-Caveat Lector-
Where did these "Mafiosi" get their programming for violent, antisocial
behavior?
"Leader Eric Harris wore German insignia, spoke German, loved violent
video games -- and, after graduating, intended to join the military.
"``He was into combat more than anyone else I've ever seen,'' Beard
said.
"From [age 11 to 14] Harris [was an "army brat" and] lived at the Air
Force base in Plattsburgh, NY, where his father was a pilot ..."
No need to go calling for gun control, Internet censorship, or rock
music bans ...
If you really want to save kidz's minds from being warped by the
romanticizing of violence and the glamorizing of guns and combat, STOP THE
*MILITARIZATION* OF EVERY ASPECT OF AMERICAN SOCIETY, including Hollywood and
network TV ....
A Look at the 'Trenchcoat Mafia'
By DAVID FOSTER
.c The Associated Press
LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- Their strange affectations as part of the
``Trenchcoat Mafia'' were what made Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris stand out
at Columbine High School.
But if the pair's fondness for Hitler and black trench coats seemed bizarre,
other students could relate to the social pecking order that had put Klebold,
17, and Harris, 18, squarely at the bottom.
High school can be cruel if you're not part of the ``in'' crowd, and Klebold
and Harris were reminded daily that they were ``out.''
``Our school is very status structured. People would yell comments to them,
like weirdo or outcast,'' said Johnna Nelson, 17, a junior who describes
herself as a preppie. ``They'd blow it off, but over and over, it must have
had an effect.''
On Tuesday, Klebold and Harris walked into their school carrying guns and
explosives and killed 13 people. Witnesses say they singled out those who
infuriated them the most: athletes who occupied the top of Columbine's social
ladder.
``All jocks stand up! We're going to kill every one of you,'' one of the
gunmen yelled in the library, recalled Aaron Cohn. He believes he was spared
because a girl leaped onto his back while he lay on the floor, covering the
baseball slogan on his shirt. Minutes later, the gunmen turned their guns on
themselves.
Both teen-agers' families issued statements Wednesday expressing sympathy for
the victims, and Klebold's family wondered what went wrong:
``Like the rest of the country, we are struggling to understand why this
happened,'' the family said.
Harris and Klebold had a juvenile record, but not for anything violent --
they were caught breaking into a car last year. They completed a program that
allowed them to clear their record, said District Attorney Dave Thomas.
But the assault did not come out of the blue. The two were part of a dozen or
so misfits who called themselves the Trenchcoat Mafia, a group well known
around school.
Members posed for a yearbook photo last year. They had their own special spot
in the cafeteria, near the stairs. They wore black trench coats -- no matter
the season -- and berets with German crosses. They openly admired Hitler.
They spoke constantly of war and guns, and Harris had made a video at school
in which he bragged about his new guns.
Harris was a leader in the group, other students say. He wore German
insignia, spoke German in the hallways to Klebold, and loved violent computer
games. He told classmate Andrew Beard that he intended to join the military
after graduation.
``He was into combat more than anyone else I've ever seen,'' Beard said.
>From 1993 to 1996, Harris lived at the Air Force base in Plattsburgh, N.Y.,
where his father, Wayne Harris, was a pilot, according to the Plattsburgh
Press-Republican. In Littleton, the Harris family moved into a tidy,
two-story home on a quiet suburban cul-de-sac.
Friends of Klebold said he went astray after meeting Harris.
``Dylan was real quiet, real smart,'' said Nick Baumgart, 17, who met Klebold
in grade school. ``When Eric and Dylan got together, Eric changed Dylan's
demeanor.''
At school, they were respectful of teachers, reserving their invectives for
blacks, Jews, Hispanics, and especially athletes. Klebold was a Boston Red
Sox fan, but his enjoyment of sports did not extend to the ``jocks'' in
school who taunted him.
``Dylan said he hated the jocks, and how they could walk over people and
thought they were tough,'' Beard said.
A couple of months ago, members of the Trenchcoat Mafia made a date to fight
the jocks on a Friday night at a baseball field, said football player Matt
Good.
The jocks showed up, but the Trenchcoats were two hours late, and they went
to the wrong spot, Good said. They also showed up carrying swords and brass
knuckles -- not the jocks' idea of a clean fight. The fight was never
rescheduled.
John House, 17, a senior, said he refused to associate with Klebold after he
joined the Trenchcoat Mafia.
``I went bowling with him, and when he would do something good, he would
shout, `Heil Hitler!' and throw up his hand,'' House said. ``It just made
everyone mad.''
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