No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeGun violenceUS shooter's alleged 'manifesto' explains motive for church murders

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

CHARLESTON, South Carolina – 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.

U.S. 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 church in Charleston.

However, U.S. media said the website was registered in February under Dylann Roof’s name.

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 U.S. South.

AFP PHOTO HANDOUT/LASTRHODESIAN.COM
AFP PHOTO HANDOUT/LASTRHODESIAN.COM

A section of the manifesto, entitled “an explanation” reads: “I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight.”

It went on: “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 text was referring to the right-wing extremist group Ku Klux Klan.

In the photographs, Roof is shown wearing a black jacket with flags from apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia (which includes the region now known as Zimbabwe), some of the most oppressive governments of modern times.

The website, entitled “The Last Rhodesian,” can be found at lastrhodesian.com.

Roof also is seen posing with wax reproductions of slaves in other photographs, holding a 19th century-era Confederate flag from southern states where slavery was practiced, standing at the site of a slave plantation and pointing a handgun at the camera.

In all of the pictures, Roof appears alone.

Among the racist rants on the website, Hispanics are described as “our enemies,” while “Negroes” are described as having a lower IQ and impulse control.

Recommended: Shooting evokes some of the darkest days from the United States’ past

Trending Now

Canadian Tourism to Costa Rica Drops Amid Rising Crime Concerns

Canadian visits to Costa Rica have started to drop in 2025, with crime playing a big part in the shift. Data from the Costa...

US Visa Cost Increase for Travelers and Workers Under New Law

United States President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law on July 4, introducing a new surcharge for most non-immigrant US...

Panama Removed from EU High-Risk List, but Tax Haven Status Remains

The film The Laundromat, starring Meryl Streep, damaged Panama's reputation by drawing inspiration from a real-life story: the global scandal that erupted a decade...

Dominical to Quepos: The Costa Rican Road That Took 30 Years to Finish

The original Pan-American Highway heading south from San José once took a dramatic and daunting route. It passed through the old capital of Cartago...

El Salvador Sees Big Gains from Bitcoin Price Surge

El Salvador has gained $443 million from the rise in Bitcoin's value, a cryptocurrency the country began acquiring nearly four years ago under the...

Meet the Bats of Costa Rica from Tent Makers to Fish Hunters

Costa Rica is home to around 220 species of non-marine mammals. Roughly half of those species, 117 is the current number, are the type...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica