The school shooter that never was
starviego
(2/20/04 10:38 pm)
The school shooter that never was, From Australian media reports commencing on 10 April. 2001:
Student 'planned high school massacre'
A 15-year-old Australian student planned to kill classmates and teachers in a massacre similar to the Columbine High School slayings in the United States, a parliament has been told. Education minister John Aquilina told the New South Wales state parliament a boy is undergoing counselling after three students at a high school uncovered the plan in his diary last week. A gun is said to have been found later in the teenager's home." That diary contained graphic passages describing a massacre list, descriptions of suicide and plans to kill other students during a school assembly which was to take place the next day," Mr Aquilina said."In the student's words, he intended carrying out a replica of the Colorado High School massacre."
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The problem was, almost none of it was true:
"School massacre scare backfires on Australian state government
By Erika Zimmer
2 May 2001
The New South Wales state Labor government has been caught out feeding false information to the media, alleging a plot by a 15-year-old student to carry out a Columbine High School-style massacre at his school in Sydney's western suburbs.
Evidence has to come to light implicating both Premier Bob Carr and Education Minister John Aquilina in sensationalising the incident and then attempting to orchestrate an official cover up of their role. Outraged parents, teachers and students have condemned Aquilina's actions and the boy's family has threatened to sue the government.
The affair began on the morning of April 10, when Carr's and Aquilina's media officials alerted newspapers and other news outlets that Aquilina would make a major announcement in the NSW parliament that afternoon. TV stations were advised to prepare footage of the Columbine massacre. Around 2.30 pm, Aquilina rose to deliver a ministerial statement.
Aquilina alleged that he had received details that morning of a student's diary that contained graphic passages describing a massacre list, descriptions of suicide and plans to kill other students during a school assembly. In the student's own words, Aquilina claimed, the boy planned a replica of the Colorado High School massacre. According to the minister, the diary included a hit list of teachers and students and described the school hall and other buildings.
Aquilina theatrically reminded the parliament of the horrific incident at Columbine High School in the United States of America on April 20 1999, almost two years ago, when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 12 students and a teacher. He congratulated the school's principal for acting promptly to prevent a similar outrage. ..... By referring to the American tragedy, Aquilina depicted the Sydney student in the most sinister possible light. The two Columbine students, admirers of Adolf Hitler, chose Hitler's birthday to execute a long-planned act of carnage.
Predictably, Aquilina's statement provoked a media frenzy. While Aquilina did not name the school, 5pm television news programs flashed aerial shots of Cecil Hills High in Sydney's west. Precisely as the government intended, images of the school were juxtaposed with flashbacks to the Columbine massacre.
The Murdoch tabloid, the Daily Telegraph published a front-page lead the following day, reporting that a gun had been found at the student's home, licensed to his father and that the boy had been expelled from school. The Telegraph further fuelled public anxiety the next day, reporting that worried parents were removing their children from the school.
Journalists later revealed that Aquilina's press secretary Patrick Low and Carr's communications director Walt Secord had supplied the story about a gun and had also stated that Aquilina's information had come from the police. Interviewed on radio 2UE on April 11, Aquilina further embellished his story. He falsely declared that he had been advised that the boy had intended to carry through his alleged plot.
Aquilina also told the media the boy had been removed from the school, when in reality, the principal had quietly dealt with the matter after three Year 10 students handed in the boy's diary. The principal interviewed the boy, spoke to the family, arranged for counselling and told police no further action was required.
The boy's father told the media he had never had a gun and had never applied for a licence. The school's principal stated that no gun existed.... Police officials said they had no record of being contacted by the school about the boy's diary and denied making any suggestion that a weapon was involved. Police commanders retracted these comments the following day, prompting media and Opposition allegations that the Premier's Office had forced the police service to make a retraction.
Boy's diary contained no threats
Next, Aquilina faced claims by the school and the boy's family that he had given a misleading account of the boy's diary. The Telegraph reported that it had obtained a copy of the diary and could find no reference to death threats or hit lists. Later, the newspaper reported that the diary did not mention a plan to kill students at a school assembly. Nor did it describe the school hall and other buildings as Aquilina had claimed.
Instead, the diary pointed to a depressed and troubled teenager, who was unhappy about being teased for being chubby. He wrote in his diary that he was tired of life and wanted to die. He added: I'm just a burden that no one wants to bear. The diary contained a list of names, which his father said were the names of the boy's friends, and contained no accompanying references to violence.
Aquilina, who had left for Europe and North America a few days after making his statement in parliamentreportedly to study private sector funding of public schoolswas forced to issue an apology to the boy and his family from London. Carr added a government apology the next day.
".........since taking office six years ago, the Carr government has waged a non-stop law and order campaign, introducing sweeping police powers and boosting police numbers in working class areas. Faced with widespread disaffection among youth, it has introduced one repressive measure after the otherincluding police body searches, curfews and move on powers." If the government's media operation had not backfired, its claims to have foiled a massacre may have been used to call for police and other security measures in schools.
Whatever the government's precise intentions, the affair has laid bare some of the Carr government's modus operandireleasing misleading information to selected journalists, whipping up media sensationalism, covering up official records, pressuring officials to change their reports and offering up scapegoatsall in order to stampede public opinion and pursue its right-wing agenda ."
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Comment: Yes, Virginia , Governments do manipulate school shooting events for political ends!!
"Let the Truth be out, and let the chips fall where they may"
starviego
(2/20/04 10:38 pm)
The school shooter that never was, From Australian media reports commencing on 10 April. 2001:
Student 'planned high school massacre'
A 15-year-old Australian student planned to kill classmates and teachers in a massacre similar to the Columbine High School slayings in the United States, a parliament has been told. Education minister John Aquilina told the New South Wales state parliament a boy is undergoing counselling after three students at a high school uncovered the plan in his diary last week. A gun is said to have been found later in the teenager's home." That diary contained graphic passages describing a massacre list, descriptions of suicide and plans to kill other students during a school assembly which was to take place the next day," Mr Aquilina said."In the student's words, he intended carrying out a replica of the Colorado High School massacre."
-----------------------------------------
The problem was, almost none of it was true:
"School massacre scare backfires on Australian state government
By Erika Zimmer
2 May 2001
The New South Wales state Labor government has been caught out feeding false information to the media, alleging a plot by a 15-year-old student to carry out a Columbine High School-style massacre at his school in Sydney's western suburbs.
Evidence has to come to light implicating both Premier Bob Carr and Education Minister John Aquilina in sensationalising the incident and then attempting to orchestrate an official cover up of their role. Outraged parents, teachers and students have condemned Aquilina's actions and the boy's family has threatened to sue the government.
The affair began on the morning of April 10, when Carr's and Aquilina's media officials alerted newspapers and other news outlets that Aquilina would make a major announcement in the NSW parliament that afternoon. TV stations were advised to prepare footage of the Columbine massacre. Around 2.30 pm, Aquilina rose to deliver a ministerial statement.
Aquilina alleged that he had received details that morning of a student's diary that contained graphic passages describing a massacre list, descriptions of suicide and plans to kill other students during a school assembly. In the student's own words, Aquilina claimed, the boy planned a replica of the Colorado High School massacre. According to the minister, the diary included a hit list of teachers and students and described the school hall and other buildings.
Aquilina theatrically reminded the parliament of the horrific incident at Columbine High School in the United States of America on April 20 1999, almost two years ago, when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 12 students and a teacher. He congratulated the school's principal for acting promptly to prevent a similar outrage. ..... By referring to the American tragedy, Aquilina depicted the Sydney student in the most sinister possible light. The two Columbine students, admirers of Adolf Hitler, chose Hitler's birthday to execute a long-planned act of carnage.
Predictably, Aquilina's statement provoked a media frenzy. While Aquilina did not name the school, 5pm television news programs flashed aerial shots of Cecil Hills High in Sydney's west. Precisely as the government intended, images of the school were juxtaposed with flashbacks to the Columbine massacre.
The Murdoch tabloid, the Daily Telegraph published a front-page lead the following day, reporting that a gun had been found at the student's home, licensed to his father and that the boy had been expelled from school. The Telegraph further fuelled public anxiety the next day, reporting that worried parents were removing their children from the school.
Journalists later revealed that Aquilina's press secretary Patrick Low and Carr's communications director Walt Secord had supplied the story about a gun and had also stated that Aquilina's information had come from the police. Interviewed on radio 2UE on April 11, Aquilina further embellished his story. He falsely declared that he had been advised that the boy had intended to carry through his alleged plot.
Aquilina also told the media the boy had been removed from the school, when in reality, the principal had quietly dealt with the matter after three Year 10 students handed in the boy's diary. The principal interviewed the boy, spoke to the family, arranged for counselling and told police no further action was required.
The boy's father told the media he had never had a gun and had never applied for a licence. The school's principal stated that no gun existed.... Police officials said they had no record of being contacted by the school about the boy's diary and denied making any suggestion that a weapon was involved. Police commanders retracted these comments the following day, prompting media and Opposition allegations that the Premier's Office had forced the police service to make a retraction.
Boy's diary contained no threats
Next, Aquilina faced claims by the school and the boy's family that he had given a misleading account of the boy's diary. The Telegraph reported that it had obtained a copy of the diary and could find no reference to death threats or hit lists. Later, the newspaper reported that the diary did not mention a plan to kill students at a school assembly. Nor did it describe the school hall and other buildings as Aquilina had claimed.
Instead, the diary pointed to a depressed and troubled teenager, who was unhappy about being teased for being chubby. He wrote in his diary that he was tired of life and wanted to die. He added: I'm just a burden that no one wants to bear. The diary contained a list of names, which his father said were the names of the boy's friends, and contained no accompanying references to violence.
Aquilina, who had left for Europe and North America a few days after making his statement in parliamentreportedly to study private sector funding of public schoolswas forced to issue an apology to the boy and his family from London. Carr added a government apology the next day.
".........since taking office six years ago, the Carr government has waged a non-stop law and order campaign, introducing sweeping police powers and boosting police numbers in working class areas. Faced with widespread disaffection among youth, it has introduced one repressive measure after the otherincluding police body searches, curfews and move on powers." If the government's media operation had not backfired, its claims to have foiled a massacre may have been used to call for police and other security measures in schools.
Whatever the government's precise intentions, the affair has laid bare some of the Carr government's modus operandireleasing misleading information to selected journalists, whipping up media sensationalism, covering up official records, pressuring officials to change their reports and offering up scapegoatsall in order to stampede public opinion and pursue its right-wing agenda ."
--------------------------
Comment: Yes, Virginia , Governments do manipulate school shooting events for political ends!!
"Let the Truth be out, and let the chips fall where they may"
