1999 Independence Day weekend shootings

Shooting spree in Illinois and Indiana, United States December 2022 1999 Independence Day weekend shootings Chicago, Skokie, and Decatur, IllinoisBloomington, Indiana July 2–4, 1999 Jews, racial minorities Spree shooting, drive-by shooting Bryco .380-caliber pistol Ruger .22-caliber pistol 3 (including the perpetrator) 10 Benjamin Nathaniel Smith White supremacy, antisemitism, racial hatred During the weekend of July 4, 1999, white supremacist Benjamin Smith targeted ethnic and racial minorities (with victims including nine Orthodox Jews, two African-American men, and a Korean man), in a three-day drive-by shooting rampage in the U.S. states of Illinois and Indiana, after which he committed suicide. Smith was a member of the white supremacist World Church of the Creator. Events Smith was a follower of the white supremacist organization now known as the Creativity Movement, and was a devoted disciple of the group's leader Matthew Hale. Two days after Hale was denied a license to practice law in Illinois, Smith loaded his light blue Ford Taurus with guns and ammunition and went on a three-day, two-state shooting spree, killing two people and wounding nine others.Washingtonpost.com: Racial Slayer Killed Himself in Struggle https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/hatecrimes/stories/hatecrimes070699.htm https://archive.today/20250618164348/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/hatecrimes/stories/hatecrimes070699.htm June 18, 2025 2025-06-18 www.washingtonpost.com On the evening of Friday, July 2, Smith shot and wounded nine Orthodox Jews in drive-by shootings in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Smith then shot and killed former University of Detroit Mercy and Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong, an African-American, in front of two of his three children, while they were walking outside Byrdsong's Skokie, Illinois, home. The next day, Smith traveled to Urbana, Springfield and then Decatur, where he shot and wounded an African-American minister. On Sunday, July 4, Smith traveled to Bloomington, Indiana, where he killed Won-Joon Yoon, a 26-year-old Korean graduate student in economics at Indiana University, who was on his way to the Korean United Methodist Church.Michael H. Stone & Gary Brucato. The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2019), pp. 74-78. Smith shot at but missed another nine people. On Sunday, July 4, fleeing the police in a high-speed chase on a southern Illinois highway, Smith shot himself twice in the head and crashed his automobile into a metal post. He then shot himself again, in the heart, this time fatally. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Perpetrator Benjamin Nathaniel Smith (March 22, 1978 – July 4, 1999) was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois. He attended high school at New Trier Township High School. During this time he accosted a Skokie, Illinois, police officer and pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery.Kirsten Scharnberg Evan Osnos David Mendell THE MAKING OF A RACIST https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/07/25/the-making-of-a-racist/ https://archive.today/20250223210328/https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/07/25/the-making-of-a-racist/ February 23, 2025 Chicago Tribune He transferred to Mary D. Bradford High School in Kenosha for his senior year. He did not pose for a photograph in his senior yearbook, but in his class statement he wrote, "Sic semper tyrannis" (Thus always to tyrants). This phrase was shouted by John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.Dedman Bill 1999-07-06 Midwest Gunman Had Engaged In Racist Acts at 2 Universities https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/06/us/midwest-gunman-had-engaged-in-racist-acts-at-2-universities.html https://archive.today/20120906110321/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/06/us/midwest-gunman-had-engaged-in-racist-acts-at-2-universities.html September 6, 2012 2018-05-24 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 After graduating, Smith attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Smith dropped out of the university in 1998 after several conflicts with campus authorities. After dropping out, he transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington. Police reported that Smith was known for passing out hate-filled fliers against Jews, blacks and Asians on university campuses. In October 1998, Smith was the subject of a story on his university's public broadcasting station.CNN - Suspected shooter said his hate-filled leaflets spoke 'the truth' - July 6, 1999 http://www.cnn.com/US/9907/06/smith.profile.01/ https://archive.today/20120729124303/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9907/06/smith.profile.01/ July 29, 2012 2022-07-08 www.cnn.com Smith was a follower of the white supremacist organization now known as the Creativity Movement, and was a devoted disciple of the group's leader Matthew Hale. Two days after Hale was denied a license to practice law in Illinois, Smith loaded his light blue Ford Taurus with guns and ammunition and committed the shooting spree. Aftermath Around 2,000 people attended Won-Joon Yoon's memorial service at the Indiana University Musical Arts Center on July 12, 1999. Attorney General of the United States Janet Reno spoke at the memorial service.1999-07-14 Indiana Shooting Victim Mourned https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-14-na-55727-story.html https://archive.today/20250618165114/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-14-na-55727-story.html June 18, 2025 2022-07-28 Los Angeles Times en-US Associated PressWon-Joon Yoon Remembered https://economics.indiana.edu/alumni-giving/newsletters/2019-fall/news/woon-remembered.html https://archive.today/20250618165236/https://economics.indiana.edu/alumni-giving/newsletters/2019-fall/news/woon-remembered.html June 18, 2025 2022-07-28 Department of Economics en IU created a scholarship to honor Won-Joon. Every July 4, the Korean United Methodist Church holds an early morning service to remember Yoon who was murdered on his way to the church's Sunday service.20 years after slaying of Won-Joon Yoon, prayers to end violence still going up https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/crime/2019/07/04/20-years-after-slaying-of-won-joon-yoon-prayers-to-end-violence-still-going-up/46646717/ https://archive.today/20250618165346/https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/crime/2019/07/04/20-years-after-slaying-of-won-joon-yoon-prayers-to-end-violence-still-going-up/46646717/ June 18, 2025 2022-07-28 The Herald-Times en-US Ricky Byrdsong's widow established The Ricky Byrdsong Foundation to "arrest the growing epidemic of hate and violence in our society by and against our youth."Race Against Hate 2019 http://events.ywcae-ns.org/site/TR?sid=1022&pg=informational&fr_id=1090 https://web.archive.org/web/20190619080630/http://events.ywcae-ns.org/site/TR?sid=1022&pg=informational&fr_id=1090 June 19, 2019 events.ywcae-ns.org The foundation holds a number of events in and around Evanston; the most well-known is the Race Against Hate, a 5K running race held annually in late June in Evanston. The Race Against Hate race draws several thousand runners. In 2009, a 10,000-meter running race was added in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Race Against Hate.Race Against Hate 2019 http://events.ywcae-ns.org/site/TR/Events/General?pg=entry&fr_id=1090 https://web.archive.org/web/20190619080630/http://events.ywcae-ns.org/site/TR?sid=1022&pg=informational&fr_id=1090 June 19, 2019 events.ywcae-ns.org One of the victims has filed a lawsuit against the World Church of the Creator and its leader Matthew Hale, Smith's parents, and the person who has been charged with selling guns to Smith without a license.Shooter Left Journal https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/07/11/shooter-left-journal/dd712d40-88b5-408a-bd08-7424ea6f9a86/ https://archive.today/20250618171520/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/07/11/shooter-left-journal/dd712d40-88b5-408a-bd08-7424ea6f9a86/ June 18, 2025 2022-07-08 Washington Post en-US 0190-8286 On March 3, 2000, Donald Fiessinger, the 65 year old retired janitor who sold Smith the pistols he used, was sentenced to 11 months in federal prison, followed by 2 years of probation, for sellings firearms without a license.March 4, 2000 Colorado News and Denver News: The Denver Post https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0304b.htm https://archive.today/20250618231342/https://extras.denverpost.com/news/shot0304b.htm June 18, 2025 2025-06-18 extras.denverpost.com A chapter of Lone Wolf (a study of spree killers), by Pan Pantziarka, is devoted to Smith and his crimes. Invisible Revolution, a documentary by filmmaker Beverly Peterson, features an interview with Smith less than two weeks before his killing spree. The film includes scenes of Smith distributing World Church of the Creator leaflets in his home town and saying, "If they violate our constitutional rights and say we can't put out our literature, we have no choice but to resort to acts of violence and really to plunge this country into a terrorist war they've never seen before."Baudner David July 8, 1999 Interviews with racist aired on Tv https://apnews.com/80ef6b1053b5752726b2ac60e5749e0f https://web.archive.org/web/20181215123217/https://apnews.com/80ef6b1053b5752726b2ac60e5749e0f December 15, 2018 Associated Press See also Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting, another attack that same year Antisemitism in the United States in the 21st-century Pittsburgh synagogue shooting Poway synagogue shooting History of antisemitism in the United States List of rampage killers (religious, political, or ethnic crimes) List of multiple homicides in Illinois References Category:1999 mass shootings in the United States Category:1999 murders in the United States Category:Anti-Korean sentiment in the United States Category:Anti-Korean violence Category:Antisemitic attacks and incidents in Illinois Category:Antisemitic attacks and incidents in the United States Category:Attacks in the United States in 1999 Category:Creativity (religion) Category:Crimes in Illinois Category:Deaths by firearm in Illinois Category:Deaths by firearm in Indiana Category:Drive-by shootings Category:July 1999 crimes in the United States Category:Murder–suicides in Illinois Category:Orthodox Judaism in Illinois Category:Racially motivated violence against African Americans in Illinois Category:Racially motivated violence against African Americans in Indiana Category:Racially motivated violence against Asian Americans Category:Racially motivated violence in Illinois Category:Spree shootings in the United States