IREHR’s Devin Burghart was cited in a Kansas City Star piece exposing how Dylann Roof, the Charleston church killer, first entered white nationalism through his discovery of the St. Louis-based Council of Conservative Citizens.
The story by Judy Thomas notes,
Those who monitor extremist groups said the writer’s description of coming across the council’s website is significant, if indeed he is Roof.
“It’s a very important piece of the overall equation,” said Devin Burghart, vice president of the Kansas City-based Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights.
“According to the manifesto, it was his entry point into the depths of white nationalism. It’s what changed him from being an ordinary racist to being a white nationalist killer.
“This is probably the clearest example that we’ve had in years of someone saying, ‘Here is how it happened.’ It also shows that he was deeply mired in white nationalism. It’s not somebody who just had a surface understanding of this stuff. He was very deeply involved.”
The full story can be found here.
