Connecticut Elementary School Massacre

[MacCruiskeen]

Apologies for quoting myself, but this is from a couple of days ago:

nick phelps' performance as a worried dad seemed a bit melodramatic to me.

These days more and more real people actually model their normal behaviour on melodramatic tv performances that are bizarre simulations of what real people actually behave like normally. If they didn't, they would look weirdly unspontaneous, especially on TV.

And this is from a couple of hours ago:

Wait -- so if he's an "actor", then where are the real parents of the victim? Or is the victim's name fake? And if fake, wouldn't other parents of the school immediately call it out as a fake name? If on the other hand it's the name of a real victim, wouldn't the other parents/school reps immediately call out the above person as an imposter? Or are they all on some absurd gag order?

Am I missing something here?

Thank you. This is what I keep wondering too.

I then briefly described the video (which I hadn't posted myself) and said I found it disturbing. I then asked if any witness had actually identified the masked killer as Adam Lanza.

That is all. Just for the record.

Carry on.

[8bitagent]

And here we are with the fake victims narrative once again. Which, besides feeling like someone is intentionally trying to repel people, never comes with a reason. If monster planners are putting together MK-driven killers to assault civilians in a strategy of tension, why do they make their already daunting task so much more complicated by faking the victims? Why create seams and loose ends? (That can be divined so easily by viewers at a great distance?) What's wrong with having the MK tool just kill the real people and then himself, done?

I agree. In cases where a parent is suspect, YES...reading the tea leaves of their cadence, expression, etc should be considered.
But it's possible that yes, in this day in age when confronted with unthinkable events many people reach to un-naturalistic acting cues from tv, media, etc
It DOES come off as very very bad, intentionally bad. Yet who knows how one can react in such a horrific situation. Not saying this is a Harley Guy/Fake Phone Call/Fake Victims game ala 9/11,
and yes there is something "reality tv" about some of this, but thats just how this crappy modern world is.

And yes, to whoever said these tragedies provide a blank projection canvas of our own bias agendas. If youre pro gun, its plot by Obama to take your guns away. If youre anti gun, its the perfect casus beli to once and for all take away the second amendment. If youre anti big pharma, well (even tho he wasnt on meds that I know of) its the perfect time to attack SSRIs as the culprit. Or violent video games. Or the lack of a male figure.

these events all have clear rules and patterns. Friend-less male 20-24 years old, usually in some sort of fatigues where the killer has a blank/disturbed expression, raised on a steady diet of video games, usually intelligent but very isolated, etc. Often times they kill themselves before police get to them and now and then they are arrested with a crazed look that lasts for weeks.
So right there, maybe one could gleam an "MK manchurian" plot from that. I dont know.

All I know is, if Sandy Hook was a black op, why would they have a guy doing a really bad acting job? Perhaps it comes off that way because he DOESNT know how to act in such an unthinkable situation?

[barracuda]

1. Has any survivor from that school actually postively identified Adam Lanza as the killer? Last I heard, the legal principle "innocent until proven guilty" had not yet been formally binned in the USA. Yet Adam Lanza has very quickly gone from being "the suspect" to being "the killer". Weird, that.

There were many witnesses here including two that were shot and survived: Natalie Hammond, referred to as the vice-principal or lead teacher, and another unnamed adult. Hammond may have been in the group of three adults that confronted the shooter when he first entered the school along with the principle and the school psychologist. It sounds like she took three rounds.

2. Is it plausible that this shy skinny hypersensitive "autistic" (sic) youth shot his mother to death without any neighbour hearing the shots?

I think so. Huge neighborhood, big house, big lots, small-cal varmint gun, nine o'clock in the morning... yeah, it's plausible.

Is it plausible that he was then cool and competent and randomly-yet-choosily-murderous enough to drive to a school to which neither he nor she had any connection, to force his way in past the newly-installed security system, and then to massacre 25 children and adults before killing himself just before the cops arrived?

Lanza attended the school in 2002, a fact which explains exactly nothing. But why does he have to be cool and competent to drive a few miles in his own neighborhood, or to shoot through a window and do a massacre? What about those actions requires calmness or great presence of mind? Or really even requires any discernible or meaningful motivation?

FIFY

Thank you.

A more generous view... people are traumatized by this event and want to understand it. Some wish to take preventative measures. Each is approaching it with her or his own limited life experience and knowledge base, myself included.

I couldn't agree more. It's the lack of details, the opacity of the horrible act that makes almost everyone need to place a meaning on something that may have none that can satisfy. Because really, is there any motivation, any at all, that justifies the results of the shooter's actions? Jealousy, hatred, being an outcast, the violence of society, etc... this went beyond all of that.

[MacCruiskeen]

All I know is, if Sandy Hook was a black op, why would they have a guy doing a really bad acting job?

A very good and obvious question. I've already asked it myself, as have many other people on this thread and elsewhere. You ask the question because you are, like most people, a fairly sane, decent and honest human being, as opposed to a professional organiser or perpetrator of black ops.

However: Since everyone and his dog clearly feels free to worm his way into THE MIND OF ADAM LANZA, THE EVIL AUTISTIC WEIRDO LONER MASS-MURDERER, and since it's by now been established beyond all reasonable doubt* by the telly and the tabloids and the serious press that HE DUNNIT, perhaps you'll allow me to speculate for a moment on what it might be like to be an untouchable and anonymous organiser of black ops for the US government.

A possible answer to your question (and mine): They do it because they can. Because it's their idea of fun.** Because (this at least is uncontroversial) the perpetrators of any such crimes are heartless psychopaths. Perhaps, then, they -- or at least some of them -- get a thrill out of testing the waters and seeing how far they can go. Perhaps it's even of practical use to them, as an opportunity for research on a global scale. Or perhaps by now, since 9/11 at the very latest, they are perfectly confident that they can get away with literally anything, however absurd, brutal, implausible, unproven, or indeed blatantly dishonest and demonstrably untrue.

All this (perhaps) because they know -- through experience -- that any decent human being, however critical of his government and however suspicious of his nation's intelligence agencies, will be repelled by anything that smacks even vaguely of disrespecting the victims and will find it practically impossible to even countenance the thought that if Sandy Hook was a black op, they would either dare to have a guy doing "a really bad acting job"***, or be so incompetent as to let the cat out of the bag on CNN.

But that's all speculation, and in the worst possible taste, of course. As opposed to referring to Adam Lanza as "the killer" at length, in print and on TV, while offering reams of po-faced crackerbarrel psychology (and sociology) as to why He Dunnit. That's in good taste.

*What are you, a conspiracy nut?

**It's not unheard of for powerful people to get a thrill out of their own power and ruthlessness. It's not unheard of for brutal murderers to disrespect their victims and repeatedly taunt the public. Jack the Ripper, for instance, demonstrably did just that. And he was just one sadist among too many to list, and certainly not the most powerful or destructive one in history.

***It wasn't in fact "a really bad acting job". If it was (by any chance) an acting job, then he performed it highly competently, if you happen to like that kind of thing.

[IanEye]

i posted that Anarchist Soccer Mom link a couple of days ago because i thought it was interesting.
but i don't feel any need to endorse her feelings about her own children or others.

as far as Mr. Parker goes, perhaps he is devout in his faith and had spent the previous hour talking with his pastor about how his daughter is in Heaven and isn't in any pain, and he will be reunited with her in eternity. He feels good about this, but then he has to go out into the bright lights of the media and speak on behalf of the surviving family members, all of whom are sad to be separated from her. for the devout it is possible to feel both emotions at once, and in the aftermath of such an event one's emotions will be a whirlwind.

also, if Mr. Parker is in sales and has done a lot of public speaking it is quite possible he was slipping "into the zone" simply out of habit, only to then realize this wasn't going to be the usual power point presentation, and that it was ok to speak from the heart.

[lupercal]

"Jungle taping" used to maximize killing:

According to authorities, the latest details to emerge out of the Sandy Hook investigation indicate that Lanza, 20, rigged his rifle to allow him to cause maximum killings.

The gunman, who is responsible for the death of 20 students and six adults, reportedly taped two cartridge magazines to his .223 caliber rifle so he could reload as quickly as possible and continue his killing spree, the Telegraph reported.

Wayne Carver, the Connecticut medical examiner, said the technique is known as "jungle taping" and explains how Lanza managed to kill 26 victims at a school in a matter of minutes. .

Computer hard drive destroyed:

FBI agents have also confirmed that Lanza destroyed his computer hard-drive prior to the shootings. It is another indication that this was a premeditated attack, and that Lanza had planned the shooting all out in advance, authorities believe.

from: The International Business Times, December 19, 2012, 9:51 AM, link: http://www.ibtimes.com/adam-lanza-plann ... ive-950842

[MacCruiskeen]

Jesus christ, I have only just realised that that video was recorded and broadcast only one day after the massacre. The father must literally have spent practically all of the intervening period answering phone calls from what he refers to as "people and agencies" (presumably he means news agencies), making arrangements with CNN, and writing his memorial speech, complete with the thanks and the forgiveness and the little joke about food.

Also (and this really does beggar belief): a Facebook page collecting money in the name of the dead child was set up by "close friends" of the father on the very day of the massacre, and it is still up there, with his express support. (https://www.facebook.com/EmilieParkerFund#) On the 14th (the day of the massacre), it already contained at least one photo of him and his wife actually at the scene of the massacre. By the 15th (the day of the CNN interview), it contained two more. It is an appalling spectacle.

As is the video itself. Not just his grand entrance, but the entire thing. It's an obscene spectacle, and it's obscene that it was ever even conceived or requested in the first place, never mind actually filmed and broadcast, to say nothing of the way it was greeted and disseminated by the world's media as an inspiring performance. I do not believe that he was put up to it by the CIA, or by anyone else. I believe that he was being as sincere as he could. This is not just far more plausible, it's actually the more frightening and depressing alternative.

These days more and more real people actually model their normal behaviour on melodramatic tv performances that are bizarre simulations of what real people actually behave like normally. If they didn't, they would look weirdly unspontaneous, especially on TV.

("Suspiciously unspontaneous" would have been more accurate.)

[MacCruiskeen]

"Jungle taping" used to maximize killing:

According to authorities, the latest details to emerge out of the Sandy Hook investigation indicate that Lanza, 20, rigged his rifle to allow him to cause maximum killings.

The gunman, who is responsible for the death of 20 students and six adults, reportedly taped two cartridge magazines to his .223 caliber rifle so he could reload as quickly as possible and continue his killing spree, the Telegraph reported.

Wayne Carver, the Connecticut medical examiner, said the technique is known as "jungle taping" and explains how Lanza managed to kill 26 victims at a school in a matter of minutes. .

Computer hard drive destroyed:

FBI agents have also confirmed that Lanza destroyed his computer hard-drive prior to the shootings. It is another indication that this was a premeditated attack, and that Lanza had planned the shooting all out in advance, authorities believe.

from: The International Business Times, December 19, 2012, 9:51 AM, link: http://www.ibtimes.com/adam-lanza-plann ... ive-950842

Say what you will, he was one ice-cold hardassed muthafucka, that Adam Lanza. No nerd he. James Bond, eat your heart out.



I suppose there's just no fathoming the profoundly dark abyss that is the human heart. Certainly I am now persuaded that every human being I encounter is capable of terrible, unmotivated, murderous evil at the drop of a hat, and I can't imagine what possible interest a protofascist militaristic regime running a declining plutocratic empire might have in convincing me of that fact.

What's on TV?

[barracuda]

They jungle tape clips in Black Ops:Call of Duty, but it's usually on AK's rather than squirrel guns, so I'd say, yeah, there's definitely a place where that would be considered a nerd move.

[MacCruiskeen]

I wonder why the fine gentlemen of the press prefer this photo of Adam Lanza to any other, even though it's blurred:



Their reasons are a profound unfathomable mystery, just like the human heart.

[8bitagent]

There should be a big sign that says "x amount of days we've been mass shooting rampage from a black fatigues dressed early 20's loner kid in America" free. There was barely a couple of days between Portland Mall and Sandy Hook. There certainly is a clear pattern. If these are "black ops"(the 2007-2012 events) then a very strict pattern of predictability has emerged. Hawkins, Cho, Lanza, Roberts, Loughner, Holmes, etc.

Has anyone looked at the last five years of these cases for other patterns? The Omaha and VT Tech 2007 events, Aurora/Portland mall/Sandy Hook this year or the Giffords shooting? They all seem very very familiar to one another in terms of profile and action.

[8bitagent]

All I know is, if Sandy Hook was a black op, why would they have a guy doing a really bad acting job?

A very good and obvious question. I've already asked it myself, as have many other people on this thread and elsewhere. You ask the question because you are, like most people, a fairly sane, decent and honest human being, as opposed to a professional organiser or perpetrator of black ops.

However: Since everyone and his dog clearly feels free to worm his way into THE MIND OF ADAM LANZA, THE EVIL AUTISTIC WEIRDO LONER MASS-MURDERER, and since it's by now been established beyond all reasonable doubt* by the telly and the tabloids and the serious press that HE DUNNIT, perhaps you'll allow me to speculate for a moment on what it might be like to be an untouchable and anonymous organiser of black ops for the US government.

A possible answer to your question (and mine): They do it because they can. Because it's their idea of fun.** Because (this at least is uncontroversial) the perpetrators of any such crimes are heartless psychopaths. Perhaps, then, they -- or at least some of them -- get a thrill out of testing the waters and seeing how far they can go. Perhaps it's even of practical use to them, as an opportunity for research on a global scale. Or perhaps by now, since 9/11 at the very latest, they are perfectly confident that they can get away with literally anything, however absurd, brutal, implausible, unproven, or indeed blatantly dishonest and demonstrably untrue.

All this (perhaps) because they know -- through experience -- that any decent human being, however critical of his government and however suspicious of his nation's intelligence agencies, will be repelled by anything that smacks even vaguely of disrespecting the victims and will find it practically impossible to even countenance the thought that if Sandy Hook was a black op, they would either dare to have a guy doing "a really bad acting job"***, or be so incompetent as to let the cat out of the bag on CNN.

But that's all speculation, and in the worst possible taste, of course. As opposed to referring to Adam Lanza as "the killer" at length, in print and on TV, while offering reams of po-faced crackerbarrel psychology (and sociology) as to why He Dunnit. That's in good taste.

Well you don't need giant Michael Bay Summer Action Movie levels of crazyness(ie: the September 11th event) to shock the public. You just need a strategy of tension involving low intensity pin pricks here and there.
It's been thought of that a form of "Beslan" would come to America, and I'd definitely consider the massacre of twenty six year olds pretty close.

What was the followup to 9/11 and the anthrax attacks? The DC Sniper case(the last time a Bushmaster 223 was used in a major event), exactly a decade ago. If that event didn't have Manchurian and high weirdness dripping all over it...

[barracuda]

I wonder why the fine gentlemen of the press prefer this photo of Adam Lanza to any other, even though it's blurred:

The press is selling you a narrative of an insect-like creature, hypnotized by computer gaming and twisted into the shocked stare of incipient mental illness, capable of plotting the deaths of dozens of six-year-olds by riddling them with frangible rounds from a semi-automatic weapon. They do this in order to fool you into thinking you can understand something about the event which maybe neither you or they really can, that something being the mindset of a child-killer. That narrative is, of course, nearly impossible to construct effectively using images of a cute, personable, childlike individual that you can create empathy for.


Adam Lanza, brutal and ruthless baby slayer

Incidentally, the blurry photo appears to be the most fully-grown image of Lanza that has appeared since the event.

[Project Willow]

What was the followup to 9/11 and the anthrax attacks? The DC Sniper case(the last time a Bushmaster 223 was used in a major event), exactly a decade ago. If that event didn't have Manchurian and high weirdness dripping all over it...

It did. Some of these cases do, some don't. The means by which a cold blooded sleeper assassin is intentionally created could just as well produce an unintended spree killer.

[lupercal]

From NYT reporter Libor Jany's 12/14/12 Twitter account:

Michael Rosenfield @michaelwbz4

Long-time Kingston NH police officer is #Newtown shooter's uncle. FBI and local police still on scene questioning family members. https://twitter.com/ljanyNT

Whatever this was, it wasn't an unintended spree, you can rest assured of that. Also from same:

Libor Jany @ljanyNT

Among the many unanswered questions is what became of the man who was held for questioning about two hours after the shooting occurred.

Will Tanksley @Wtank92 @ljanyNT Wasn't that the shooter's brother, Ryan?

Libor Jany @ljanyNT @Wtank92 No, this was an older man. And I believe his brother was questioned by police in Jersey.

And from a 12/14 article:

Following the shooting, Police were "questioning a handcuffed suspect in connection with the Newtown school shooting," the Connecticut Post tweeted. A witness told Jany that a man "was led out of the woods by police in handcuffs."

http://www.businessinsider.com/sandy-ho ... an-2012-12