US shooter’s ‘manifesto’ explains motive for church murders

Published June 21, 2015
his undated photo taken from Lastrhodesian.com on Saturday shows Dylann Roof burning an American flag. —AFP
his undated photo taken from Lastrhodesian.com on Saturday shows Dylann Roof burning an American flag. —AFP

CHARLESTON: A website appearing to belong to accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof contains white supremacist writings and dozens of photographs in which he is seen holding firearms.

It also offers a motive for the heinous crime, one of the most shocking multiple murders of recent years, in a nation familiar with mass shootings.

“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,” a text on the website reads.

US media became aware of the online manifesto only on Saturday, although it appears to have been in existence before the horrific massacre that has stunned the nation.

It was unclear who wrote the unsigned text filled with spelling mistakes, or who took the pictures of Roof, who has been charged with fatally shooting nine African Americans at a black church in the Charleston.

The website showed dozens of photographs of the Charleston shooter holding weapons, burning an American flag and visiting plantations and other sites that appeared to harken back to the slavery era US South.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2015

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