This is a list of manifestos written by mass killers and attempted mass killers, explaining their motives for their actions. Many of them have committed the killings to propagate their views.
Analysis
editAccording to a 2020 analysis of 17 mass shooters' manifestos, common themes appearing in them are: narcissism, threats to masculinity, paranoia, fame, suicide ideation, and revenge.[1] A 2017 analysis found the following themes in the manifestos of mass murderers: ego survival and revenge; pseudocommando mindset: persecution, obliteration; envy; nihilism; entitlement; and heroic revenge fantasy.[2]
The FBI conducted a study of 52 lone terrorists in 2019, which found that 96% produced either writings or videos intended to explain their beliefs to others; they found that in 88% of cases, perpetrators published their manifestos before the attack occurred, or "leakage," which is a valuable opportunity for intervention.[3]
List
editName of manifesto | Author | Language | Date published | Notes | Length | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Industrial Society and Its Future | Ted Kaczynski | English | 19 September 1995 | The manifesto was published in The Washington Post and The New York Times, after Kaczynski said he would end his bombing campaign if they did so. The manifesto contends that the Industrial Revolution began a harmful process of natural destruction brought about by technology, while forcing humans to adapt to machinery, creating a sociopolitical order that suppresses human freedom and potential. The 35,000-word manifesto formed the ideological foundation of Kaczynski's 1978–1995 mail bomb campaign, designed to protect wilderness by hastening the collapse of industrial society. | 35,000 words (~100 pages) | [4][5] |
Communication From the Dead | Robert Flores | English | 28 October 2002 | Flores mailed a 22 page letter to the Arizona Daily Star, who later published it online, discussing his reasons for committing the shooting and giving a chronology of his life, stating that it was about "settling accounts". Two of his victims were named in the letter. | 22 pages | [6] |
Unnamed | Seung-Hui Cho | English | 16 April 2007 | The manifesto was mailed to NBC News an hour and a half after Cho had first opened fire. Upon receiving the package on April 18, 2007, NBC News contacted authorities and made the controversial decision to publicize Cho's communications by releasing a small fraction of what it received. The manifesto was described as "rambling" and "incoherent", with Cho criticizing "rich brats" and referring to the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre as martyrs. | 23 pages | [7] |
Natural Selector's Manifesto | Pekka-Eric Auvinen | English, Finnish | 7 November 2007 | Auvinen published a "media package" through RapidShare that he linked from his YouTube channel, containing 21 files including pictures of himself, his school, and guns, as well as several word files. The word files gave background on the attack, with Auvinen describing the attack as "political terrorism" and saying that he didn't want the attack to be called a "school shooting". | 3 pages | [8][9] |
Unnamed | Jim Adkisson | English | 27 July 2008 | A letter, or "manifesto," found in his vehicle after the shooting attributed his motivation for the rampage as a hatred of liberals, Democrats, African Americans, and homosexuals. | 4 pages | [10] |
2083: A European Declaration of Independence | Anders Behring Breivik | English | 22 July 2011 | Breivik wrote a manifesto titled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence. It runs to 1,518 pages and is credited to "Andrew Berwick" (an Anglicization of Breivik's name). It was emailed to over 1000 email contacts less than an hour and a half before his bomb went off. | 1,518 pages | [11][12] |
Manifest | Dmitry Vinogradov | Russian | 7 November 2012 | Posted on Vkontakte, expresses his hatred towards mankind, comparing humans to cancer. | 2 pages | [13] |
Unnamed | Christopher Dorner | English | 6 February 2013 | The manifesto cites anti-police sentiment as a reason for killings. | 11,000 words (~32 pages) | [14] |
Ragnarok | Alex Hribal | English | 6 April 2014 | Cites the Columbine shooters as inspiration and expresses moral nihilism. | 4 pages | [15][16] |
My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger | Elliot Rodger | English | 23 May 2014 | Rodger emailed his 107,000-word manifesto, My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger, to 34 people, including his therapist, Charles Sophy, his parents and other family, former teachers, and childhood friends. In it he said he had originally sought to carry out an attack on Halloween of 2013, but reconsidered because he thought there would be too many police present. | 107,000 words (~300 pages) | [17][18] |
rtf88 | Dylann Roof | English | 17 June 2015 | The manifesto was posted on Roof's website, The Last Rhodesian, which also contained several photos of himself. Roof claimed in the manifesto that he had been radicalized after looking up "black on white crime" and was led to white supremacist websites. His manifesto was described by an expert on extremism as not belonging to the "mainstream" of white supremacist ideology. | 2,444 words (~7 pages) | [19][20][21] |
My Manifesto | Christopher Harper-Mercer | English | 1 October 2015 | The manifesto, carried on a USB drive, was given to a UCC student in Snyder Hall. It was later released by investigators. In the manifesto, Harper-Mercer wrote his actions were done to serve Satan, who, according to Harper-Mercer, would "reward" murderers in hell by turning them into "gods". A large portion of the manifesto was devoted to describing Mercer's hatred of black men. He also described having "kinship" with various other mass and serial murderers, including Ted Bundy, the Columbine shooters, and the Sandy Hook School shooter. | 6 pages | [22][23][24] |
The Great Replacement | Brenton Tarrant | English | 15 March 2019 | Tarrant wrote a 74-page manifesto titled The Great Replacement, a reference to the "Great Replacement" and "white genocide" conspiracy theories. In the manifesto, several anti-immigrant sentiments are expressed, including hate speech against migrants, white supremacist rhetoric, and calls for all non-European immigrants in Europe who he claimed to be "invading his land" to be removed. He also cited the work of other far-right killers such as Anders Breivik and Dylann Roof. | 74 pages | [25][26] |
An Open Letter | John Earnest | English | 27 April 2019 | An anti-semitic and racist open letter was posted on 8chan shortly before the shooting and signed with Earnest's name. Earnest's letter was influenced by Christchurch and took responsibility for the Escondido mosque fire. | 9 pages | [27] |
The Inconvenient Truth | Patrick Crusius | English | 3 August 2019 | The El Paso police chief, Greg Allen, said that they are "reasonably confident" that a manifesto, titled The Inconvenient Truth, was posted by the suspect on the online message board 8chan shortly before the shooting. The manifesto in question is explicitly inspired by Christchurch. | 2,300 words (~7 pages) | [28][29] |
Techno-Barbarism: A Spiritual Guide for Discontented White Men in the Current Year +4 | Stephan Balliet | English | 9 October 2019 | Structured in a similar way as the Christchurch manifesto, it has a list of "Achievements" alluding to first-person shooter games. | 11 pages | [30][31] |
Unnamed | Mohammed Alshamrani | English | 6 December 2019 | Posted on Alshamrani's Twitter account, it condemned the United States as a "nation of evil" for their supposed crimes against Muslims and humanity. | 4 pages | [32] |
Skript mit Bilder | Tobias Rathjen | German | 19 February 2020 | In the manifesto, Rathjen called for the murder of all people from various non-European nations, and described himself as an incel, as he had not had a relationship in nearly 20 years "out of a fear of the state surveilling him". He also accused Donald Trump of stealing his ideas. | 24 pages | [33][34] |
A White Awakening | Nathaniel Veltman | English | 6 June 2021 | Inspired by the Christchurch terrorist's manifesto, the manifesto was found on a thumb drive inside of Veltman's residence. | 74 pages | [35][36] |
You Wait for a Signal While Your People Wait for You | Payton Gendron | English | 12 May 2022 | Titled after a quote from the Christchurch terrorist, the manifesto is focused on mass immigration and holds anti-Black views. The manifesto was originally posted on Google Docs two days before the attack and had not been modified since. The author describes himself as someone who initially identified himself as being on the "authoritarian left", before he developed American neo-Nazi, antisemitic, eco-fascist, ethno-nationalist, populist, and white supremacist views influenced by Tarrant, Breivik, Roof, Earnest, Robert Bowers and The Daily Stormer. The manifesto is largely plagiarized from The Great Replacement. | 180 pages | [37][38][39] |
The Downward Spiral of "Ethan Miller" | Ethan Miller | English | 28 August 2022 | Posted on Wattpad, the manifesto describes his isolation and solitude as well as his inspiration by the Columbine High School massacre. | 15 pages | [40] |
Post-modernism and Its Consequences for Our Nation[a] | Unknown, first name Isaque[41] | Portuguese | 26 September 2022 | A few hours before committing a shooting at the Barreiras school, the perpetrator published a manifesto on his Twitter account. In his manifesto, the perpetrator claimed to be superior to others, in addition to containing speeches in favor of racial supremacy and hate speeches against different communities such as the LGBT community, the residents of Bahia and the school community itself, in addition to stating that his intentions were to murder as many people as possible so that they "felt divine wrath". | 29 pages | [42] |
A Call to Arms | Juraj Krajčík | English | 12 October 2022 | Just a few hours before the attack, links to a 65-page long manifesto were posted on Twitter. In the document, the author does not provide their name, claiming it is not of importance and "will be known later anyway", but identifies himself as a man of Slovak origin born on July 28, 2003, who has decided to "execute an operation" against "the enemies of the white race". The manifesto blames Jews and LGBT people for "causing harm to white people" and celebrates mass murderers, including Breivik and the perpetrators of Christchurch mosque shootings and Poway synagogue shooting. | 65 pages | [43][44] |
Unnamed | Aiden Hale | English | 27 March 2023 | Hale's manifesto was not originally released to the public pending a lawsuit for their release, but on November 6, 2023, 3 pages were leaked online by Steven Crowder followed by the Nashville MPD opening an investigation. The leaked manifesto included far-left views, anti-white sentiments, and extreme hatred for those Hale considered to have white privilege. The leaked pages also included the plan Hale would go through the day of the shooting, with the top of the page being adorned with the words "Death Day". | 90 pages | [45] |
A White Boy Summer to Remember | Ryan Palmeter | English | 26 August 2023 | Palmeter had three manifestos, two of which were not released to the public. One of them was released by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. It contains sentiments of racism against African Americans and anti-semitism. He cited the perpetrator of the Christchurch shootings as the "main inspiration for [his] methods…and targets."[46] | 26 pages released, unknown number unreleased | [47][48] |
Mass Cleaner Manual[b] | Arda Küçükyetim | Turkish | 12 August 2024 | In the manifesto, Küçükyetim states his intent to target immigrants, Syrian children, and members of the LGBT community, as well as noting that he originally planned to attack the headquarters of the Communist Party of Turkey. | 17 pages | [49] |
Notes
edit- ^ Portuguese: O pós modernismo e suas consequências na nossa nação
- ^ Turkish: Mass Cleaner El Kitabı
References
edit- ^ Duong, Hillary (2020). A Linguistic Analysis Of Mass Shooter Journals, Diaries, Correspondence, And Manifestos (PDF) (Masters thesis). University of Alabama. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
- ^ Hamlet, Laura E. (2017). Common Psycholinguistic Themes in Mass Murderer Manifestos (PhD thesis). Walden University. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
- ^ Kupper, Julia (5 May 2022). "Preventing Attacks Using Targeted Violence Manifestos". FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. FBI. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Graham, Donald E.; Sulzberger Jr., Arthur O. (19 September 1995). "Statement by Papers' Publishers". The Washington Post. p. A07. Archived from the original on 4 May 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "Post, Times publish Unabomber manifesto". CNN. 19 September 1995. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ Rotstein, Arthur H. (30 October 2002). "Gunman's letter tries to explain university shootings". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Apuzzo, Matt (18 July 2007). "Va. gunman sent videos and photos to NBC". The Roanoke Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 19 April 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ "YouTubessa viesti ammuskelusta jo tiistaina" [A YouTube message on a jumper Tuesday]. Yle (in Finnish). 7 November 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
- ^ Mäki, Matias (7 November 2007). "Tuusulan ampuja jätti Youtubeen täyden mediapaketin" [Tuusula shooter left Youtube a full media package]. Digitoday (in Finnish). Taloussanomat. Archived from the original on 9 September 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
- ^ Neiwert, David (2017). Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump. Verso. p. 18. ISBN 9781786634245. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew (26 July 2011). "Breivik sent 'manifesto' to 250 UK contacts hours before Norway killings". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
- ^ Breivik, Anders (22 July 2011). "2083: A European Declaration of Independence" (PDF). Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "Dmitry Vinogradov, who shoots down six colleagues at Moscow office, charged with extremism". TASS. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Christopher Goffard; Joel Rubin; Kurt Streeter; Illustrations by Doug Stevens (8 December 2013). "The Manhunt for Christopher Dorner, Chapter 2: Fear and the City". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
- ^ Hribal, Alex (6 April 2014). Ragnarok (PDF).
- ^ "Alex Hribal to speak before sentencing for Franklin Regional attack". www.tribliveoffers.com. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
Police found his four-page manifesto, titled "Ragnarok" and dated three days before the attack, in a backpack stowed in his locker.
- ^ Duke, Alan (27 May 2014). "Five revelations from the 'twisted world' of a 'kissless virgin'". CNN. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ Rodger, Elliot (n.d.). My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014 – via Document Cloud.org.
- ^ Buncombe, Andrew (29 June 2015). "Dylan Roof: Experts believe Charleston shooting suspect was author of racist manifesto and 'self-radicalised' online". The Independent. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ Neuman, Scott (20 June 2015). "Photos Of Dylann Roof, Racist Manifesto Surface On Website". NPR. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ Roof, Dylann Storm (2015). "rtf88.txt". lastrhodesian.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ Fowler, Tara; Keating, Susan Katz (2 October 2015). "Oregon Shooting: Gunman Wrote About Obsession with Satan in Reported Manifesto". People. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ^ Theen, Andrew (9 September 2017). "Umpqua Community College shooting: Killer's manifesto reveals racist, satanic views". oregonlive. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ Coffman, Keith (8 September 2017). "Oregon college shooter wrote of kinship with mass killers in manifesto". New York Daily News. Reuters. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Gilsinan, Kathy (15 March 2019). "How White-Supremacist Violence Echoes Other Forms of Terrorism". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 17 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ Gelineau, Kristen; Gambrell, Jon (15 March 2019). "New Zealand mosque shooter is a white nationalist who hates immigrants, documents and video reveal". Associated Press. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
- ^ Parvini, Sarah (28 April 2019). "Poway synagogue shooting suspect linked to anti-Semitic internet manifesto". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Collins, Ben (3 August 2019). "Investigators 'reasonably confident' Texas suspect left anti-immigrant screed, tipped off before attack". NBC News. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ Crusius, Patrick (2019). The Inconvenient Truth (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2022 – via randallpacker.com.
- ^ Meleagrou-Hitchens, Alexander; Crawford, Blyth; Wutke, Valentin (December 2021). "Rise Of The Reactionaries: Comparing The Ideologies Of Salafi-Jihadism And White Supremacist Extremism". Reports, Projects, and Research. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Nilsson, Per-Erik (2022). "Manifestos of White Nationalist Ethno-Soldiers". Critical Research on Religion. 10 (2): 221–235. doi:10.1177/20503032211044426. ISSN 2050-3032.
- ^ "Naval Air Station shooter wrote manifesto condemning US as 'nation of evil:' report". Fox News. 7 December 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Bostock, Bill (20 February 2020). "The mass shooter who killed 9 in Germany published a racist manifesto where he identified as an incel and accused Trump of stealing his populist slogans". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
- ^ Hummel, Kristina (24 March 2020). "The Hanau Terrorist Attack: How Race Hate and Conspiracy Theories Are Fueling Global Far-Right Violence". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. 13 (3). Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Sims, Jane (4 October 2023). "In manifesto, Nathaniel Veltman called for 'violent revolution'". The London Free Press. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ Dubinski, Kate (4 October 2023). "Manifesto of man accused of terror attack against London, Ont., Muslim family read at murder trial". CBC News. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ Jarvie, Jenny; Hennessy-Fiske, Molly; Winton, Richard (15 May 2022). Lauter, David (ed.). "A new generation of white supremacist killer: shedding blood with internet winks, memes and livestreams". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ Sharlet, Jeff (17 May 2022). "The Terrifying Familiarity of the Buffalo Shooting Suspect's Extremist Screed". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Telvock, Daniel (16 May 2022). "Racist screed linked to Buffalo mass shooter 'plagiarized' portions from Christchurch mosque shooter, expert says". WIVB. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Lamoureux, Mack (30 August 2022). "'I Can't Wait to Die': Oregon Mass Shooter Shared Detailed 'Doomsday' Plans Online". Vice News. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ "Barreiras: Cadeirante morta tinha 21 anos; atirador não tinha alvo específico". Bahia Notícias (in Brazilian Portuguese). 26 September 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ "Atentado em Barreiras: jovem atirador declarou informações e planos sobre o atentado em rede social". Farol da Bahia (in Brazilian Portuguese). 26 September 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Osvaldová, Lucia; Benedikovičová, Mária (13 October 2022). "Vrah zo Zámockej bol šikovný žiak, ale bez kamarátov a s prejavmi zúrivosti. Obdivoval Breivika aj Eichmanna, nacionalizmus mal aj doma". Denník N (in Slovak). Retrieved 13 January 2023.
- ^ Potocký, Erik (13 October 2022). "Manifest vraha / Esencia číreho antisemitizmu". Konzervatívny denník Postoj (in Slovak). Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^
- "Nashville school shooting: Transgender killer who murdered three kids was ex-student who made 'manifesto' and maps of building". Sky News. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
Hale had a manifesto and detailed maps of the school
- Impelli, Matthew (27 March 2023). "Nashville Police Respond to Shooter Manifesto Released by Steven Crowder". Newsweek. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
In the collective writings by Hale found in her vehicle in the school parking lot, her planning over a period of months to commit mass murder at The Covenant School
- Schumacher, Thomas (6 November 2023). "Update: Nashville School Mass Shooter's Manifesto Leaked; FBI & Shooter's Family Refuses To Comment". WSAU. Wausau, Stevens Point. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
- Kruesi, Kimberlee (6 November 2023). "Nashville investigating after possible leak of Covenant shooting images". Associated Press. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
- "Nashville school shooting: Transgender killer who murdered three kids was ex-student who made 'manifesto' and maps of building". Sky News. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ "Jacksonville Shooter's Newly Public Writings Reveal White Supremacist Beliefs". Anti-Defamation League. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Gancarski, A.G. (19 January 2024). "Jacksonville Sheriff's Office releases manifesto of racist Dollar General murderer". Florida Politics. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Stanley, Jason (30 August 2023). "The racist Florida shooter's ideology extends to ordinary people". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ "Eskişehir'de Nazi amblemli saldırgan 5 kişiyi bıçakladı, saldırı anını canlı yayınladı". Euronews (in Turkish). 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
External links
edit- "Understanding The Statements Of Mass Shooters". NPR. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2023.