A 20-year-old man who was arrested and charged with murdering his high school classmate, Blaze Bernstein, previously expressed violent viewpoints and defended the Confederate flag, according to a news report.
Samuel Lincoln Woodward of North Beach, California, was arrested on Jan. 12, three days after Bernstein’s body was found in a shallow grave at Borrego Park in the Orange County community of Lake Forest, about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
On one site, Woodward defended the Confederate flag, saying it was a symbol or Southern pride and not hate.
On another site, he said that he would want “The Bible and a Colt .45” if he was stranded on a deserted island.
According to CBS Los Angeles, Woodward also said he would like to learn “waterboarding.”
When he was asked about his attitudes to human cloning, Woodward wrote, “Just one of me in the world is already bad enough.”
In response to some of Woodward’s comments an anonymous user said, “You are violence. It scares me.” To which he replied, “I wouldn’t fight anybody unless they attacked me.”
Bernstein, who was a student at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), was staying at his family’s home during the winter break. His parents had reported him missing on Jan. 3, after he failed to return home the previous night.
Detectives were able to gather enough DNA evidence despite Woodward’s efforts. It was this evidence that led to Woodward’s arrest on Jan. 12.
In response to Woodward’s arrest, Berstein’s mother said, “Revenge is empty,” in a tweet on Jan. 12.
“Revenge is empty. It will never bring back my son. My only hopes are that he will never have the opportunity to hurt anyone else again and that something meaningful can come from the senseless act of Blaze’s murder. Now Do Good for Blaze Bernstein,” she said.
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