White People vs. Black People: Wisconsin Student Starts Whites-Only Club After Burning Down African-American Churches

A University of Wisconsin student attempting to start a "pro-white student club" previously burned two African-American churches in racially motivated arson attacks. Daniel Dropik, 33, frustrated with the Black Lives Matter social justice movement and campus courses on white privilege, is launching a local chapter of the American Freedom Party, a group dedicated to white supremacy, according to local media reports.

Dropik served five years in prison after pleading guilty to racially motivated arson of a church before enrolling as a computer science major at the university's Madison campus. In April 2005, Dropik set two African-American churches on fire "as racial retaliation," court records show. No one was harmed after the Greater Love Missionary Baptist Church in Milwaukee and the Trinity Methodist Church in Lansing, Michigan, burned down, according to records.

As a student, Dropik has encouraged his classmates to "fight anti-white racism on campus," social media posts show. University chancellor Rebecca Blank said she was "appalled" by Dropik's racist acts.

"I am appalled by attacks on churches and by organizations that express hatred of people of color, Jews, Muslims or any other identity," Blank said in a statement Thursday, calling the group Dropik is attempting to start "diametrically opposed to our campus values of respect and inclusion."

Dropik responded to the controversy by uploading an audio message on his website early Friday that said he has no "desire to do harm to other people based on their racial and ethnic backgrounds." He said he regretted the church attacks, claiming he was "very mentally ill" at the time.

"It's not an excuse for what I did, I still accept responsibility," he said in the recording. "It's a fact that I regret these violent and wrong acts…I want to tell you that I'm sorry, this was wrong."

Dropik voted for President Donald Trump. He said he is concerned about extreme cultural diversity and racial inclusion. "It's become unacceptable," he told the Associated Press. "If white people have problems, they need to be able to organize."

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League describes the American Freedom Party as "white supremacist" and "anti-Semitic."