CU junior arrested after comments about Virginia Tech gunman

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

Source: AP

CU junior arrested after comments about Virginia Tech gunman

posted by: Dan Boniface , Web Producer created: 4/18/2007 10:27:20 AM
Last updated: 4/18/2007 1:01:44 PM

BOULDER (AP) - A University of Colorado junior has been arrested, and suspended from school, after allegedly making comments that sounded sympathetic to the Virginia Tech gunman.


Police arrested CU-Boulder student Max Karson on suspicion of interfering with staff, faculty or students of an educational institution.

CU police Commander Brad Wiesley says Karson made comments about understanding how someone could kill 32 people - during a class Tuesday.

Students reported the comments at about 1 p.m. Wiesley says people in the class interpreted Karson's statements as threats.

MKJ



Read more: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=68316

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Sad part is, I'm sure some DUers will think this is good. So sympathy is now illegal.

What a wonderfully republican world we live in.

:eyes:

[kestrel91316]

20. Hm. The article doesn't say what his exact words were. But YOU must know,

right?

If he got arrested at one of our most liberal universities, I suspect he was more than simply "sympathetic".

[ecstatic]

33. But what if the guy is on the verge of a mental collapse?

If they do nothing/say nothing then get shot up the next day, then what? :shrug:

[HeeBGBz]

2. Student at USM in MS gets busted for threats

Something he posted on My Space.

http://www.sunherald.com/185/story/34489.html

[LostinRed]

5. Its hard to tell

if this is an overreaction or truly justified without the comments, neither link say what was actually said. I think that there could be would be copycats but there will also be some major overreactions thats the problem how do you tell.

[Buzz Clik]

11. If you remember post-Columbine, kids were being tossed from school for wearing black coats.

Yeah, it's overreaction. Beats the hell out of thinking.

[LiberalFighter]

3. How can one be arrested for sympathizing with a murderer?

Yes, it is bad taste. But, illegal?

[kestrel91316]

21. So since you know his exact words and that they were NOT threatening,

please do enlighten US as to what he said.

[LiberalFighter]

26. Since you apparently know exactly what the student stated let us know

[LiberalFighter]

4. I don't have any sympathy for the Colorado University police or Boulder city police

[Honeycombe8]

6. Probably most universities are hypersensitive right now...

to statements that MIGHT mean someone could go on a killing spree, since the gunman had apparently written some ominous things but no one perceived his statements as meaning he'd actually DO anything violent. People probably overreacting, trying to make sure they catch someone who MIGHT be prone to acting on what they say.

It'll blow over in time.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

9. Right, just a little "overreacting" welcome to DU.

MKJ

edited to add: it'll just blow over, sure. MKJ

[kurth]

7. Colorado is a strange place

If memory serves, an Iranian student was arrested during the Iran hostage ordeal for eating ONE grape in the grocery store. He was charged with shoplifting. Not sure of the outcome, though.

[Buzz Clik]

12. CU is not a normal place.

The kids there push the edge on a regular basis. This kid is probably just another rebellious, mouthy CU student.

[legin]

30. Absolutly. CU have been posted here a number of times.

Very active student republican organisation (or used to)

[legin]

31. Which students reported him to the police I wonder ?? n/t

[Not Sure]

8. Doubleplusungood

That sucks. I don't see how you couldn't be sympathetic toward the shooter, no matter how awful this tragedy. I do understand, in the interest of taste, that this isn't a point of view easily discussed. However, universities are a forum where more points of view are acceptable for discussion, compared to polite society. I think this is a tremendous overreaction.

[Dhalgren]

10. From what I could glean, there was no justification in arresting

this student, period. If someone thought that maybe he should see a councilor, that can happen at any time and is not more than "concern", perhaps. But arresting him and suspending him from school? No way. That is to fascistic and draconian...

[aquart]

13. Wouldn't University of Colorado be UC?

Columbia University is CU where I come from.

[rodeodance]

15. BOULDER, Colo. - A University of Colorado student pleaded not guilty

BOULDER, Colo. - A University of Colorado student pleaded not guilty Wednesday to making comments that classmates deemed sympathetic toward the gunman blamed for killing 32 students and himself at Virginia Tech, authorities said.

[rodeodance]

14. Student arrested over Va. Tech remarks ( a bit more of a story here)

Student arrested over Va. Tech remarks

Wed Apr 18, 6:13 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_colorado;_ylt=AnIkfG8fLjeUhauPxKWvi_HZa7gF

BOULDER, Colo. ............

Several witnesses told investigators Karson, who turns 22 on Thursday, said he was "angry about all kinds of things from the fluorescent light bulbs to the unpainted walls, and it made him angry enough to kill people," according to a police report. Witnesses "said they were afraid of him and afraid to come to class with him," Wiesley said.
...........

His father, Michael Karson, told the Camera newspaper that the comments may have been misinterpreted and questioned whether his son's free speech rights had been violated.

.........

At Oregon's Lewis & Clark College, another student was detained by campus police Wednesday shortly before a vigil for the Virginia Tech victims when he was spotted wearing an ammunition belt. Portland police later determined that it was "a fashion accessory" made of spent ammunition, and said the man did not have a weapon. The belt was confiscated.

[iverglas]

18. indeed; he's a real sweetheart

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2007/04/maxs_mouth.php

Actually, I'd say he's a narcissistic asshole, but then maybe I don't have enough evidence.

http://cw2.trb.com/news/kwgn-cu-student-arrest,0,5710888.story?coll=kwgn-home-2

According to Karson's police report, he told the class: "If anyone says they've never been angry enough to kill 32 people, they're lying." Several classmates and the instructor notified campus police that they felt threatened. Monday, Karson's father, Michael, told reporters his son's comments had been taken out of context. "In an intellectual, academic discussion about the tragic events in Virginia, issues like anger and what makes people angry, and issues about parenting, are all relevant," said Karson. According to the police report, Karson also told classmates that the basement classroom, with its fluorescent lights and unfinished walls, "made (him) angry enough to kill."

... "Whatever his past reputation was, that really didn't figure into this at all," said Hilliard, who said that Carson's writings--which have been categorized as sexist, racist and homophobic--are offensive to those with "polite sensibilities. "Making verbal references in a class to violence, that takes it to a whole different level."

And hey, daddy sounds like a real asset to society, too.


In case there are really people here who missed it, he wasn't arrested for "expressing sympathy" for the man who killed all those people. And forgive me, but the pretence of the snot-nosed brat offspring of the indulgent parents he obviously has clamiing to understand what motivated the man who did that is just the height of not worth spending a moment's thought on. He didn't understand a damned thing, and from the looks of it he probably never will.

[jollyreaper2112]

16. That's just stupid

I said this during Columbine, I can understand how the killers could feel so angry, I can understand how they could feel that kind of hate. Actually going through with shooting up the place, that's a different story. But I can understand that sense of alienation. There wasn't a trench coat mafia at my school so I had to make up a mafia of one, the book-reading computer geek mafia. Rarer than one might imagine where I went to school.

So what, are we going to have to have a kneejerk every time this sort of thing comes up? No, we can't have any understanding for the mental dysfunction of someone like this, we have to just issue a blanket condemnation on all discussion of the matter and leave it a great, cosmic mystery. That way, when it happens again, we can remain as bewildered as before.

edit: oh, he was threatening to kill people. Ok, that's a whole 'nother issue right there.

[truthisfreedom]

17. Sigh. This whole thing is just very, very heavy in a lot of ways.

Even NPR is broadcasting and rebroadcasting that nutjob's voice. F*cking SO insulting to the dead and wounded. THE STORIES ON THE RADIO SHOULD BE EXCLUSIVELY ABOUT THE VICTIMS AND THEIR LIVES, WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE THEY WERE, AND HOW MUCH THEY WERE LOVED AND WILL BE MISSED.

Sorry about yelling. I'm so pissed that this evil, evil madman is getting his day in the sun. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED. Disgusting.

[neohippie]

19. should we just ignore people who feel alienated, even if it stems from delusions?

I agree with what you are saying that we have to be careful not to glamorize or iconnize the perpetrator of such a violent act, but if you think that people don't want to know why someone would be motivated to commit such an act, your mistaken. Our culture has an unhealthy obsession with violence. People rubbernecking at the scene of an accident, and horror movies are good examples of our sickness.

I read where a psychiatrist said on Good Morning America that these tapes and this out lash did not represent the real Cho, how he was meek and paranoid, and that this anger and isolation that he felt were not real they were delusions. But, whether real or delusional, it was the reality that this person lived in and perhaps if our society as a whole we didn't have a tendancy towards ignoring mental illness, or someone addressed his reality, long before he reached a snapping point, this tragedy may have been avoided.

What is reality, is it different for everyone? I also read where other students at the school tried to reach out to the shooter, and he ignored their attempts. His paranoia may have been the reason why, but couldn't this have been addressed better. Perhaps if mental illness was not ignored in this country, and instead treatment and funding for more case workers to monitor all the mentally ill who we have turned out of institutions and onto our streets we could prevent more of these types of tragedies from occurring.

I think to deny a person's pain, whether it stems from delusion or reality is just as bad as if you would be setting a timer to go off on a bomb.

We as a society, owe it to ourselves to care for those who cannot seem to care for themselves or risk the possibility or more tragic outcomes when it comes to mental illness.

[treestar]

27. Good thinking

Our society is so insane, we seem to prefer to have outcasts so that their exclusion can make us feel better about ourselves. At least, for a great number of us. Then they don't see the possibly fallout from that.

We let many walk among us with no stake in our society, then are shocked that they lash out against it.

We've really got to come to grips with this. We have more of it than most societies.

[kestrel91316]

22. So you're advocating censorship? People want to hear the whole story.

There is a deep-seated need to understand that which frightens us.

If you don't like what broadcasters are reporting on, you may want to TURN OFF THE RADIO. Don't presume to be The Decider about what news we get to hear. And this IS news.

[iverglas]

23. so you're making up false ugly shit about another DUer?

What was said:

THE STORIES ON THE RADIO SHOULD BE EXCLUSIVELY ABOUT THE VICTIMS AND THEIR LIVES, WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE THEY WERE, AND HOW MUCH THEY WERE LOVED AND WILL BE MISSED.

One would think that someone around here would recognize what that is. It's an opinion.

Is the opinion that "people who broadcast news I don't like should be locked up"?

Is the opinion that "the government should review all material for broadcast before it is released and be entitled to delete material it doesn't like"?

Not as I read it. You seeing something different? No? So why would you make the CLAIM that the person who wrote it is advocating censorship?

Yeah, we know you stuck a question mark on your claim. That didn't make it a question. It's a statement with some cowardly punctuation.

Own your fabrications. Take off the improper punctuation. We don't put question marks on statements.

If you really wanted to ask a question, you'd say:

So, ARE YOU advocating censorship?

Not:

So you're advocating censorship?

So transparent.

[truthisfreedom]

24. Thanks for the backup. I had an extended discussion about this with a friend last night

and came to the conclusion that the victims should have been discussed first, and after a few weeks, once the emotional intensity was partially spent, the dark details about the killer would be safer to reveal. I feel that focusing on the killer immediately glorifies his warped cause and perpetuates this kind of violence. The media did that with Columbine, and look what happened... this killer referred to those killers as "martyrs."

Imagine who is listening to this killer's voice now, talking about "my children" (and who believes that they are his "children"?)

His voice is on all media outlets and Youtube. Those tapes should have been turned over to the police. They were evidence in a crime. They shouldn't have been copied before they were examined... that's called "tampering with evidence."

[The Stranger]

25. That is protected speech, and the CU Boulder police need to be issued a writ.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

28. He has made news before...

"To the Max
A publicity-hungry student shows how easy it is to become a media darling -- with a little help from CU.

By Michael Roberts
Published: November 23, 2006

The goal for me is just to get people to read my writing, and the newspapers definitely helped with that," says Max Karson, a University of Colorado at Boulder student who's recently received plenty of coverage thanks to The Yeti, a controversy-courting newsletter he publishes. "As far as any personal pleasure in making the administration look stupid, that wasn't high on my list of priorities. But it was amusing."


http://www.westword.com/2006-11-23/news/to-the-max/

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

29. Excellent, excellent find!

I :loveya: Westword MKJ

[Smooth Operator]

32. a former local boy

A former Amherst student who was suspended four times as part of a lengthy battle with the school administration about free speech was arrested this week and suspended from the University of Colorado for telling a class that he could relate to the man who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech.

Max Karson, 22, a 2003 Amherst-Pelham Regional High School graduate and now a junior at the University of Colorado, was charged on Tuesday with interfering with the staff, faculty, or students of an educational institution, a misdemeanor offense.

http://www.masslive.com/news/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1177057225155400.xml&coll=1

[ecstatic]

34. His arrest is alarming; at the same time, I'm not the one in class with him everyday

And I'm not the one who has the potential to be murdered by him when he's re-enacting the actions of his hero, Cho.

Some of you think the comments should have been ignored and they should have just returned to business as usual. I'm sure that's what people at VT said about Cho too.