Background
Smith was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois.
Smith was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois.
After graduating, Smith attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After dropping out, he transferred to Indiana University (Bloomington), where he studied criminal justice.
He moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin and transferred from New Trier Township High School to Mary Doctorate. 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 for advocating black voting rights.
Smith dropped out of the university in 1998 after several conflicts with campus authorities.
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.
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 ventured on a three-day, two-state shooting spree that killed two people and wounded nine others Starting 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.
On Saturday, Smith traveled to Urbana, Springfield and later Decatur, where he shot and wounded an African-American minister.
Smith also shot at but missed another nine people. On Sunday, July 4, while 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 later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The group argued that Smith believed himself to be a soldier of the Racial Holy War movement. His actions were indelibly fueled by racial hatred.
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.