas teens"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014\u00a0A violent digital extremist group known by \u201c764\u201d is grooming, manipulating, and exploiting youth across Texas.<\/p>\n

764 first emerged in 2021 and was started by a teenager in Stephenville, Texas. They are known to populate chatting apps like Discord and Telegram and online games like Roblox and Minecraft. Authorities describe it as a network of predators who target children and vulnerable teens.<\/p>\n

Ernesto Reyes with Crime Stoppers Safety and Prevention joined KTSM\u2019s Ian Roth during KTSM at Noon to talk about the group targeting children in El Paso.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere goal is to target youth through any online platform. Any kind of platform with any kind of chat is possible,\u201d Reyes said.<\/p>\n

Many of its group\u2019s members have been arrested for crimes related to child exploitation and violence.<\/p>\n

Crime Stoppers tells KTSM Texas teens are already navigating rising mental health challenges, increased screen time, and online spaces that are evolving faster than safeguards can keep up. They say violent manipulators thrive when youth feel\u00a0isolated or unsupported, and adults are unaware of how quickly manipulation can escalate.<\/p>\n

Crime Stoppers offices around the state are warning parents about this violent group and online digital safety as part of their \u201cMillion for Ten Million\u201d campaign. They say they\u2019re committed to protecting 10 million youth across Texas, including youth in\u00a0El\u00a0Paso, through education, prevention, and trusted reporting resources.<\/p>\n

The FBI recommends the following steps to protect you and your family from online threats.<\/p>\n

Do:<\/p>\n

Closely monitor children\u2019s use of online services.<\/p>\n

Conduct regular Internet searches of children\u2019s information to monitor the exposure and spread of their information on the Internet.<\/p>\n

Consider credit or identity theft monitoring to check for any fraudulent use of child\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

Have open communication with your child\/children to help prevent cybercrime. Talk about their online activities and what games they play.<\/p>\n

Conduct regular updates from software companies to help stop security breaches.<\/p>\n

Keep all text, email, and other message interactions as evidence.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t delete messages from the offenders. It\u2019s crucial for investigations.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t provide detailed information on children when creating user profiles (e.g., use initials instead of full names, avoid using exact dates of birth, avoid including photos, etc.)<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t post hoax threats online. Hoax threats are not a joke, and they can have devastating consequences. It disrupts school, waste limited law enforcement resources, and puts first responders in unnecessary danger.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know may be a victim of 764, authorities urge you to contact Crime Stoppers of El Paso at their website <\/a>or by calling 915-566-TIPS (8477).<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014\u00a0A violent digital extremist group known by \u201c764\u201d is grooming, manipulating, and exploiting youth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[28570,4223,138,140,139,59595,59598,498,59596,59599,26156,27,59597],"class_list":{"0":"post-141669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-child-exploitation","9":"tag-crime-stoppers","10":"tag-el-paso","11":"tag-el-paso-headlines","12":"tag-el-paso-news","13":"tag-ernesto-reyes","14":"tag-extremist-group","15":"tag-ktsm","16":"tag-online-games","17":"tag-online-services","18":"tag-stephenville","19":"tag-texas","20":"tag-violent-group"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}