Dylann Roof’s ‘manifesto’ found on web? | The State

An alleged manifesto of sorts purportedly belonging to accused Charleston killer Dylann Storm Roof surfaced Saturday on the Internet.

The manifesto is laden with racially inflammatory language.

Whether he wrote or posted the text himself is unverified as yet.

But there are fresh photographs that appear to be Roof.

The writer also describes why Charleston was chosen for the attacks.

“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. 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.”

In nearly all the photographs where his face is visible, Roof is serious and unsmiling.

In one photograph, Roof is shown in a beach scene with the numbers “1488” written in the sand. In that photo, the “1” is partially obscured by a wave. In another photo, however, the numbers “1488” are visible written in the sand above the wave line.

According to the Anti-Defamation League and other sources, the number “14” is a reference to what white supremacists call “the 14 words.” Those words are, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” – words attributed to the George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi Party.

The number “88” is shorthand for Heil Hitler – H being the eighth letter of the alphabet, according to the Anti-Defamation League and others.

A different photograph shows him at what appears to be a Lowcountry plantation. He is standing next to what could be educational African-American mannequins dressed in Colonial period costumes.

In another photo, a shirtless young man who is apparently Roof (his face is not part of the photo) stands on top of a rumpled American flag lying on a bedroom floor. To stand on the flag traditionally has been to show extreme disrespect to the flag and country.

In another photo, Roof, wearing sunglasses, is photographed standing outside the Museum and Library of Confederate History, which is in Greenville. Confederate flags are in the background. The museum is a repository of Confederate history and contains exhibits of clothing, money, weapons and other items from that era.

In another photo, he is half-squatting in the grass, holding a Confederate flag similar to the one that flies in front of the South Carolina State House.

One photo is a closeup a .45 caliber pistol and brass-colored bullets. That gun is similar to the one said to have been used in the executions of the nine African-American church members in Charleston last week.

Some of the photos, such as one of him pointing a handgun at the camera, could have been self-taken by Roof. Others, such as him kneeling on a beach, might have been taken by someone else currently unknown.

Another photo shows him sitting on a stool in a garden, surrounded by flowers, holding a Confederate flag in one hand and a .45 caliber handgun in the other.

The website The Daily Beast is reporting that Emma Quangel, the nom de guerre of writer and Twitter user @EMQuangel, discovered the website that appears to contain Roof’s manifesto.

The Daily Beast reports that the search began at 8:03 a.m. Saturday after Twitter user @HenryKrinkle, the pen name of a political blogger, pointed his followers to records of a website registered in Roof’s name. Quangel, a follower of @HenryKrinkle, tracked it down.