Wade Michael Page A ‘Frustrated White Supremacist,’ Civil Rights Group Says

Sikh temple shooter Wade Michael Page was a white supremacist and involved in the hate group music scene, new reports indicate, as information about the man who gunned down several temple-goers Sunday in Wisconsin filters out.

Wade Michael Page‘s connection to white supremacist groups was only one of the things we learned about Page in the massacre’s aftermath. CBS explains that while Wade Michael Page spent six years in the Army, he left under murky circumstances:

“According to sources in the Army, Page enlisted in April 1992 and was given a less-than-honorable discharge in October 1998. He served at Fort Bliss, Texas, in the psychological operations unit in 1994, and was last stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., attached to the psychological operations unit. The details of his discharge were not immediately clear.”

CBS also says Page’s involvement in the shooting and links to white supremacist groups have prompted “an investigation into a possible hate crime.” But the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group and watchdog of hate organizations like white supremacist groups, has shed some light on Wade Michael Page’s connection to potential hatemongers.

According to the SPLC, Page founded and was openly involved with many neo-Nazi and white supremacist music groups, and the organization’s site dug into his connection:

“In 2010, Page, then the leader of the band End Apathy, gave an interview to the white supremacist website Label 56. He said that when he started the band in 2005, its name reflected his wish to ‘figure out how to end people’s apathetic ways’ and start ‘moving forward.'”

The site continues:

“Page told the website that he had been a part of the white power music scene since 2000, when he left his native Colorado on a motorcycle. He attended white power concerts in Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Colorado. At various times, he said, he also played in the hate rock bands Youngland (2001-2003), Celtic Warrior, Radikahl, Max Resist, Intimidation One, Aggressive Force and Blue Eyed Devils. End Apathy, he said, included ‘Brent’ on bass and ‘Ozzie’ on drums; the men were former members of Definite Hate and another band, 13 Knots.”

Neighbors have described Page as unfriendly, brooding and say they believed he was involved with white supremacist groups.