Since 2004, there has been a widely accepted version of events surrounding the Columbine High School shooting. In this version, we're told that while Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold may have been bullied a little bit, it wasn't any more than anyone else and didn't have much to do with how they felt about themselves or the community at Columbine. We're also led to believe that both Eric and Dylan had a decent-sized group of friends and that Harris, in particular, was adept at romancing the opposite sex. In this narrative, we learn that Eric Harris had every earmark of a classic psychopath and that it was his single-minded bent towards destruction that swept a troubled, depressed Dylan Klebold over to the dark side. Dylan is described as hesitant or uncommitted throughout the planning of and commission of the attack, indicating that while what he ultimately perpetrated was evil, it was Eric who pushed Klebold into murder.
It's a neat little summary of what transpired and it certainly gives us a target onto which we can place all of our rage and despair. There certainly is a measure of truth to this scenario. The evidence does suggest that Eric held a more dominant position in the relationship between the two boys, and Dylan's journal certainly gives us a glimpse into his despair. However, that appears to be where the facts end and the blurring of truth and fiction begin. In the years since this senseless tragedy, law enforcement agencies have released over 12,000 documents pertaining to Columbine, in addition to audio and video recordings. It's a daunting amount of information to wade through which is why most have relied on the media to condense it for public consumption. Unfortunately, this is not a story that can be summarized by sound bytes. It is a complicated, messy affair involving two young men with significant personal demons that led them down a path of utter destruction.
Evidence Ignored provides irrefutable proof that:
- Eric and Dylan were subjected to more than their fair share of bullying and ostracism as documented by both friends and classmates in police statements made after the attack. Harris and Klebold referenced being mistreated in their journal writings, in letters to friends, and on multiple occasions during their rampage through the high school. The bullying had been documented on video and a Governor's Columbine Review Commission determined that bullying was commonplace at the school.
- Eric Harris had very little success with dating and claims that he had a relationship with a 23- year old are easily debunked upon review of information learned about her by law enforcement.
- Eric Harris fails to meet the established criteria of psychopathy based upon Hare's Psychopathy Checklist, despite claims of members of law enforcement.
- Dylan's own writings, transcripts of the Basement Tapes, eyewitness accounts, and forensic evidence outline his level of committment to the attack.