Racist murderer Dylann Roof
Racist murderer Dylann RoofReuters

Charleston shooter Dylann Storm Roof published a manifesto in February 2015 explaining his white supremacist views, multiple news sites reported Saturday - and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has launched an investigation. 

The now-defunct website, entitled The Last Rhodesian, includes several photos of Roof crouching beside the Confederate flag or holding a pistol. [Rhodesia is the name for pre-independence, British-era Zimbabwe. The name can be seen as a glorification of white-on-Black colonialism - ed.]

But the most damning - and puzzling - content is a 2,444-word manifesto raging against Blacks, Jews, and Asians. 

Much of the mainstream media has focused on Roof's views of Blacks as subhuman and his ominous statements that he "had no choice" but to attempt to start a "race war" in Charleston. 

However, Roof also launches a bizarre rant against Jews - one which has more sympathy for Jews than the mainstream white supremacist or neo-Nazi ideology, but wars mainly against the concept of Jewish identity itself. 

Snippets of the manifesto have been reprinted elsewhere, but the full extent of Roof's delusions were printed in a copy of the full text on Mother Jones

'The Jewish problem'

In his introduction, Roof states that he was not raised to be a racist, but gradually grew more aware of the "real situation" after the 2012 Trayvon Martin case. The case inspired him to research current events in Europe, "the homeland of the White people." 

"From there I learned about the Jewish problem and other issues facing our race," he opines. 

In a section entitled "The Jews," he says:

Unlike many White nationalists, I am of the opinion that the majority of American and European Jews are White. In my opinion the issue with the Jews is not their blood, but their identity.  I think that if we somehow could destroy the Jewish identity, then they wouldnt [sic] cause much of a problem. The problem is that Jews look White, and in many cases are White, yet they see themselves as minorities. Just like niggers [sic], most jews [sic] are always thinking about the fact they are jewish [sic]. The other issue is that they network. If we could somehow turn every jew [sic] blue for 24 hours, I think there would be a mass awakening, because people would be able to see plainly what is going on. 

I do not pretend to understand why jews [sic] do what they do. They are enigma [sic].

In a different section entitled "Patriotism," Roof explains his hatred for the current concept of American pride, and adds among his reasoning that the US must "protect the White race and stop fighting for the jews [sic]." 

And in yet another section, he blamed 'the Jewish agitation of the Black race' as the catalyst for Blacks, in his view, "viewing everything through a racial lens." 

Other nationalities

Roof's views are just as bizarre and inflammatory regarding other ethnicities, particularly in his remarks against Blacks. 

Roof claims Blacks are "stupid and violent"; that Whites are "superior" to Blacks; that slavery was overwhelmingly "positive," even for the slaves themselves; that "segregation was not a bad thing" and was a "defensive measure" to "protect" Whites; and that Blacks have "lower Iqs [sic], lower impulse control, and higher testosterone levels." 

The 21 year-old also claims he has more respect for Hispanics because they idealize White beauty, as he put it, but concludes "they are still our enemies." 

Asians, puzzlingly, he praises for being "very racist" and claims they would make "great allies of the White race." 

Response

After the manifesto began making waves Saturday night, the FBI issued a statement. 

“Charleston police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are aware of postings on a website allegedly attributed to Dylann Roof, the suspect in the 17 June 2015 shootings at Emanuele AME Church … We are taking steps to verify the authenticity of these postings," it said. 

“Because this is an ongoing investigation, neither the Charleston Police nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation are able to release further details at this time.”

The remarks are a sharp divergence from earlier statements from FBI Director James B. Comey, who initially claimed Saturday that the shooting - which killed nine people and which Roof said were intended to start a race war - did not constitute "terrorism." 

“Terrorism is act of violence done or threaten[ed] … in order to try to influence a public body or citizenry,” Comey stated, “so it’s more of a political act and again based on what I know so more I don’t see it as a political act.”