The Nation of Islam said it is investigating what caused one of its followers to stage a deadly assault against U.S. Capitol police last week, calling the deceased attacker a "brother with such great potential" who could have been a "star in the mission of the resurrection of our people."
The group distanced itself from the attack by its supporter Noah Green, saying it "absolutely disavow[s] this act that resulted in the senseless loss of life," and indicated that it was looking into a number of potential explanations for "what caused this"—including mental illness, depression, Green's own claims that his food was being poisoned, and that he was under "mind control."
"I am sure, had [Green] been blessed to come through the crisis that he was going through, he would have been a star in the mission of the resurrection of our people," said Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. "We need to know what happened to our brother."
Green, a 25-year-old Nation of Islam supporter, killed Officer William Evans after ramming his car through a barrier at the Capitol on Friday. Green attacked a second officer with a knife before being shot and killed by police.
The Nation of Islam described Green as a young man who "struggled in his early life but overcame much as a student to graduate with a degree in finance. He had a wonderful, noble idea to help the black and brown people through his knowledge of finance."
The organization added that "our research is continuing into what happened to this young man and we cannot rest until we find out what caused him to take a turn like this. We are saddened by the loss of this brother with such great potential."
In a social media post before the attack, Green claimed that he "suffered multiple home break-ins, food poisoning, assaults, unauthorized operations in the hospital, mind control."
Just a day after the attack, the Nation of Islam's research arm promoted claims about the U.S. government engaging in mind control.
"Sidney Gottlieb was an American chemist involved with the Central Intelligence Agency's assassination attempts and its mind-control program known as Project MKUltra," wrote the Nation of Islam Research Group on Twitter.
Farrakhan regularly calls Jews "satanic" and claims they control the media, financial industry, and global politics. He has also described white people as "potential humans" who "haven't evolved yet."
The Nation of Islam has promoted anti-Semitic and anti-government conspiracy theories, including claims that the Sept. 11 attacks were a "false flag" operation orchestrated by "Jewish Zionists" within the U.S. government. The group published a three-book series called The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews, which blamed Jews for the history of black oppression.