Accused cop-killer Richard Poplawski spent hours posting racist messages on an extremist right-wing Web site, decrying blacks and Latinos and warning of forthcoming economic collapse fueled by the "Zionist occupation" of America, an expert in political extremism has determined. Earlier, he had praised the "AK" rifle as his ideal weapon.
It was an AK-47 that police say Poplawski used to gun down three Pittsburgh police officers who arrived at his house Saturday morning in the midst of a domestic dispute.
An account kept on Stormfront, a gathering place for racial extremists and others from the far-right, show Poplawski's increasing belief in a coming economic and political collapse in the days leading up to the time of the deadly standoff in which he is charged with killing three Pittsburgh police officers.
Details of Poplawski's racial and political views came to light when the top researcher at the Anti Defamation League delved into his postings at Stormfront, a white supremacist Web site run by a former Ku Klux Klan leader in Florida.
Mark Pitcavage, director of investigative research for the league, said Poplawski was logged on to Stormfront four hours before Saturday's deadly shooting spree.
The same conclusions linking Poplawski to the Stormfront site were reached by Jake Bialer, a 20-year-old computer student at Reed College in Portland, Ore. Bialer previously did computer research for online publications as well as political campaigns.
Writing under the screen name "Rich P," which he switched sometime after March 10 to "Braced for Fate," Poplawski expounded on race, interracial mixing and the presumed power of Jews in America between Jan. 16, 2007, and last Thursday.
His final post expressed concerns about the changes in the logo of the Keystone State Skinheads, a neo-Nazi skinhead group that has been linked in the past to a variety of crimes.
He also expressed concerns that white nationalist groups had missed an opportunity to call attention to protests in Oakland, Calif., on behalf of young black men accused in the shooting of several police officers there.
Pitcavage said he unmasked Poplawski's Stormfront identity by matching details and common links and names with another Stormfront account in which Poplawski published photographs of his tattoo -- a large eagle spread across his chest, its head poking upward just below the neck. He makes reference to that same tattoo in the second online account. Additionally, the "Braced for Fate" site discusses events that match those in Poplawski's life, including mention of his fondness for Wellington, Fla., where he had lived during the middle part of this decade.
On March 13, according to the site, Poplawski wrote a lengthy post predicting economic collapse, engineered by a Jewish conspiracy.
"The federal government, mainstream media, and banking system in these United States are strongly under the influence of -- if not completely controlled by -- Zionist interest," the post declares. "An economic collapse of the financial system is inevitable, bringing with it some degree of civil unrest if not outright balkanization of the continental US, civil/revolutionary/racial war ??? This collapse is likely engineered by the elite Jewish powers that be in order to make for a power and asset grab."
The 923-word post clearly outlines the apocalyptic ideas that Poplawski's friends earlier attributed to him.
"One can read the list of significant persons in government and in major corporations and see who is pulling the strings. One can observe the policies and final products and should walk away with little doubt there is Zionist occupation and -- after some further research and critical thinking -- will discover their insidious intentions," the post adds.
Earlier this year, Poplawski's account carried vivid descriptions of after-game revelries when the Pittsburgh Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl championship. In keeping with the poster's racial views, he referred to orderly behavior in his neighborhood by "happy whites." In another, he alluded to professional football as "negroball."
Still another post expounded at length about his dislike of African-American, Latina and Asian women.
"Don't mix your blood with dirt, son," he posted.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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