Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Columbine victims
David Cullen was one of the many reporters who dashed to Littleton, Colorado, when word first got out about the shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. But unlike his media counterparts, Cullen, who was then working for Salon.com, wound up spending the next decade reporting stories that debunked many of the myths that were retold repeatedly by newspapers and magazines. In his new book, Columbine, Cullen sets the record straight about the killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who were wrongly characterized as being gay and members of the Trench Coat Mafia, according to the author.
Cullen adds that Harris and Klebold also did not target jocks or minority students during their rampage, and perhaps most surprising, that Klebold displayed considerable sensitivity and love in his journal writings before the shooting. “He’s literally talking about love on almost every page,” Cullen told Salon in an interview. “You can take his journal … and just flip through it and it will shock you. You see these hearts all the way. It’s like, ‘What is this killer drawing hearts for?’”
Cullen’s book also debunks the story of student Cassie Bernall, who was reportedly killed by Klebold because of her Christian faith. The erroneous tale, told again and again by Bernall’s mother and evangelical worshipers, claimed that Klebold asked Cassie if she believed in God. When she said “yes,” he killed her. After talking to numerous survivors and investigators, Cullen discovered that the story wasn’t true.
What You Never Knew About Columbine (by Joan Walsh, Salon)
Columbine (by David Cullen)
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