A trail of hate
Re “Suspect fits ‘ classic lone wolf ’ profile,” June 20
I am concerned about the overuse of the term “lone wolf ” when describing accused Charleston, S. C., shooter Dylann Roof. Though apparently used to acknowledge the considerable time he spent by himself and how he allegedly shot and killed the nine people by himself in an African American church, such extensive use of this term discounts the apparently plentiful online links he had to the hate- filled, racist Internet community that sadly exists in this country.
Given his racist Facebook postings and his acquisition of jacket patches of apartheid- era f lags of the countries of South Africa and the former Rhodesia, Roof was not “alone” as he developed such hate for African Americans. Hate is taught, and you need others to do the teaching.
When Roof allegedly stepped into this historic black church with the intent to kill, he walked with the countless racist Americans who share his hate- filled beliefs. Thus, he was part of a racist Internet- based “pack of wolves.”
Donald Bentley
La Puente
President Nixon’s opening of the door to China created one of our most dangerous adversaries around the globe. Similarly, a deal with Iran lifting economic sanctions would provide our adversaries with funding for terrorist strikes and death around the globe. By lifting sanctions on Iran, President Obama’s legacy would stand alongside Nixon’s of empowering China.
David Laufer Oxnard