The skinhead's love: Hate rock bands
Wade Michael Page had hate written all over him. A neo-Nazi skinhead, Page waded into hate after a less than honourable discharge from the United States army in 1998, well before 9/11. It is not clear why and when he developed an antipathy for Sikhs, or whether it was Sikh-specific, but the Southern Poverty Law Center noted his extensive connections to hate groups.
On its website, the SPLC said that in 2010, Page, then the leader of the band called End Apathy, gave an interview to the white supremacist website Label 56 in which he said that when he started the band in 2005, its name reflected his wish to "figure out how to end people's apathetic ways" and start "moving forward".
No one read that as a prelude to bloody gun violence. "I was willing to point out some of my faults on how I was holding myself back," Page was quoted as saying. Later, he added, "The inspiration was based on frustration that we have the potential to accomplish so much more as individuals and a society in whole".
Page told the website that he had been a part of the white power music scene since 2000, when he left his native Colorado on a motorcycle. He attended white power concerts in Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Colorado.
At various times, he said, he also played in the hate rock bands Youngland (2001-2003), Celtic Warrior, Radikahl, Max Resist, Intimidation One, Aggressive Force and Blue Eyed Devils. End Apathy, he said, included "Brent" on bass and "Ozzie" on drums; the men were former members of Definite Hate and another band, 13 Knots.