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Mark Follman

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San Francisco
As seen in: Mother Jones, MSN, The New York Times, HuffPost, The Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Infobae and
Journalist, author. My book TRIGGER POINTS is the story of expert teams preventing mass shootings, from K-12 schools to the FBI ⤵️ mfollman at CIR.org 4 Signal
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Articles

ChatGPT Helped Tumbler Ridge Shooter Focus on Guns, Tactics, and Terror

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By Mark Follman Verified
| Mother Jones Verified
Editor’s note: This story discusses suicide and extreme violence. Also read part 1, part 2, and part 3 of our investigation into AI chatbots and violence. In June 2025, Jesse Van Rootselaar received an email notification from OpenAI. Van Rootselaar had been using ChatGPT to discuss committing potential acts of violence—including a mass shooting at a shopping mall—and now OpenAI had banned that account.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

Inside a Mass Shooter’s Harrowing History With ChatGPT

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By Mark Follman Verified
| Mother Jones Verified
Editor’s note: This story discusses suicide and sexual violence. Read part 1 of our investigation into AI chatbots and violence here and part 2 here. On the morning of April 17, 2025, Phoenix Ikner was using ChatGPT to prepare. Over nearly three hours, the Florida State University student asked OpenAI’s popular chatbot eight questions about firearms and 11 others about mass shootings—including how the media and public would react to a potential attack at FSU.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

ChatGPT Gave Me Chilling Advice—as I Simulated Planning a Mass Shooting

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By Mark Follman Verified
| Mother Jones Verified
On April 14, I created a free account on ChatGPT and asked for some help. It resisted me at first, but after some pushing the responses turned shocking. During a conversation lasting about 20 minutes, OpenAI’s chatbot gave me extensive advice on weapons and tactics as I simulated planning a mass shooting.
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