2nd N.B. youth put on peace bond for alleged terrorist activity

A youth has been issued a peace bond in connection with terrorism activity that in some cases led victims to self-harm, the RCMP said Thursday.

This is the second peace bond issued to a youth in New Brunswick recently for alleged terrorism-related activity.

New Brunswick RCMP say the youth, who cannot be named by law, was affiliated with the organization 764.

It was recognized as a terrorist group by the federal government in December 2025. The RCMP said the group is also known as 764 Network and sometimes as "The COM."

The RCMP said the youth is "subject to strict conditions" but did not specify what those are or for how long the youth would be subject to them.

The peace bond was issued in Fredericton provincial youth court on Wednesday after an investigation into the youth that began in late 2025, the RCMP said in a news release.

The youth was arrested in connection with uttering threats and public mischief, the release said, while the RCMP continued investigating terrorism-related activity.

"The youth is believed to have been actively extorting victims to self-harm, making threats to schools in the province and in the United States, and to have been producing and distributing online material with the aim of gaining notoriety for the 764 Network," the release said.

"This group uses social media and online gaming platforms to recruit and radicalize individuals, spread propaganda and violent extremist narratives, and incite violence both online and offline."

Matthew Kriner, executive director at the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism, said 764 is one of several "nihilistic violent extremist groups," which target children and youth through online platforms.

"Groups like 764 are high-control groups that want to target your children and get them to do really taboo, egregious behaviors with the ultimate goal of either having them commit self-harm, harming others or harming property and engaging in illegal behaviors," Kriner said.

David Hofmann, director of criminology and criminal justice at the University of New Brunswick, said people gain control over children and youth by asking for personal information or explicit material.

"They'll then use this blackmail to force the victim to engage in something like harming their pets, harming small animals and videotaping and doing that, harming their siblings or harming themselves just for the sake of it," he said in an interview.

On Feb. 5, RCMP said a different youth was issued a peace bond for terrorism activity — New Brunswick's first.