Seeds of Nichols's Delusions Planted in College Years

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Brian Nichols's belief that he was a slave rebelling against the U.S. government began in his college years, and the delusion has continued long after his 2005 shooting spree. That's what an expert psychologist testified yesterday for the defense.

Clinical and forensic psychologist Mark Cunningham read from college essays that Nichols wrote in 1992. In them, Nichols lays out his belief that there is an organized and deliberate attempt by whites to eradicate the black race, by imprisoning black men, and keeping them from having children. Nichols said he believes blacks should use violence to rebel:

CUNNINGHAM: If violence can be a righteous tool for the white man, then surely it can be used as a righteous tool for the black man. If violence can be used to murder defenseless women and children in South Africa and Vietnam, then surely it can be used to defend the human rights of dark-skinned people all over the world.

Cunningham said that Nichols's extreme beliefs became full-blown delusions when he was jailed in 2004 for raping his ex-girlfriend. While there, Nichols said the conditions paralleled slavery: labor without pay, poor sanitation, chains; and he compared his white judge, Rowland Barnes, to a slavemaster.

Nichols killed 4 people, including Barnes, when he escaped the Fulton County Courthouse.