That's where Dante would put Charles Roberts.
I know I'm supposed to have compassion. I don't believe in the death penalty. I don't believe in pure evil. But I'm having a hard time getting past this one.
For those of you outside the US, yesterday a man in Pennsylvania dropped his children off at school, then drove to an Amish community nearby. Fully armed and prepared for a lengthy seige, he entered a one-room schoolhouse. He ordered the adults and all of the boys to leave, then barricaded the door. He lined the girls, aged 6 - 13, up and bound them together at their feet.
Then he called his wife. This particular detail infuriates me. He took a moment in the terror he was inflicting on these children to take comfort in saying goodbye to his wife. When law enforcement arrived and tried to get in (they couldn't negotiate because there was no phone, according to Amish tradition), he opened fire on the little girls, then killed himself.
5 girls died and 5 more had to be hospitalized.
Perhaps it shouldn't matter, but the fact that he chose to take his madness to an Amish community - chosen because there were girls there and there was no security - is particularly heinous. It feels like such an affront on a group of people who live out the ideals of peace and nonviolence is an attack on the very heart of our nation as a community. It's vile.
I hope to find some compassion...the only outlet for that emotion right now is toward his family...but right now I need to be really angry, and imagine this man writhing in a river of boiling blood up to his eyeballs. It seems the only punishment suitable.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I saw the story in the paper.
It's truly sickening.
The worst thing that affects me in these sorts of cases is when the perpertrator turns the gun on themselves, making themselves unanswerable.
Cunt.
Yes, this tragedy happened only 30 minutes from my house.
I believe from what the local news and papers are saying, Spins you might have a few facts out of line.
He did let all the men go, and he let some women who were pregnant or had small children with them, go. He kept one older girl, a teachers aid. He did not go on a shooting spree...he shot them all at point blank range.
This coward was not Amish. He delived milk to the school. He had it planned for well over a week.
Instead of hogging up your site, perhaps I should attach some local paper articles over at my blog.
The Amish don't hold a grudge, they are not upset at all, as far as it looks. They have already publicly forgiven the coward. They look at it as though it was Gods doing and it was the childrens time to go.
There are still 5 girls in serious or critical condition, ages...6,8 10,12,13.
He did kill himself, they said the motive was revenge, but then they also said that during the phone call to his wife, he admitting to molesting family members 20 years ago. Very odd.
Sorry for taking up all your commenter space.
Some things in this world are inexplicable
Adding to what shorty said, he apparently had molested young female family members 20 years ago and had recently been dreaming about doing it again. That's when he made and followed through with this plan, although I honestly don't see much of a correlation between his past actions and the killing of these children other than the fact that they both involved young girls. He seems to have had a hatred of them (girls), but I've yet to hear why.
I have Amish relatives, and a large number of family members live in a very similar Hutterite community also in Pennsylvania. This is hitting me close to home right now.
Post a Comment