Early Life
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.
Read more about this topic: Benjamin Nathaniel Smith
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