Neo-nazi Benjamin Nathaniel Smith’s short life was consumed by immense hatred and he took every opportunity to spread that hate. His high school yearbook quote was “Sic semper tyrannis" (“Thus always to tyrants”), words John Wilkes Booth shouted as he assassinated President Lincoln. In 1998, Smith joined an Illinois white separatist group after expulsion from 2 colleges for conflicts arising from the distribution of racist fliers.
On July 2, 1999, the 21-year-old set off on a multi-state killing spree starting in Chicago with the mass shooting of 9 Orthodox Jews, all of whom survived their wounds. Nearby, Smith killed former Northwestern basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong outside his home and shot another random black man the next day. On July 4, he crossed into Indiana, where he killed Korean student Won-Joon Yoon and shot at 8 more before police spotted him. A car chase ensued and he decided to commit suicide, but had some trouble. Smith shot himself in the head twice, crashed his car, then finally fired a fatal shot in his chest.
Smith was interviewed for a documentary just weeks before the spree and can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/c1mn0ONP3Zw
"Drunk at the matinee" is a collection of candid poetry about stupid shit that we all experience from day to day.
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