Judiciary Report - Tragedy At Virginia Tech

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Tragedy At Virginia Tech

April 20. 2007

Unspeakable Tragedy

This week, a very troubled young man, who was clearly crazy, Cho Seung Hui, killed 32 people at Virginia Tech university, then turned the gun on himself. Bright, promising students and teachers died in what is being called the worst shooting spree in American history.

My condolences to their families and friends. Poet Nikki Giovanni said it best, "you did not deserve this."

What Happened

The authorities are trying to piece together what happened. One thing is clear, even by his own admission, Cho Seung Hui, was influenced by the gruesome killings at Columbine High School in 1999, where two students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, cruelly opened fire on their classmates, killing 12 students and wounding 25 others. Cho was even dressed like them.

Watch What You Watch

Cho was also inspired by the very violent film "Oldboy." More proof that entertainment does affect people, regardless of what the entertainment industry likes to tell you, as the Columbine killers were deeply influenced by the gory film "Natural Born Killers."

Therefore, watch what you watch on TV, as it can be very detrimental to you and provide a very negative influence. I've seen trailers for some films and wondered why anyone would want to make something so macabre and morbid.

Hitler

Klebold and Harris were also inspired by satanic goth rock music and the heinous Adolph Hitler. It's amazing how that terrible man has influenced people from the grave with his cruel breed of evil. While we can't rewrite history, it's a shame Hitler's teachings didn't die with him. He's inflicted enough suffering on this world for one lifetime.

Some people are born into this world and bring life and blessings, while others bring sorrow and death.

It is a choice people make. To do good or to bring destruction. One should strive to eschew the latter.

Warning Signs

They say hindsight is 20/20. However, often, there are warning signs that there's a problem, but they are not heeded. Most likely because, who really wants to imagine the worst. That someone could do the unthinkable. So most don't think of what could happen and try not to focus on potential dangers.

Many who knew Cho Seung Hui said he had a history of disturbing conduct. This is a common thread in most articles about the tragedy. The warning signs were there, but not enough was done.

He wrote disturbing items in his creative writing class. So disturbing were they that his teacher, acclaimed poet, Nikki Giovanni, said he terrified his classmates.

In an article in the Washington Post, Giovanni referred to him as "mean." She said the plays he would write were so gruesome that some of her students stopped showing up to class, because they were afraid of him. She asked that he quit, but he refused.

Over the last 18 months he stalked and harassed two women on campus. He was admitted to a mental facility in 2005, but then released as apart of an outpatient program.

His mind was clearly gone and he should not have been allowed to roam around innocent people. The same goes for the Columbine killers. Too often, people are lax when they receive reports of inappropriate and bizarre conduct.

This is what happens when crazy people are allowed to roam about the innocent in society. They stalk. They harass. And sadly, sometimes they kill.

So many cases that involve stalking often progress to something worse. This is why people should take stalking seriously and recognize it for what it is, very inappropriate conduct that is the beginning of something bad.

It is not flattering. Anyone who crosses that improper line into stalking and or harassment, is no longer rational. It is a warning sign that all too often is not heeded.

If someone is stalking you, report it, then be sensible and careful in regards to not letting this person get close to you or come in physical contact with you. It may help save your life.

To let crazy people run around loose in society is not a good idea. You, the authorities, need to get them off the streets. They need to be put in a home for the criminally insane, as they are a danger to the public.

Gun Control

As I wrote in the Sound Off Column last month (regarding the FBI losing their guns and questioning as non-gun person, how one loses a gun) I've never owned a gun. Never touched one and don't want one. For me and many other non-gun people, this tragedy revealed just how easy it is for just about anyone to get a gun.

Within 20 minutes, Cho Seung Hui, who was sent to a mental facility under judicial order, was able to buy a gun on his credit card. It shouldn't be that easy to get a gun.

Anyone who isn't a felon that shows some ID and presents payment can buy a guy. No one checks their mental faculties, which is dangerous.

There are high functioning mentally challenged people with legitimate IDs and credit cards, who should not, but could own a gun...within 20 minutes.

I am for gun control. Incidents like Virginia Tech drive that point home even more.

Opponents of gun control are using this incident to state, if other students were armed this would not have happened. How do you know that. If it is a surprise attack, as this was, people may have been killed regardless.

And who would feel comfortable in an environment with everyone openly packing heat. What kind of classroom would that be. This isn't the wild wild west.

That would be unsettling. How many people would really feel at ease being around a non-law enforcement official that is packing. Sorry. I am not for it.

When civilians lose their tempers strange things can happen. Then, they go to court and try to claim insanity, after they've left innocent people injured or dead in their wake.

The Occult

When you see things like the tragedy at Virginia Tech, it saddens you, you look on and wonder, what possessed someone to do something like this. It is absolutely evil and demonic.

For people to think the occult doesn't have something to do with the Virginia Tech killings, they are kidding themselves.

Much like the young men at Columbine, Cho Seung Hui was into morbid music and very violent, murderous films. According to reports, he even spoke of "the devil being in his room." You steep yourself into that and you're bound to become depressed.

Some who are outcasts or who have been bullied or hate their lives, turn to violent films and dark music in attempts to fill that void, looking for something to identify with. They are perceived as outcasts and weak and therefore view misanthropy as power.

The killers at Columbine and Virginia Tech were dabbling in things associated with the occult. They embraced that darkness that no one should ever look upon as something admirable or estimable.

When you dabble in the occult, you invite depression, darkness and a terrible transformation of your psyche. In both cases, that transformation began to show outwardly as well. Gone were the innocent, normally dressed, smiling young men, replaced by sulking, hateful, spiteful, military clothes clad little terrors.

Those young men were slowly building up towards something terrible, the killings. The signs were all there that they were sick and had embraced terrible, dark ideologies that were consuming them. There were warning signs.

1. They each displayed a morbid fascinations with guns, death and the devil.

2. They each had run-ins with the authorities.

3. They each were rejected by girls they liked and people they deemed cool kids.

4. They each posted morbid, disturbing items on the internet.

5. They each began to dress in a militia or military type manner.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

While the public does not know at this point what his home life was like, by all appearances, Cho Seung Hui, came from a decent family. His parents own a dry cleaning store and his sister is a Princeton Graduate, who is a State Department contractor, overseeing budgetary items regarding the war in Iraq. His parents have been hospitalized suffering from shock.

I don't think what he did has anything to do with being Korean or Asian. No one should harass or attack them for this. This is the work of one person. This isn't common behavior to the Asian community, who are often hardworking, disciplined, smart people.

The world has people in different countries, who have opened fire on the innocent. There have been cases in Latin America, Europe and Asia as well.

Something happened to Cho Seung Hui and he developed terrible psychological problems. Investigators need to look at what happened that caused him to do this (the occult, chemical imbalance, brain tumor, brain injury, mental illness ect...)

People sometimes think because someone is smart or notable, it means they are incapable of terrible deeds. This is simply not true.

Look at Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber. He went to Harvard. Has a brilliant mind, but his psyche was a mess. Some attributed it to a childhood trauma, where he was admitted to the hospital as an infant. His mother said when she got him back, he was never the same. She said her baby was now emotionless, sad and cold. Gone was the happy baby she once knew.

Cho Seung Hui's Video

Between murders, Cho Seung Hui, mailed a video and pics to NBC news, which were aired on television. The video creeped me out. It was like darkness and evil emanating from the TV. I felt repulsed and my soul aggravated.

It was very disturbing and unsettling to watch the video and view the violent looking photos he took of himself with an array of weapons.

Some say it was good that the public view it, some say it was not. Either way, it was upsetting and disturbing and I do not think kids should be exposed to it.

It will create awareness for parents, as it is very clear, that like the Columbine killers, something went very wrong with him.

(Photos courtesy of the AP, NY Times, Daily Mail and Virginia Tech)