I’ve previously done presentations on the rise and influence of hate sites on the Internet, and certainly, this recent CNN story caught my attention.

Of course, the story tracks the recent tragedy in Red Lake, Minnesota where 16-year-old Jeff Weise killed 9 people before killing himself. What I find interesting is the shooter’s alleged fascination with Naziism, and his participation on hate-based sites.

The Libertarian National Socialist Green Party, owner of Nazi dot org (which I would rather not link to), issued a statement that Jeff Weise had posted to their site.

Here is one of his posts from March 2004:

“I stumbled across the site in my study of the Third Reich as well as Nazism … I guess I’ve always carried a natural admiration for Hitler and his ideals, and his courage to take on larger nations.”

While I am sure there were many factors contributing to this massacre, hate sites can be a powerful influence on young, impressionable minds, and should not be discounted in tragic events such as this.