White Racist Killer Manifesto Under Review by Investigators
Doug Stanglin and Katharine Lackey
USA TODAY 3:09 p.m. EDT June 20, 2015
A white supremacist manifesto purportedly written by accused killer Dylann Roof to explain why he targeted an historic black church in Charleston, S.C., says he had "no choice" but to target African Americans, who he derides as "stupid and violent."
Roof, 21, is charged with nine counts of murder for opening fire on a Bible study group Wednesday at the Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston.
The document is being reviewed by investigators, a federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY Saturday. Although the contents of the document were still being analyzed, the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said it appeared to be consistent with Roof's views.
The manifesto appeared on a website lastrhodesian.com, which also contains photos of Roof holding a gun and a Confederate flag. The website's authenticity could not be independently verified. The domain site was registered in February under the name Dylann Roof, the New York Times reported.
Some of the views in the document echoed what a survivor of the shooting said Roof expressed about blacks after he allegedly opened fire at the church Wednesday. While the writer does not mention the church specifically or any specific plans, the manifesto appears to have been written hurriedly to try to explain some planned action against blacks.
"I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to whites in the country," the writer says. "We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well, someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me."
The 2,000 word diatribe rails against "negroes," with the occasional use of the N-word. In one particularly angry section, the writer expresses hatred of the sight of the American flag. "Modern American patriotism is an absolute joke," the manifesto says. "People pretending like they have something to be proud while White people are being murdered daily in the streets."
The writer says he "was not raised in a racist home or environment" but that he was "truly awakened" after researching the 2012 Trayvon Martin case, in which an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla., by George Zimmerman, a self-described Neighborhood Watch volunteer.
"It was obvious that Zimmerman was in the right," the writer says. "But more importantly this prompted me to type in the words 'blacks on white crime' into Google, and I have never been the same since that day."
He said his research, particularly regarding the races in Europe, also revealed the "Jewish problem and other issues facing our race, and I can say today that I am completely racially aware."
The manifesto lays out the writer's views on various races, including Hispanics, Jews and East Asians, but is sharply negative in his view of "negroes," a group he calls "stupid and violent."
He said that whites subconsciously view blacks as "lower beings" and hold them to a lower standard. "This is why they are able to get away with things like obnoxious behavior in public," the manifesto says. "Because it is expected of them."
The writer dismisses as "historical lies, exaggerations and myths" that blacks were treated badly by whites during the slave era. He also expresses a sense of urgency in the manifesto, indicating that some action is imminent.
"Unfortunately at the time of writing I am in a great hurry and some of my best thoughts, actually many of them have been to be left out and lost forever," the writer says. "But I believe enough great White minds are out there already. Please forgive any typos, I didn't have time to check it."
Contributing: Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY 3:09 p.m. EDT June 20, 2015
A white supremacist manifesto purportedly written by accused killer Dylann Roof to explain why he targeted an historic black church in Charleston, S.C., says he had "no choice" but to target African Americans, who he derides as "stupid and violent."
Roof, 21, is charged with nine counts of murder for opening fire on a Bible study group Wednesday at the Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston.
The document is being reviewed by investigators, a federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY Saturday. Although the contents of the document were still being analyzed, the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said it appeared to be consistent with Roof's views.
The manifesto appeared on a website lastrhodesian.com, which also contains photos of Roof holding a gun and a Confederate flag. The website's authenticity could not be independently verified. The domain site was registered in February under the name Dylann Roof, the New York Times reported.
Some of the views in the document echoed what a survivor of the shooting said Roof expressed about blacks after he allegedly opened fire at the church Wednesday. While the writer does not mention the church specifically or any specific plans, the manifesto appears to have been written hurriedly to try to explain some planned action against blacks.
"I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to whites in the country," the writer says. "We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well, someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me."
The 2,000 word diatribe rails against "negroes," with the occasional use of the N-word. In one particularly angry section, the writer expresses hatred of the sight of the American flag. "Modern American patriotism is an absolute joke," the manifesto says. "People pretending like they have something to be proud while White people are being murdered daily in the streets."
The writer says he "was not raised in a racist home or environment" but that he was "truly awakened" after researching the 2012 Trayvon Martin case, in which an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla., by George Zimmerman, a self-described Neighborhood Watch volunteer.
"It was obvious that Zimmerman was in the right," the writer says. "But more importantly this prompted me to type in the words 'blacks on white crime' into Google, and I have never been the same since that day."
He said his research, particularly regarding the races in Europe, also revealed the "Jewish problem and other issues facing our race, and I can say today that I am completely racially aware."
The manifesto lays out the writer's views on various races, including Hispanics, Jews and East Asians, but is sharply negative in his view of "negroes," a group he calls "stupid and violent."
He said that whites subconsciously view blacks as "lower beings" and hold them to a lower standard. "This is why they are able to get away with things like obnoxious behavior in public," the manifesto says. "Because it is expected of them."
The writer dismisses as "historical lies, exaggerations and myths" that blacks were treated badly by whites during the slave era. He also expresses a sense of urgency in the manifesto, indicating that some action is imminent.
"Unfortunately at the time of writing I am in a great hurry and some of my best thoughts, actually many of them have been to be left out and lost forever," the writer says. "But I believe enough great White minds are out there already. Please forgive any typos, I didn't have time to check it."
Contributing: Kevin Johnson
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