The man charged with massacring nine churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, and shocking the rest of the world with an incomprehensibly vicious act of evil, has been variously described as a monster, a racist, a terrorist, a hate criminal, a neo-Nazi, an anti-Semite, a druggie, and more. Beyond that, a “manifesto” attributed to the alleged killer, Dylann Roof, 21, exposes the author of the screed as an anti-American collectivist race-monger obsessed with superficial characteristics such as skin color who harbored a bizarre wish to spark a “race war.” Ironically, though, despite agitation and hate spewing by some race mongers, the drug user’s massacre of innocent Christians brought many Americans of all races together across South Carolina and beyond like never before. In other words, Roof failed.

The June 17 slaughter at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church claimed nine victims who were attending a Bible study. Among the Christian worshippers identified as murdered: Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, 54; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74; Sharonda Singleton, 45; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethel Lance, 70; Susie Jackson, 87; and DePayne Doctor, 49. Also fatally gunned down was the church pastor, Clementa C. Pinckney, 41, who served as a South Carolina state senator. One other victim was reportedly wounded by gun-fire but survived. Family and friends of the victims described them as good, loving Christians, and as an illustration of that, some relatives publicly forgave the man accused of murdering their loved ones.

During a court hearing for Roof in which he said he was unemployed, the judge gave victims’ families an opportunity to address the alleged perpetrator. Sobbing and holding back tears, some told Roof they forgave him despite what he had done, and that Christ could forgive him, too. “I forgive you,” said one family member. “You took someone very precious away from me; I will never talk to her ever again, I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you. Heaven have mercy on your soul.” Another victim’s family member said that Roof’s attendance at Bible study meant he could still ask God for forgiveness. One more declared that “hate would not win.”

But who was the man filled with so much hate that he could walk into a church, sit through an hour of Bible study, and then open fire on innocent people? A complete profile has yet to emerge of the man charged in the horrific crime, but a week after the atrocity, a great deal more information is now known. For one, he was a collectivist (denying individualism and dwelling on collective characteristics) drenched in hate — blaming all blacks, for example, for the crimes perpetrated by a few, simply because of their race. During the shooting, he reportedly told his victims: “You rape our women and you're taking over the country, and you have to go.” The manifesto attributed to him, found on the website the Last Rhodesian reportedly registered by Roof, also claims “N****rs are stupid and violent.” In a sick twist of irony for somebody who viewed everything through a racial lens, the document argued that “black people view everything through a racial lense [sic].”

With echoes of Darwinian theories and the philosophy of progressive eugenicists who claimed the mantle of quack “science” to justify their racism, Roof also claimed blacks and whites were fundamentally different — and that whites were allegedly “superior” to other races. “Anyone who thinks that White and black people look as different as we do on the outside, but are somehow magically the same on the inside, is delusional,” he claimed, going so far as to glorify slavery. “How could our faces, skin, hair, and body structure all be different, but our brains be exactly the same? This is the nonsense we are led to believe.” Of course, for Christians, all people came from the same two ancestors, Adam and Eve, and are all loved by God as His children. Whether hatred of Christian beliefs was a motivation for the church attacks is not yet clear, though it is certain that Roof’s “ideology” was diametrically opposed to Christianity.  

In the rambling manifesto attributed to Roof, he traced the origin of his racist views to the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida by volunteer neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. As The New American reported at the time, black and white racists and race-mongers sought to exploit the killing to whip up hysteria and hatred across the country. Some especially radical white and black racists even called for a “race war” — exactly what Roof was hoping to instigate, according to law enforcement officials who interviewed him after his arrest in North Carolina.

“I chose Charleston because it is [the] most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country,” Roof reportedly wrote. “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.” How shooting innocent, unarmed Christians studying the Bible could be considered “bravery” in any sense — rather than extreme cowardice — was not made clear.

In a strange development that emerged after the shooting, multiple supposed black friends of Roof spoke to the media and claimed that he never said anything racist. “Never once did he say ‘I don’t like black people, I’m going to kill black people,’” Christon Scriven told the Associated Press last week. Friends also said that Roof had previously spoken of shooting students at a university. Some analysts have suggested Roof may have changed his mind and chosen the church due to it being what politicians and anti-gun zealots ridiculously refer to as a “gun-free zone,” where mass-murderers expect law-abiding victims to be defenseless.   

Apparently Roof was also a neo-National Socialist (neo-Nazi), envisioning a collectivist Big Government system based on “race” that would protect Hitlerian notions of the “superior race.” The manifesto reveals strong hatred of Jews, too, saying the author “found out about the Jewish problem and other issues facing our race.” A picture of Roof shows him wearing a shirt featuring the number 88, associated by National Socialists with “Heil Hitler.” The manifesto also claimed that “if we could somehow turn every Jew blue for 24 hours, I think there would be a mass awakening” against Jews, “because people would be able to see plainly what is going on.” What exactly was “going on” was not clear, but Roof attacked what he claimed was “the Jewish agitation of the black race.”

Beyond Jews and blacks, Roof, speaking of most Hispanics, said they were a “huge problem,” though he claimed there was some “good White blood worht [sic] saving” in some Latin American countries. In his self-declared war on other races — blacks, Hispanics, Jews, and more — Roof imagined a potential “alliance” with the “East Asian races.” “I have great respent [sic] for the East Asian races. Even if we were to go extinct they could carry something on,” Roof wrote. “They are by nature very racist and could be great allies of the White race. I am not opposed at all to allies with the Northeast Asian races.”

In addition to hating other races, Roof was also an anti-American zealot, with numerous pictures posted online featuring him stomping on, spitting on, and burning the American flag. “I hate the sight of the American flag,” the manifesto states. Like numerous far-left extremist groups (some of which are trying to exploit the latest tragedy right this instant), Roof also denounced American patriotism and patriots, saying Americans have nothing to be proud of and suggesting that U.S. military veterans should be ashamed of themselves.

The anti-American National Socialist also had apparent problems with substance abuse, according to press reports and his arrest record. In his first court appearance, attorneys noted that Roof still had pending drug charges against him. According to official records, he was arrested at a mall behaving erratically after an officer found the pharmaceutical drug suboxone for which Roof did not have a prescription. The drug is generally given to heroin addicts to supposedly ease withdrawal symptoms, but it is also frequently used to get “high.” Former schoolmates told reporters that Roof was also a heavy drug-abusing “pill popper” in school, including using drugs such as the psychotropic “anti-anxiety” drug Xanax. More than a few analysts have suggested that the dangerous drugs, which have long been linked to outbursts of unprovoked rage and violence, may have played a role in pushing Roof over the edge.

Of course, as always occurs now after tragedies in America, a handful of shameless politicians, Soros-funded AstroTurf groups, and others have sought to exploit the tragic slaughter of Christians at church to push political agendas such as gun control, often using blatant falsehoods. The United Nations, Obama, and various other voices were using the tragedy to attack gun rights before the blood was even dry. Other tragedy exploiters and race mongers sought — as did Roof — to foment division among the American people along racial lines. Some racists even started launching racist tirades against “white people” online, calling for them to be stripped of their rights for being the same skin color as Roof — ironically, a very similar collectivist outlook to the one displayed by the alleged mass-murderer, an ideology that sees only “race” (or "class" or "gender") rather than unique individuals created in the image of God.  

By contrast, the families of the victims, living out the principles of Christ and exemplifying all that is good in this world, have publicly and heroically offered forgiveness to the man accused of callously taking the lives of their loved ones to start a “race war.” Christians of all races across America and worldwide celebrated the families for their courage and grace, and prayed for them, their community, and for healing. Ironically, then, Roof’s reported plan to spark a “race war,” egged on by race-mongers of all colors, may have produced the exact opposite: Deeper understanding and even greater unity among Americans of every “race.” The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Photo of Dylann Roof: AP Images