The Columbine Subculture
At about 11:19 on April 20, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire on their fellow students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, after the two propane/gasoline bombs they had placed in the cafeteria failed to detonate. Klebold and Harris did not intend to target Christians, Athletes, or anyone else, rather their intent was to bring the upstairs library down on the packed cafeteria, hoping to kill upwards of 500 students in the largest mass murder in US history - they intended to wait outside and shoot those who escaped from the building. What actually happened was, thankfully, quite different.
When they realized their bombs would not work as expected, they opened fire and killed Rachel Scott and Daniel Rohrbough outside before entering the school, where they shot Coach Dave Sanders in the back and neck as he tried to warn students. Sanders died hours later from blood loss in one of the science classrooms while awaiting rescue.
After wandering around shooting and throwing homemade explosives, the two shooters went into the library, where they killed Kyle Velasquez, Steven Curnow, Cassie Bernall, Isaiah Shoels, Matthew Kechter, Lauren Townsend, John Tomlin, Kelly Fleming, David Mauser, and Corey DePooter. They returned to the cafeteria in one last attempt to explode the bombs by shooting and tossing explosives at them, then wandered around a bit, made their way back to the library, and shot at the police outside; a bit after noon, they killed themselves with shots to the head.
That is a very brief summary of the massacre, and a number of excellent sources for information can be found online, so why bring this up in an "anonymous" blog? A few weeks ago I heard a song by the band Flyleaf; the song was "Cassie," which the band dedicates to Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott, shot because "they were Christians." Strange, I thought that issue had finally been resolved
You see, neither Cassie nor Rachel had been killed because they were Christian, they were not singled out. Now don't get me wrong - their deaths were tragic and horrible and we should all continue to pray for their families - but the only student asked if she was a Christian survived Columbine, and more on that will follow, but for awhile now I have been studying quite a bit about Columbine and have seen many of the videos out there relating to it, including the cafeteria surveillance tapes, the Rampart Range and Hitmen for Hire videos, as well as the tribute videos on both sides (yes, there are tributes to the shooters), and I came to realize that there is a well-defined Columbine subculture. To be sure, the subculture is made up of many rather disparate groups but they all share a fascination with some aspect of the tragedy, and can be further classified into three main groups:
Columbine conspiracy theorists
Klebold and Harris as heroes
The "Cassie" factions
In addition there are, of course, books, articles, and websites out there written or run by the survivors or journalists who covered the story, but I do not classify them as part of the subculture because they are more likely to be sources of information only - they "touch" the subculture but are not subsumed by it.
Columbine conspiracy theorists
This is, by far, the most bizarre group in the subculture and it runs the gamut from theories that actually do not sound too outrageous to things that only a true tin-foil hat wearer could believe. To dive into his material is to truly wade through the fever swamps of paranoia, and much of it is hidden within other conspiracy websites which detail such things as the New World Order, Waco and Oklahoma City, MK ULTRA, and even Jewish conspiracies. Let's start with the easiest to digest - the number of actual perpetrators.
During the shooting many students and witnesses claimed to have seen more than Klebold and Harris shooting in the school. Indeed, some students gave specific names of fellow students - and one former student - that they personally knew as being involved. They were absolutely certain it was neither Klebold nor Harris whom they witnessed shooting or throwing explosives. Once school resumed in the fall, several students refused to return on the grounds that some of their fellow students were also involved. During the event, law enforcement was concerned that the shooters would stash their weapons and make their way out of the school with the other students, and the local sheriff held onto his belief for a considerable amount of time after the shooting that there were at least accomplices in bringing the explosives into the school. So what evidence do those who support this view cite? Here are a few things:
The number of witnesses who saw more than two shooters
Shots heard in different parts of the school when it was known that Klebold and Harris were elsewhere
Discrepancies in the stories and alibis of the other 4 students who were cited as being involved
The fact that the lead FBI agents own son was in the Trench Coat Mafia, was a friend of the shooters, and had helped film the Hitmen for Hire video
That's just a bit of the evidence cited by those who hold the view that more than Klebold and Harris were involved. On the other extreme are those who believe that the government set up Columbine to help usher in the New World Order, primarily through the massacre's use as a tool toward gun control.
The fever swamps that I mentioned earlier? Well, you find those here. Those who espouse this view believe that Harris's father, while stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, was part of a group which conducted mind control experiments on children, creating the perfect Manchurian candidate who could be later controlled through CIA-sponsored mind control and the use of drugs (MKULTRA). They believe that federal law enforcement, as well as the CIA, knew of the massacre - indeed planned it - waited for it to occur, then kept local law enforcement out of the picture until such time as enough "damage" had been done. As evidence they cite the fact that it was several hours until local law enforcement was allowed into the school. They also posit that ATF, MI6, CIA, or other personnel were actually in the school doing the shooting and that Klebold and Harris were eventually disposed of by these personnel, while NATO troops and a foreign-uniform wearing two-star general were outside the school controlling the scene.
Well.
In any even of this magnitude, with so many unanswered questions, you will find those whose grasp of Occams Razor is tenuous, as can be seen in the numerous Columbine conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are a way to answer all of those unknowns that we somehow feel we must have to make sense of events like Columbine; even when reduced to the absurd, they give some folks something to grasp. So anyway, these are the extremes. In between you find a multitude of other theories, most quite ridiculous, some attractive to the uninformed, based on everything from Hitlers birthday (April 10) to a Jewish conspiracy. Feel free to do your own research, as it's actually quite fascinating (and a bit scary!) to see how these folks think.
In the next post I'll discuss the other two parts of the subculture - the hero status of Klebold and Harris, and the two sides of the Cassie debate. Then I'll follow it up with some groundbreaking psychoanalysis on the subculture. (Or not!) I'll at least mention some of the other controversies related to the Trench Coat Mafia, Marilyn Manson and a few other things.
Until then, please remember the victims of this tragedy, and say a prayer for their families.
When they realized their bombs would not work as expected, they opened fire and killed Rachel Scott and Daniel Rohrbough outside before entering the school, where they shot Coach Dave Sanders in the back and neck as he tried to warn students. Sanders died hours later from blood loss in one of the science classrooms while awaiting rescue.
After wandering around shooting and throwing homemade explosives, the two shooters went into the library, where they killed Kyle Velasquez, Steven Curnow, Cassie Bernall, Isaiah Shoels, Matthew Kechter, Lauren Townsend, John Tomlin, Kelly Fleming, David Mauser, and Corey DePooter. They returned to the cafeteria in one last attempt to explode the bombs by shooting and tossing explosives at them, then wandered around a bit, made their way back to the library, and shot at the police outside; a bit after noon, they killed themselves with shots to the head.
That is a very brief summary of the massacre, and a number of excellent sources for information can be found online, so why bring this up in an "anonymous" blog? A few weeks ago I heard a song by the band Flyleaf; the song was "Cassie," which the band dedicates to Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott, shot because "they were Christians." Strange, I thought that issue had finally been resolved
You see, neither Cassie nor Rachel had been killed because they were Christian, they were not singled out. Now don't get me wrong - their deaths were tragic and horrible and we should all continue to pray for their families - but the only student asked if she was a Christian survived Columbine, and more on that will follow, but for awhile now I have been studying quite a bit about Columbine and have seen many of the videos out there relating to it, including the cafeteria surveillance tapes, the Rampart Range and Hitmen for Hire videos, as well as the tribute videos on both sides (yes, there are tributes to the shooters), and I came to realize that there is a well-defined Columbine subculture. To be sure, the subculture is made up of many rather disparate groups but they all share a fascination with some aspect of the tragedy, and can be further classified into three main groups:
Columbine conspiracy theorists
Klebold and Harris as heroes
The "Cassie" factions
In addition there are, of course, books, articles, and websites out there written or run by the survivors or journalists who covered the story, but I do not classify them as part of the subculture because they are more likely to be sources of information only - they "touch" the subculture but are not subsumed by it.
Columbine conspiracy theorists
This is, by far, the most bizarre group in the subculture and it runs the gamut from theories that actually do not sound too outrageous to things that only a true tin-foil hat wearer could believe. To dive into his material is to truly wade through the fever swamps of paranoia, and much of it is hidden within other conspiracy websites which detail such things as the New World Order, Waco and Oklahoma City, MK ULTRA, and even Jewish conspiracies. Let's start with the easiest to digest - the number of actual perpetrators.
During the shooting many students and witnesses claimed to have seen more than Klebold and Harris shooting in the school. Indeed, some students gave specific names of fellow students - and one former student - that they personally knew as being involved. They were absolutely certain it was neither Klebold nor Harris whom they witnessed shooting or throwing explosives. Once school resumed in the fall, several students refused to return on the grounds that some of their fellow students were also involved. During the event, law enforcement was concerned that the shooters would stash their weapons and make their way out of the school with the other students, and the local sheriff held onto his belief for a considerable amount of time after the shooting that there were at least accomplices in bringing the explosives into the school. So what evidence do those who support this view cite? Here are a few things:
The number of witnesses who saw more than two shooters
Shots heard in different parts of the school when it was known that Klebold and Harris were elsewhere
Discrepancies in the stories and alibis of the other 4 students who were cited as being involved
The fact that the lead FBI agents own son was in the Trench Coat Mafia, was a friend of the shooters, and had helped film the Hitmen for Hire video
That's just a bit of the evidence cited by those who hold the view that more than Klebold and Harris were involved. On the other extreme are those who believe that the government set up Columbine to help usher in the New World Order, primarily through the massacre's use as a tool toward gun control.
The fever swamps that I mentioned earlier? Well, you find those here. Those who espouse this view believe that Harris's father, while stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, was part of a group which conducted mind control experiments on children, creating the perfect Manchurian candidate who could be later controlled through CIA-sponsored mind control and the use of drugs (MKULTRA). They believe that federal law enforcement, as well as the CIA, knew of the massacre - indeed planned it - waited for it to occur, then kept local law enforcement out of the picture until such time as enough "damage" had been done. As evidence they cite the fact that it was several hours until local law enforcement was allowed into the school. They also posit that ATF, MI6, CIA, or other personnel were actually in the school doing the shooting and that Klebold and Harris were eventually disposed of by these personnel, while NATO troops and a foreign-uniform wearing two-star general were outside the school controlling the scene.
Well.
In any even of this magnitude, with so many unanswered questions, you will find those whose grasp of Occams Razor is tenuous, as can be seen in the numerous Columbine conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are a way to answer all of those unknowns that we somehow feel we must have to make sense of events like Columbine; even when reduced to the absurd, they give some folks something to grasp. So anyway, these are the extremes. In between you find a multitude of other theories, most quite ridiculous, some attractive to the uninformed, based on everything from Hitlers birthday (April 10) to a Jewish conspiracy. Feel free to do your own research, as it's actually quite fascinating (and a bit scary!) to see how these folks think.
In the next post I'll discuss the other two parts of the subculture - the hero status of Klebold and Harris, and the two sides of the Cassie debate. Then I'll follow it up with some groundbreaking psychoanalysis on the subculture. (Or not!) I'll at least mention some of the other controversies related to the Trench Coat Mafia, Marilyn Manson and a few other things.
Until then, please remember the victims of this tragedy, and say a prayer for their families.
posted by Unknown at 7:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home