In light of the Newtown, Connecticut shootings I shared on Facebook an article purported to have been written by actor Morgan Freeman.  In part it said these shootings happen again and again because,

Of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine?

After posting the piece many people told me that the piece wasn't written by Freeman but attributed to him.  I don't really care who wrote the piece but I agree with it totally.  We in the media report the news which includes the name of the shooter and we might mention a few of the names of the victims in a sound bite but the names are never heard again while the killer's name is burned into our memories for weeks and months.

I think we should never mention the name of the killer again if they die on the scene and if they are captured and tried we should mention only that the alleged killer was tried and executed if found guilty....again not mentioning their names.  Let's not give them the fame and glory of being the "mastermind" of the largest domestic massacre.  Let's bury them in an unmarked grave in some desolate unnamed location and erase their names from every document.

We must stop glorifying these murderers.  I don't care what their problem may have been.  Fame or infamy should not be the reward.  Instead we should remember and repeat the following:

Children:

  • Charlotte Bacon, 6
  • Daniel Barden, 7
  • Olivia Engel, 6
  • Josephine Gay, 7
  • Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6
  • Dylan Hockley, 6
  • Madeleine F. Hsu, 6
  • Catherine V. Hubbard, 6
  • Chase Kowalski, 7
  • Jesse Lewis, 6
  • James Mattioli, 6
  • Grace McDonnell, 7
  • Emilie Parker, 6
  • Jack Pinto, 6
  • Noah Pozner, 6
  • Caroline Previdi, 6
  • Jessica Rekos, 6
  • Aveille Richman, 6
  • Benjamin Wheeler, 6
  • Allison N. Wyatt, 6

Adults:

  • Dawn Hocksprung, 47
  • Rachel Davino, 29
  • Anne Marie Murphy, 52
  • Lauren Russeau, 30
  • Mary Sherlach, 56
  • Victoria Soto, 27

Fame is too good for killers.  Let's sentence them to anonymity.

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