Student guilty of black church arsons wants pro-white group
Ethics
A University of Wisconsin-Madison student who once served prison time for setting fires at two predominantly black churches is recruiting on campus for a local chapter of a national pro-white party, enraging students searching for ways to improve race relations.
Daniel Dropik, 33, said frustration over the Black Lives Matter movement's presence on campus and university courses examining white and male privilege led him to start a local chapter of the American Freedom Party. The American Freedom Party is a political party with deep ties to white supremacism, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
Dropik's recruiting comes as minorities have been pushing UW-Madison leaders to better protect them following several incidents targeting black and Jewish students last spring.
In 2005, Dropik was convicted in federal court of racially-motivated arsons at two predominantly black churches in Milwaukee and Lansing, Michigan. According to court documents, Dropik told investigators he believed a black person had stolen his backpack in a Milwaukee bus terminal and black men beat him up during
Related listings
-
Court: Indian candidates can't use faith, caste to get votes
Ethics 01/03/2017India's top court has ruled that election candidates cannot use religion or caste to seek votes, describing them as corrupt practices under electoral laws. India has a Hindu-nationalist government, and most political parties select candidates in vari...
-
Supreme Court stays execution of Alabama inmate
Ethics 11/14/2016The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday night stayed the execution of an Alabama man convicted of the 1982 shooting death of a woman's husband in a murder-for-hire arrangement. Five justices voted to stay the execution of Tommy Arthur as the high court co...
-
Court rules man treated for mental illness can have a gun
Ethics 09/17/2016A Michigan man who can't buy a gun because he was briefly treated for mental health problems in the 1980s has won a key decision from a federal appeals court, which says the burden is on the government to justify a lifetime ban against him. The Secon...