A 30-year-old Columbia, Tennessee, man with ties to nihilistic violent extremist groups was charged with multiple counts of child sexual exploitation.
Court records of the federal indictment unsealed on Thursday indicate that the accused, Zachary Sweeney, has connections to groups similar to “764,” which authorities describe as networks involved in coordinated exploitation and efforts to sow societal chaos.
“Violent extremists who victimize vulnerable children online are among the worst predators in our community and across the country,” said Braden Boucek, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. “Our office and our law enforcement partners will do whatever it takes to stop these predators from harming more children and hold them accountable for the damage they have already caused.”
FBI officials said the case highlights their commitment to pursuing such offenders.
“This operation puts every child predator on notice: the FBI will hunt you down and bring you to justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “Removing violent extremists from our streets protects our most innocent and vulnerable members of society. The FBI will continue to work with our partners across the state of Tennessee to aggressively investigate those who seek to exploit or harm them.”
According to court documents, Sweeney has a documented history of exploiting minors dating back to at least 2022. Investigators allege he groomed and coerced underage victims into producing child sexual abuse material, distributed and sometimes sold it, and traveled to meet some victims.
During those encounters, he is accused of drugging, raping, and filming sexual acts with them.
The allegations also include actions aligned with the goals and methods of the 764 network and similar groups. These involve coercing minors to self-harm, providing drugs for victims to ingest while streaming sexual acts or self-harm online, and issuing threats of swatting and doxxing.
These networks operate worldwide, including in North Texas, as The Dallas Express previously reported. FBI Dallas is currently investigating more than 450 subjects associated with these violent online networks.
One of Sweeney’s victims, who began communicating with him at age 16 or 17, told investigators he demanded sexual images and videos and instructed her to carve or cut his nickname into her skin or write it in blood.
She described participating in group video calls within servers referred to as “the Com,” where she and others engaged in degrading acts including self-cutting, drinking toilet water, and smearing blood on themselves while naked. Members of the group, including Sweeney, recorded the streams, the victim reported.
She also said Sweeney maintained collections of material from another underage victim and showed her some of those files. That victim later died of an overdose. Another witness told investigators that Sweeney live-streamed a sexual assault of her.
Nihilistic violent extremists, or NVEs, target vulnerable populations, including minors, through social media, often using blackmail to compel compliance with demands for self-mutilation, sexual acts, violence, or other harmful behavior, according to the documents. These networks operate under various names but maintain consistent membership and objectives centered on accelerating social collapse through exploitation and chaos.
The 764 network and its affiliates pursue accelerationist aims aimed at undermining the existing social order, including the U.S. government, by corrupting vulnerable individuals, authorities said.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katy Risinger and Zachary T. Hinkle are handling the prosecution, supported by the Justice Department’s National Security Division Counterterrorism Section.
