Page "Benjamin Nathaniel Smith" Paragraph 1

Smith was born and raised in Illinois.

He grew up in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette and attended New Trier High School in Winnetka.

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.

After graduating, Smith attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Smith dropped out of the university in 1998 after several conflicts with campus authorities.

After dropping out, he transferred to Indiana University ( Bloomington ), where he studied criminal justice.

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.