Wade Michael Page, who allegedly shot and killed six people at a Sikh temple Sunday near Milwaukee, had received a less than honorable discharge from the Army, according to ABC News.
The 40-year-old Page was a soldier from April 1992 through October 1998. An unnamed defense official told ABC News that Page had been demoted while in the Army:
Wade served as a sergeant, and later as a specialist based in Ft. Bliss in Texas and at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. Wade's job was as a Hawk missile system repairman, and he then became a psychological operations specialist.
Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the center had been tracking Page since 2000 for white supremacist activities:
[Page] tried to purchase goods from the National Alliance, a well-known hate group. The National Alliance was led by William Pierce, who was the author of "The Turner Diaries." The book depicts a violent revolution in the United States leading to an overthrow of the federal government and, ultimately, a race war. Parts of the book were found in Timothy McVeigh's getaway car after the bombing of the federal building Oklahoma City in 1995.
The FBI is investigating the shooting rampage as an act of domestic terrorism.
Page was killed in a shootout with police after the massacre.
