Wade Michael Page: Neo-Nazi Killer

A former American soldier who killed six people at a Sikh temple was a white supremacist.

Wade Michael Page, who served in the US Army for around six years before being dishonorably discharged, was shot by police outside the Sikh Temple or Wisconsin after his murderous rampage on Sunday morning.

Once again the politics of racial hatred find their ultimate outlet in brutal massacre. This time the ‘frustrated’ Neo Nazi opened fire at around 10.30am in suburban Oak Creek, Milwaukee at about 10.30am as women prepared a Sunday meal ahead of the morning service.

Worshippers fled the bullets and hid in cupboards as they texted friends and family on the outside begging for help.

Four people were killed inside the temple, while another three -including the gunman – died outside.

Heidi Beirich, director of the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Centre in Montgomery, Alabama, said Page had been a member of the racist skinhead band End Apathy, based in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Photographs on the band's MySpace page show Page's arms heavily tattooed, including one photograph with a Celtic Cross or "Odin's Cross" on his shoulder with the number 14 in the middle.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Odin's Cross symbol is popularly used by white supremacists and neo-Nazis. The number 14 refers to "14 words;" shorthand for a sentence spoken by white supremacist David Lane. Lane was a founding member of "The Order," a white supremacist terrorist group.

It is an awful reminder, if ever we needed one where the politics of hate finds its glory. Equally we would be shockingly naïve to believe there is no link with extremism there and Far Right groups here. In Norway mass Neo-Nazi mass murderer Anders Brevik wrote about his admiration for the English Defense League. And less than two years ago a campaign group Anonymous exposed the link between American white supremist and leader of the British National Party Nick Griffin.

Right now we feel deep sorrow for those American Sikhs who have lost their loved ones in Wisconsin, but we should also redouble our efforts to ensure the politics of hate have no place in our society.

Simon Woolley