‘What sent me over the top was the church shooting’: On-air killer wanted a ‘race war’
By Chris Perez
August 26, 2015 | 2:53pm
The suspect in the deadly on-air shooting of a reporter and a cameraman in Virginia said the Charleston church massacre made him snap — telling ABC News in a rambling manifesto that he wanted to spark a “race war” between blacks and whites.
“MY NAME IS BRYCE WILLIAMS. Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The Church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15,” wrote Vester Lee Flanagan II, a former on-air reporter who worked at Roanoke affiliate WDBJ under the name Bryce Williams.
Bryce Williams in a photo from WDBJ.
“What sent me over the top was the church shooting,” he wrote in a 23-page fax sent to the news outlet. “And my hollow point bullets have the victims’ initials on them. As for Dylann Roof? You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …(deleted)!!!”
Williams added that Jehovah spoke to him, telling him to target on-air reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward during a live TV segment in Moneta, Va.
Over the last few weeks, ABC News says, Williams had been contacting them, wanting to pitch a story via fax machine. He never revealed what the story was, but on Wednesday at 8:26 a.m., just around two hours after the shooting, the 23-page document came through in a fax.
Around 10 a.m., he called ABC and confessed that he was the one who shot Parker and Ward — adding that the authorities were “after me” and “all over the place.”
Bryce Williams shot WDBJ reporter Alison Parker during an on-air interview.
In his manifesto, Williams quoted the Virginia Tech mass killer and expressed admiration for the Columbine High School shooters.
“Also, I was influenced by Seung–Hui Cho. That’s my boy right there,” he wrote. “He got NEARLY double the amount that Eric Harris and Dylann Klebold got…just sayin’.”
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At one point, Williams even dubbed the document a “Suicide Note for Friends and Family” as he listed several reasons why he was lashing out against white people.
He claimed to have been the constant victim of racism, sexual harassment and bullying at work, most of which was because he was a gay black man, according to ABC.
Below is an excerpt from Williams’ manifesto:
‘MY NAME IS BRYCE WILLIAMS’
‘Why did I do it? I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The Church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15…’
‘What sent me over the top was the church shooting. And my hollow point bullets have the victims’ initials on them.’
‘As for Dylann Roof? You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE … (deleted)!!!’
‘Also, I was influenced by Seung–Hui Cho. That’s my boy right there. He got NEARLY double the amount that Eric Harris and Dylann Klebold got … just sayin.’’
‘Yes, it will sound like I am angry…I am. And I have every right to be. But when I leave this Earth, the only emotion I want to feel is peace…’
‘The church shooting was the tipping point…but my anger has been building steadily…I’ve been a human powder keg for a while … just waiting to go BOOM!!!!’
http://nypost.com/2015/08/26/on-air-killer-wanted-race-war-after-charleston-massacre/
