Wisconsin Sikh Gurdwara Shooter Talked of ‘Racial Holy War’

The more authorities find out about Wade Michael Page, the worse it gets.

By Julianne Hing Aug 07, 2012

The more authorities find out about Wade Michael Page, the man who shot and killed six people at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on Sunday, the worse it gets. Christopher Robillard, who told [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/06/us/wisconsin-shooting-suspect/index.html?hpt=hp_t1) Page was his "closest friend" when the two were in the military, said that Page talked often about a "racial holy war." "He would talk about the racial holy war, like he wanted it to come," Robillard said. "But to me, he didn’t seem like the type of person to go out and hurt people." Page was trained as a psychological warfare specialist and rose to the rank of sergeant before he was discharged for showing up to formation drunk. Robillard nonetheless said Page as a "very kind, very smart individual." Authorities also know that Page [fronted](https://colorlines.com/archives/2012/08/wisconsin_sikh_temples_shooter_was_long_known_as_white_supremacist.html) a white supremacist band. They know that Page was once in the military, before he was discharged. They know that the he was [tattooed](http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-sick-meaning-behind-the-tattoo-on-temple-shooter-wade-michael-pages-arm-2012-8) with the logo of Stormfront, an online community of white supremacists. For many, those pieces of information are enough to settle the whys of Page’s brutal last act. But authorities insist they are continuing to look into Page’s motives for an act they’re investigating as domestic terrorism.