I just wanted to share asking Chat GPT about letters to the press Joseph Paul Franklin wrote during his killing spree.
I will copy and paste here the questions and answers.
Chat GPT: Yes, Joseph Paul Franklin wrote several letters to the press during his killing spree. He was a white supremacist and a serial killer who committed a series of racially motivated murders in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Franklin targeted African Americans, Jews, and interracial couples, and he claimed that he was motivated by his beliefs in white supremacy and his opposition to interracial relationships. In some of his letters to the press, he explained his ideology and his reasons for committing the murders.
Franklin also wrote letters to public figures, including Ronald Reagan and Jesse Jackson, and he even sent a letter to the White House threatening to kill then-President Jimmy Carter. He was eventually arrested in 1980 and convicted of several murders, and he was executed by lethal injection in 2013.
During his killing spree, Joseph Paul Franklin sent numerous letters to various media outlets and public figures. Here are some examples of the letters he sent and the publications he wrote to:
- In 1977, Franklin sent a letter to a newspaper in Cincinnati claiming responsibility for the murder of a man and a woman who were sitting in a car in a secluded area. He also claimed responsibility for other murders, including the shooting of Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt.
- In 1980, Franklin sent a letter to the Chicago Tribune claiming responsibility for the murder of a Jewish man who was walking with his son. In the letter, Franklin stated that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and that he had carried out the murder because he believed that Jews were responsible for communism.
- Franklin also sent a letter to the San Francisco Examiner in 1980, claiming responsibility for the murder of a black man who was jogging with two white women. In the letter, he expressed his belief in white supremacy and his opposition to interracial relationships.
- In addition to his letters to the press, Franklin also sent letters to public figures. He sent a letter to President Jimmy Carter in 1980, threatening to kill him. He also sent letters to Jesse Jackson, urging him to stop his civil rights activism, and to Ronald Reagan, praising him for his opposition to busing to achieve school integration.
Overall, Franklin sent letters to a variety of publications, including newspapers and magazines, and he targeted individuals and groups whom he believed represented the racial and ideological views he opposed.