UW student wants to form pro-white group

Madison — A University of Wisconsin-Madison student whose attempts to burn down two African-American churches stemmed from what a judge called “deep psychological and psychiatric problems,” wants to start a local chapter of a self-proclaimed white nationalist party.

Daniel Dropik, 33, formerly of Oconomowoc, is recruiting on campus for a Madison chapter of the American Freedom Party, which says it “represents the interests and issues of European-Americans.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, describes the American Freedom Party as an organization “established by racist Southern California skinheads that aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule.”

In 2006, Dropik was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of racially motivated arson of a church.

According to court records, Dropik admitted setting fire to Greater Love Missionary Baptist Church, 2401 N. 10th St. in Milwaukee, and Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lansing, Mich.

The Milwaukee church sustained about $850 in damage; the Michigan church had close to $39,000 in damage. No one was injured in either fire.

At his sentencing hearing in federal court in Milwaukee, U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa said he believed Dropik’s actions “were motivated by deep psychological and psychiatric problems.”