Prosecutors Say Man Who Killed Two Black People in Massachusetts Was 'Fueled by White Supremacy'

Earlier this week, prosecutors in Suffolk County, Mass. released excerpts of racist rhetoric written in journals by Nathan Allen, who murdered a Black man and woman last month in Winthrop, Mass.

According to WCVB News, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said Allen “carried a hate fueled by white supremacy” based on his writings. Investigators are reviewing extremist literature that he read prior to the shooting, WCVB reports, along with the journals they found in his apartment.

From WCVB:

The ongoing investigation is reviewing “volumes” of extremist literature that Allen read in the months prior to the shootings and journals found in his apartment. Next to his bed, Rollins said State Police Troopers found a notebook Allen called, “The Allen Diaries.”

In that notebook, Rollins said Allen reflected on Black individuals he hated and expressed a belief that “racism is healthy and natural.” It was a message he repeated in other writings, Rollins said.

Other excerpts of Allen’s writing shared by the DA’s office expressed his belief in the superiority of white people and man’s need to kill.

CNN reports that Allen’s writings also used various slurs to refer to Black people and “called on white people to ‘snap’ and murder Black people in cold blood.”

Allen, 28, was shot and killed by police on June 26 after he stole a large truck and crashed it into a car and a vacant home. He then fatally shot Ramona Cooper, a 60-year-old Air Force veteran, and David L. Green, a 58-year-old retired Massachusetts State Trooper. Rollins said in June that Allen did not harm several non-Black people he walked by before killing Cooper and Green.

From NBC Boston:

Winthrop police Chief Terence Delehanty spoke to reporters after the release of excerpts of the journals. He emphasized that the gunman wasn’t born or raised in Winthrop and that the community is far better represented by the way it came together in mourning after the shooting.

“The ideology, white supremacy, that he subscribed to is despicable to all of us,” Delehanty said.

He said the FBI is part of the investigation into what happened. The probe has been focused in part on where the man became radicalized.

The shooter received a doctorate in physical therapy in January, the MGH Institute of Health Professions has confirmed. He’d started attending the school, a graduate school for health professions, in 2017.

According to CNN, Rollins said Allen “fooled” many people by “outwardly appearing stable and upstanding while internally filled with extremist ideologies and hatred.” She also stated that his family has been “extremely” cooperative with her office’s investigation.

From CNN:

We would not have had immediate access to all of the information we do now without their full cooperation,” she said. “Further, there has been no indication or evidence that the Allen family was aware of Nathan’s intent or apparent ideologies.

“They have stated that they denounce any form of hatred or racism and request privacy during this difficult time,” Rollins added. “All three of these families — the Coopers, the Greens, and the Allens - are survivors of homicide, and my office will provide resources and assistance in whatever way we can for them.”