UC Irvine students hospitalized after hackers share gory mutilation videos to Discord groups: report

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The Metropolitan Police Department are looking for suspects who robbed a college student in the 4800 block of 41st Street, Northwest on Tuesday, Dec. 12. (Credit: Metropolitan Police Department)

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Hackers left some students and instructors at the University of California, Irvine reportedly vomiting and in tears after they posted gory videos of human and animal mutilation to student-run groups on a social media platform.

According to the Orange County Register, the gory videos left the college community spiraling on Jan. 9, with some students allegedly needing to be hospitalized following the incident.

Alina Kim, who helped coordinate the hacking response by the student-run Discord group, told the Register that “some things I’ve seen I definitely cannot unsee.”

“Some individuals were reportedly hospitalized with vomiting, panic attacks, traumatic responses,” she said. “This is something that has real psychological effects.”

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Students and supporters from throughout the UC system, including UC Irvine, gathered to support undocumented students in the University of California system. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

An Apple iPhone 11 smartphone with the Discord software app logo on screen, taken on January 27, 2020. (Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

About 3,000 people were reportedly exposed to graphic materials while on the Discord website before moderators blocked the hackers’ access.

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Discord is a social media platform on which users can make voice calls, video calls and instant message one another.

Students and faculty travel through the campus at the University of California-Irvine in Irvine Thursday, May 11, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Kim told the local outlet that the hackers have been identified, but their identity is being withheld because they appear to seek publicity. 

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She said the attackers demanded $1,000 in ransom to keep them from posting the videos for another month.

UC Irvine did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. 

She is a native of Massachusetts and is based in Orlando, Florida.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.