Earl P. Holt III, president of the Council of Conservative Citizens
Let's unpack some things together. We won't go down any deep rabbit holes or chase half-truths. Just the facts. What we will find is that Dylann Roof, who shot and killed nine African Americans, including State Sen. Rev. Clementa Pinckney, at Emanuel AME, did not simply operate off of the hate inside of his own heart/mind, but was directly inspired by the hate of others—particularly that of one man, Earl P. Holt III, a frequent Republican donor.
Here we go.
The Basics
1. Law enforcement has confirmed that the online manifesto purported to be from Dylann Roof is authentic and that the text was posted just hours before the shooting.
2. In the second paragraph of his racist manifesto, Roof specifically mentions that he was inspired by the website of the Council of Conservative Citizens. It's one of the few resources he specifically mentions by name.
3. The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified online comments that appear to be from Roof on other hate websites in which he continues to communicate his respect and admiration for the Council of Conservative Citizens.
4. Earl P. Holt III, the head of the Council of Conservative Citizens, is a well-known Republican donor. He has given over $65,000 to candidates including Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, and others, putting him in the top 1 percent of all political donors nationwide. He was not unknown to them.
5. Mike Huckabee actually delivered a speech to the Council of Conservative Citizens.
Follow below for more.
The Specifics
1. Earl P. Holt III, the head of the CCC (some say this is an homage to the KKK) is an overt racist. Not the "African Americans get on my nerves" type of racist, but the "I hate niggers" type of racist.
2. The Council of Conservative Citizens is a tax-exempt organization that claims to be for the public good.
Here is where it gets wild.
3. Earl P. Holt made very specific comments on the CCC website that seem directly connected to the Charleston shooting. He made these comments just TWO DAYS before the actual shooting.
The president of the council is Earl P. Holt III, and researchers with the Southern Poverty Law Center said Wednesday that Holt posts racially charged comments on the website using the handle “CofCCprez2015.” The Montgomery, Ala., organization tracks hate and extremist groups.
In a June 15 posting on that website, a person with that username wrote:
“Old guys like me should dress in a disheveled manner, pretend to be intoxicated, hang-out in “the hood,” and bring along a large-caliber handgun (with backup!) and help mitigate violent black crime at its source. ...”
CofCCprez2015 went on to recommend that the gun he would use would be a .45-caliber pistol. Roof is accused of using a .45-caliber pistol to kill the nine people on June 17 at Emanuel AME Church on Calhoun Street, one of the nation’s oldest black churches.
4. Look at what Roof said in
his racist manifesto:
I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight.
He then went on to reference how some people were just talking on the Internet, but he was prepared to take it offline into the real world.
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.
Alluding to the fact that he was in a hurry and would likely not write again, Roof then concluded with this thought:
Unfortunately at the time of writing I am in a great hurry and some of my best thoughts, actually many of them have been to be left out and lost forever. But I believe enough great White minds are out there already.
5.
The New York Times and others have confirmed that the manifesto was last altered just hours before the shooting:
According to web server logs, the manifesto was last modified at 4:44 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the day of the Charleston shootings.