This post will be on the Columbine High School Massacre.
As most people know, the Columbine Massacre occurred on April 20, 1999 in the small, suburban town of Littleton, Colorado. The incident was that two high-school seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.
The two young men entered the high school with semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and several
explosives. In less than 20 minutes they killed 12 fellow students and a teacher
and wounded 21 others. The violence came to an end when both of the young men took
their own lives. Officials later found two propane tank bombs in the cafeteria that the two young men had placed there, that which if would have gone off, would have killed many more people.
So how were the two portrayed in the media?
The two young men according to a New York Times article was portrayed as suicide killers, as the title of the article is, "A 'Suicide Mission'" (1) The article goes on to explain that the two students were allegedly "part of a group of misfits who called themselves the trench coat mafia..." (1)
What is the trench coat mafia?
In the article this group is described as expressing "disdain for racial minorities and athletes," and "banding together, dressing in dark Gothic-style clothing, including long black coats." (1)
Who were the gunmen attacking?
Based upon many article, including the New York Times article, the gunmen were targeting minority members, athletes, and anyone who had poked fun at them or bullied them in some way.
During the time around this horrible tragedy, the two young men were portrayed by the media as, "disaffected videogamers who wore cowboy dusters" (2), goths or loners, and two boys who were troubled and were trying to kill those who had been mean to them. However, according to a book written by Dave Cullen, a writer for the New York Times; Times of London; Washington Post; Slate; Salon, Guardian, Daily Beast; and many others. The man spent 10 years researching Columbine and looking in-depth at both boys' diaries, emails, appointment books, videotapes, police affidavits, and through interviews with witnesses, friends and survivors.
So what's the real story?
According to a USA Today article titled, "10 years later, the real story behind Columbine," (2) the two young men were actually troubled boys who were not bullied but rather they were bullies based on their diaries. The two also did not intend to only kill minority members, athletes, or anyone else who had made fun of them; they actually were trying to kill everyone, including their friends.
The attack that the two hoped to ensue was actually planned to be a grand terrorist bombing that led to a shooting rampage since the bombs that Harris had built did not go off as they were supposed to. The two had planned the attack out for more than a year and "psyched each other up for an Oklahoma City-style terrorist bombing, an apolitical, over-the-top revenge fantasy against years of snubs, slights and cruelties, real and imagined." (2)
The two young men were not ordinary boys who were bullied into retaliating; not boys who had played too many violent videogames; not two boys who just wanted to be famous; or anything else that the media portrayed them to be. Instead the two boys were actually two young men with serious psychological problems that needed help desperately. (2) However, the two were very different from one another, Harris was a psychopath and Klebold was a depressed boy. Both absolutely needed help, but one was out to hurt other people in order to get what he desired, Harris. While the other just wanted to die himself and hurt others in order to hurt him, Klebold.
Based on Harris and Klebold's journals, the two young men actually planned to kill thousands of people with the bombs that they had built, over 100 bombs, and then to only use the guns to kill people who has survived the bombings. However, the bombs did not go off and therefore led to the shooting rampage that ensued. The two boys had apparently also planted two bombs, one on each of their cars in the parking lot of the school, that were to supposed to kill police, rescue teams, journalists, and parents who came to see what was happening at the school. However, once again, the bombs did not go off. "Their vision was to create a nightmare so devastating and apocalyptic that the
entire world would shudder at their power." (3)
My opinion?
This tragedy was and still is truly a shame that apparently could have been much, much worse had those bombs gone off. Honestly, the news media ran with hyped up stories and portrayed the two boys as people who were getting revenge for being bullied and ran with stories about them being goths and a part of a rebellious group. The news media should have portrayed the two boys how they truly were, which were terrorists that needed to be stopped. In the case of this incident, the news media did not do enough hard investigation into the actualities of the situation and the two young men. If they had and if police had, this tragedy may have been prevented or at the very least, everyone would know that the two boys should not be receiving sympathy because they were "bullied," they should be seen as the natural born killers with no sense of care for anyone one else.
Sources:
1 A 'SUICIDE MISSION': Authorities Say Killers Also Used Bombs -- at least 20 injured
By JAMES BROOKE -------New York Times (1923-Current file); Apr 21, 1999; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009)
2 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm
3http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2004/04/the_depressive_and_the_psychopath.single.html
4 http://www.davecullen.com/columbine.htm
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