Two teenage girls face trial in Colorado for 'planning mass school shooting'

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian

Two teenage girls face trial in Colorado for 'planning mass school shooting'

Brooke Higgins and Sienna Johnson, both 16, are accused of plotting to emulate the massacre at nearby Columbine high school

Nicky Woolf in Castle Rock, Colorado
Thursday 14 January 2016 18.14 EST

Two 16-year-olds have been charged with plotting a mass shooting at their suburban Denver high school, in an exceptional case that finds two teenage girls on trial instead of teenage boys.

Brooke Higgins, who was charged on Thursday, and Sienna Johnson, who was charged last week, will both be tried as adults on two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, in a district court in Castle Rock, Colorado. The girls took what the prosecution called “overt acts” towards purchasing firearms in order to carry out their plan, assistant district attorney Jason Siers told the court on Thursday.

Mass shootings carried out by women are extremely rare – such attacks, defined by the FBI as a single event in which four or more people are killed, are nearly always perpetrated by men. In Mother Jones’s comprehensive count, out of 84 mass murder events since 1982, only three have involved women: San Bernardino, where one of two shooters was female; the shooting on a Native American reservation in Alturas, California, in 2014; and the postal shooting in Goleta, California, in 2006.

Prosecutors said the two girls worshipped the Columbine shooters, and the movie Natural Born Killers. They had specific targets, the prosecution said, but everyone at the school was a potential victim. Entries on social networking sites show moody pictures of blood-spattered walls, and hand-scrawled journal entries filled with anguished prose.



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/14/two-teenage-girls-trial-colorado-planning-mass-school-shooting-brooke-higgins-sienna-johnson

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[center]

"Brooke Higgins (credit: Mountain Vista High School yearbook photo)"



"Sienna Johnson (credit: Mountain Vista High School yearbook photo)"

[Bad Dog]

2. Sympathy for white would be killers

Would you be so understanding if they were black Moslems?

Two killers were stopped from carrying out a hideous atrocity. They were stopped from destroying lives. I'm saving my sympathy for the victims and their families. Trayvon Martin's life was destroyed, these two still have theirs, and we still don't know how much time they'll actually spend in prison, that's if they're even found guilty. George Zimmerman got off scot free.

[Bad Dog]

5. It's just that you seem part of a pattern

Of excusing white criminals while demonising black victims. Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown have had their reputations put through the ringer whilst white criminals get headlines saying how everyone was surprised because they were such good kids.

[Bad Dog]

9. There's nothing wrong with my comprehension

That's just a very hackneyed diversionary tactic.

[A Simple Game]

13. Wow, there obviously isn't anything wrong with your comprehension if you got all of that from

just these three words.

Two lives destroyed.

There aren't even two lines to read between, and you still did it.
So you disagree that two lives are destroyed? Do you think these two girls will ever go back to having a normal life, if they ever did have one?
Where did you get a clue that race was included?
None of your analogies are mass shootings just hate crimes but you still see a connection.
Your comprehension is so much better than mine, I just didn't see any of that in those three words.

[Bad Dog]

14. I'm sure you'll be able to post links

Where you sympathised with black perpetrators.

I don't think that mass shootings are prompted anything but hate, but if you think mass shooters deserve sympathy as opposed to other would be killers.

I'm lucky enough to live in a country where mass shooting don't happen, so we don't distinguish between good mass killers and bad mass killers. They're all bad, they all should be condemned, and people shouldn't go about trying to excuse their behaviour as being out of character.

[Javaman]

15. nothing like seeing all problems as if they were a nail. nt

[Bad Dog]

16. Or posting a meaningless cliche.

My point remains. In the Media at large and on DU there is a tendency to demonise black victims and excuse white criminals. It happens all the time.

That has nothing to do with hammers, nails or screwdrivers.

You could try to prove me wrong, or you could post another irrelevant platitude.

[Javaman]

18. if the shoe fits. LOL

clichés are only criticized by those they are aimed.

[A Simple Game]

19. The only mention of demonizing black victims and excusing white alleged criminals is from you.

There also seems to be a rush to condemn and a presumption of guilt on DU today. Notice that too have you?

I will repeat the question you will not answer, do you think those two girls lives are ruined?

[Maedhros]

26. You are spoiling for a fight, and are not posting in good faith.

/ignore.

[onecent]

30. Perhaps Bad Dog is having a bad day.

He actually owes an apology to Cassiopeia as far as I can see.
93 posts, don't suppose Bad dog will last long. He seems like a really BAD DOG.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

38. Another bad performance artist it seems to me. n/m

[PersonNumber503602]

24. Do you know the person you're replying to or their posting history?

Do you know where they stand, or is this just some generalized assumption on your part?

[JonathanRackham]

4. What does race or gender have to do with the OP?

The law enforcement community apparently did a good job. Two 16 year olds were stopped from buying guns. One of them had mental health problems. Hopefully they'll get the help the need. I'd call this a good start.

Why the thread hijack?

[Bad Dog]

8. Race/gender has a lot to do with how them perpetrator is viewed/judged.

Compare Cassiopeia's response on this thread with the responses on a thread about a Moslem stabber.

A 15 year old?!?!?I weep for humanity.

15 years old and already infected with hatred and voices support for a group of animals. Lovely. No wonder so many French Jews are moving.

Is this one of the 'children' we're always hearing about and being mocked for fearing?

Or maybe it's these 'children'.



Three teenagers aged 15 from Syria have been arrested for rape after a 17-year-old girl was attacked in a public swimming pool in Munich on Saturday.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141311987#post1

Not one post bewailing this fifteen year old's "destroyed life," but plenty condemning him and, by extension, all Europeans.

It's called double standards, and there's a lot of it on DU.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

39. The sentiments are not necessarily different.

To weep for humanity that a 15 year old would commit such a crime.....that these two girls would destroy their lives for whatever reason.....are not entirely different with so few words provided by the poster you are condemning. It is YOU who are projecting your own biases....the assumption that the majority here are biased against non-Americans, biased against Muslims, etc. etc.

Wonder why you come to these conclusions, mr less than 100 posts.

[Bad Dog]

41. I've noted a phenomenon

That has been widely reported elsewhere. I've never said you're consciously biased, people aren't always aware of what they're doing, that's why I pointed it out.

And nobody wept for humanity when it was a fifteen year old Moslem lad stabbing someone.

Instead of weeping for humanity and wringing your hands, pass some legislation, or you're going to be weeping for humanity a lot more.

[TipTok]

22. Some folks see everything through a racial lens...

Kind of sad and extremely limiting...

[LanternWaste]

23. One possesses as much sympathy as they desire to extend

"I'm saving my sympathy for the victims and their families..."

One possesses as much sympathy as they desire to extend; hence, saving sympathy is as irrational as is saving any other commodity infinitely available.

[MariaThinks]

28. i have no sympthy for these would be white killers. None.

having their lives destroyed is preferable to the dozens these murderous maniacs were going to destroy

[Android3.14]

11. I do not understand your comment

It sounds like authorities may have saved many-many lives.

[raccoon]

12. Their choice to plan mass murder. I have no sympathy for them. nt

[PersonNumber503602]

25. Their lives would have been destroyed even more if not discovered.

Hopefully someday they will be able to see just how fortunate they were to have been caught. Not only did it save the lives of their possible victims, but it also saved their lives. There is a good possibility that they can now get whatever help they need to live normal lives some time in the distant future.

[newfie11]

6. What the hell is wrong with these kids

I was out partying at that age not planning mass murder!😱

[raccoon]

10. I'm glad they were apprehended before going through with their

plans to murder classmates and/or faculty.

Wannabe murderers, they are.

[Archae]

17. Reminds me of the case here in Wisconsin...

Only the two girls here thought they needed to "sacrifice" a third friend to the fictional character "Slender Man."

The more or less "leader" of the two girls is also convinced Harry Potter is real.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/slender-man-stabbing-trial-delayed-court-appeals-ruling/story?id=33918833

[Bradical79]

20. That's fucked up

Good job catching them before they could completely follow through.

[crim son]

21. At the height of my worst periods of miserable psychic agony

it only ever occurred to me to kill myself, not others. Whether these young would-be murderers are black, white, Christian or otherwise, male or female, depressed, bullied or ostracized, they are missing some major screws, so to speak. I am sorry to think our society produces such people. I am sorry of the fear they will have created even though they've been apprehended. And I am mildly sorry that their lives will never be the same. However they must be locked up and their kind should be reviled. There is a time for compassion and to me, this isn't such a time.

[Bad Dog]

29. I don't know anyone's history.

I've not been on here that long. I asked a question because I was surprised at the initial response, sympathy for the perpetrators not relief at them being stopped.

People don't like having their behaviour challenged, they can go off on one or do a bit of introspection. Maybe I was too aggressive but my initial point stands, sympathy for white criminals and demonisation of black victims. A lot of us don't even know we're doing it.

I could have been a bit more diplomatic, and for that I'm sorry.

Are the girl's lives destroyed? I don't know, it's not gone to court yet. I'll reserve judgement, but they were certainly stopped from destroying other lives. However if they'd been caught over here where there's no realistic chance of obtaining guns the charges would be a lot lighter, they might not even get sent down.

What's to discuss, America's gun laws mean this sort of thing is as American as apple pie. It's one of the things associated with America, and it will keep on happening until you adopt sane gun laws.

[They_Live]

31. The article states that the evidence is sealed.

Which makes it difficult to tell how serious a threat this actually was, but they have been charged, and not yet convicted, which makes them not criminals.

I don't think it is yet illegal to google where to buy something, re-post images from new sources and movies, write poetry or draw things, or quote Nine Inch Nails lyrics.

[NobodyHere]

32. Two lives flushed down the drain

Last edited Fri Jan 15, 2016, 07:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Probably over grievances they'll forget about in a month.


At least they weren't able to add other lives to the list.

[truthisfreedom]

36. You must mean "weren't". I agree with that.

[NobodyHere]

37. Eek!

You're correct

[Xithras]

33. Based on the information that's public at the moment, the two will walk.

Two emo girls had a desire to hurt themselves and others. Welcome to the lives of millions of teenagers across America. We used to funnel kids like these into psychiatric care so they could get help. Now we lock them in cages.

The prosecutors justification for the charges is that the two visited a website that sells guns. Not that they actually tried to buy anything, but that they visited a web page.

I agree with the defense attorney. The DA is trying to prosecute them for a thought crime. Unless there's more to suggest that the girls progressed beyond Google searches, any halfway competent defense attorney is going to rip these charges apart in court.

Having fantasies should never be a crime. Who hasn't wanted to run their asshole boss down at some point, or set their ex on fire, or gun down the repo bastard trying to take your car? Having a fantasy, or even having a genuine desire to do something, is not a crime.

[anigbrowl]

35. Agreed. DA is making grand gestures, but the case is hollow.

Trying them as adults is particularly bullshit, and I bet the defense lawyer laughed out loud on hearing that. It would have been much smarter to try them as juveniles, as it is they'll probably be acquitted.

[IronLionZion]

34. The desire to kill/hurt other people is a big problem

and I do think it is one of the biggest problems we face in our society. Why do people want to do this? And how can we prevent it? These are the types of questions we should be asking.

[KingCharlemagne]

43. As a former victim of school bullying, I can almost guarantee these two young women

were on the receiving end of some rather vicious bullying. Just a suspicion on my part, but bullying can and does produce homicidal rage in its victims. In my case, I experienced the rage without the homicidal or suicidal ideation that often accompanies it.

[Coventina]

40. So glad they were caught before they acted.

Kudos to those who intervened.

[EL34x4]

42. I think they were a long ways off from acting

Just my $0.02.

[KingCharlemagne]

44. How much you want to bet if you dig a little you will find some

serious bullying in the back story?