TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Author: Trench Reynolds

  • Mr. Thompson Goes to Delaware

    Mr. Thompson Goes to Delaware

    Bill would limit sale of video games:

    Our favorite idiot lawyer from Florida is on the move again. This time he’s in Delaware trying to help State Rep. Helene Keeley, D-Wilmington South, get a law passed that would restrict businesses from selling M-rated games to minors. Never mind the fact that most legitimate stores won’t sell M-Rated games to anyone under 18 and that the majority of kids who get these games are getting through their parents. Jack never lets facts get in his way. Like this little nugget of misinformation from Jack…

    Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Colorado teens who massacred 13 of their fellow Columbine High School students in 1999, “literally trained on the game ‘Doom,’ ” Thompson said.

    Sure, they did Jack. Just forget all those tapes they made, showing them at a homemade target practice. I myself, and millions of other people, have played Doom and never picked up a gun in anger but again let’s not let facts get in the way.

    Jack also had this to say about the free speech ramifications…

    Thompson, meanwhile, said the First Amendment debate is misplaced.

    “This isn’t even speech,” Thompson said, holding up a video-game display box. “This is software that enables a machine to allow a player to play a game.”

    Does he really believe the lies that he’s spewing forth?

    When will politicians, especially Democrats, stop getting in bed with this assclown? It’s making them look worse than they already are.

  • A year later, more Red Lake details released

    A year later, more Red Lake details released

    Weise planned a far more lethal assault:

    Anonymous sources within the investigation have revealed to the Pioneer Press that Jeff Weise’s assault on Red Lake High School could have been much deadlier than it already was…

    Jeff Weise, who killed nine people at the Red Lake Indian Reservation before taking his own life, envisioned a higher body count and wanted friends to help him turn his high school into a death trap, a yearlong investigation into the shootings found.

    His original aim was to lead an attack on Red Lake High School when it was sure to be crowded, possibly on prom night or the first day of school, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.

    Weise’s massacre would have targeted the school’s gymnasium as a central “killing zone,” the sources said. Details of Weise’s initial scheme have not been previously disclosed.

    The troubled teenager considered executing his plot on April 20, the birthday of Adolf Hitler, one of the boy’s idols. That date would have marked the anniversary of the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, the deadliest school shooting in American history.

    Weise’s intent was to eclipse that tragedy, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Weise wanted to station armed accomplices at the school’s exits and in main hallways, where those who survived the gym assault would run for safety or escape, the sources said.

    “The plan was to have them picked off like sitting ducks as they came out,” said one of the sources.

    Why Weise chose March 21 to launch his assault in Red Lake remains a mystery.

    What amazes me is the fact that the article states that 39 people knew that Weise had thoughts of shooting up the school, yet none of them thought to go to school officials or law enforcement with that information.

    Remember, kids, it isn’t always “just talk”.

  • Parents to face no charges in Pine Middle shooting

    Court documents reveal chilling details about Reno middle school shooting:

    Nothing we haven’t been over already, but there was this little tidbit at the end of the article…

    Police say it’s unlikely that Newman’s parents will be charged with any crime in connection with the gun because they say there were gun locks and other reasonable security methods used at their home.

    If the security measures were so reasonable, then how did Newman obtain the gun?

  • Roseburg victim goes home

    Roseburg victim goes home

    RHS shooting victim home from hospital:

    The victim of the Roseburg High School shooting in Oregon, Joseph Monti, has been released from the hospital and is home with his family…

    He was struck four times and has since had surgery to remove two bullets and remaining bullet fragments. Family members say Monti has a long road of recovery ahead of him, including reconstructive surgery.

    Family members have said they plan to move back to California, where they moved from about two years ago.

  • Zarate Sues Jail

    Zarate Sues Jail

    Man charged in teen neighbor’s killing sues jail:

    This is just great, another frivolous lawsuit clogging the courts…

    The Randolph man charged with stabbing and dismembering a teenage neighbor will be moved out of the Morris County jail after having filed a suit against the facility following two fights with correction officers there.

    Authorities had not yet determined where Jonathan Zarate will be sent but said it will most likely be the Essex County Jail.

    For those of you who may have forgotten, 18-year-old Zarate, is accused of having ambushed 16-year-old Jennifer Parks in Zarate’s home and stabbing her, bludgeoning her, and dismembering her body, then trying to dump her body into the Passaic River in New Jersey.

    Let me give you a quote from prison officials when he originally attacked a guard…

    Jonathan Zarate, 18, of Randolph, allegedly punched a 26-year-old corrections officer three times in the face and head as he was being escorted back to his cell after a shower Thursday at 8:30 a.m., Warden Frank Corrente said.

    “This was unprovoked. He has issues with authority and has been a management issue since his arrival,” Corrente said of Zarate. “He shows violent behavior.”

    It would be a travesty if this lawsuit ever saw the light of day. Then again, this is New Jersey we’re talking about. He’ll probably be awarded a settlement.

  • More details in planning of Pine Middle Shooting

    Shooting planned, police say

    Police are now saying that James Newman was planning on shooting and killing his classmates for at least a week in advance…

    An eighth-grade student accused of opening fire in his middle school hallway, hitting one student, planned at least a week in advance to shoot and kill his classmates because he was tired of them making fun of him, according to court documents released Thursday.

    Police believe James Scott Newman, 14, was further inspired to go through with the Tuesday shooting at Pine Middle School after he researched the 1999 Columbine High School shooting rampage on the Internet, officers said in a court affidavit.

    Police said Thursday they found drawings in Newman’s locker of stick figures lying on the ground near guns with the words “die” and “kill” written on them. One note said that “no one will know me now, but tomorrow they will,” Reno Sgt. Randy Saulnier said.

    He obviously didn’t do his research well enough, or else he would have realized that the Columbine bullying was just a myth.

    And now we know how he obtained the gun and who it belonged to…

    Tuesday morning, Newman boarded his school bus with the revolver he took from his parents’ bedroom, along with three rounds he took from a bullet collection his father gave to him the day before. He tucked the gun into his notebook.

    Who gives their kids bullets? Not to mention what a great job of keeping your gun secure.

    Also, Newman did not target anyone specifically…

    Once inside Pine Middle School, Newman went into the bathroom and put the gun in his coat pocket. On his way out, he saw Alex Rueda, 14, walk by and “he decided he would start by shooting this person,” the affidavit said.

    One of Newman’s friends saw him pull out the gun and yelled at him to put it away, documents said. Newman then told the friend to run.

    “(Newman) aimed the firearm at (Rueda’s) back and pulled the trigger twice,” the affidavit said.

    Newman twice fired at Rueda, police allege, but his revolver did not fire as the hammer fell on two empty chambers.

    He then stood parallel to Rueda while still aiming the gun at his back, and shot at him three more times. Two of the rounds struck other objects but the third struck Rueda in the arm. One of the bullets ricocheted off the floor and grazed the leg of Kenzie McKeon, 14, who had been kneeling by her lower locker.

    So just like the Columbine scumbags, he planned to kill randomly. Luckily, he was a lousy shot.

    Prosecutors are still investigating the case to see whether or not Newman will be charged as an adult.

  • Ask Amy

    Ask Amy

    Mom finds MySpace a harmful disgrace:

    Check out this letter to an advice column called “Ask Amy”…

    DEAR AMY: I didn’t realize the harmful nature of MySpace.com until I received an anonymous copy of my 16-year-old daughter’s MySpace page. She thought it was “just fun and games” when she posted provocative pictures on her home page. I was shocked when I read her Web space, which was tame by comparison to other kids from our community who have posted lewd pictures with profane comments for the world to see! I’ll be monitoring my daughter’s activity, if not deleting it altogether, but what about the parents who are unaware of this Web site? What has our culture degenerated to when photos of girls imitating sexual acts and wearing bras in the midst of boys are posted online for anyone to see? No wonder we are so concerned about predators. Our children are making themselves targets for anyone to exploit.

    Saddened by Complacency

    Rather than give the whole answer away, I’ll just post the best part that should be common sense…

    DEAR SADDENED: If your daughter is demonstrating such poor online judgment, then it’s time to take the “car keys” away until she figures out that those photos could affect her life now and haunt her well into the future.

    Is that so hard for parents?

  • No Guarantees

    Parents seek assurances:

    I’m surprised at the level of honesty school officials are using towards parents regarding the fallout of the Pine Middle School shooting…

    Washoe County school officials told hundreds of anxious Pine Middle School parents Wednesday they didn’t know how to prevent shooting incidents such as the one that wounded two eighth-graders the previous morning.

    “We cannot guarantee we can make this school 100 percent safe, just as you cannot guarantee your child’s safety when he or she gets in a car,” Superintendant Paul Dugan told more than 500 students, parents and teachers. “Metal detectors are not a guarantee for safety.”

    He’s right. Red Lake High School had metal detectors, and that didn’t stop Jeff Weise. I would also say that liability lies more with the parents than it would with the schools. Most school shooting plots are planned in the home rather than at school. So, in this case, whoever owned the gun that James Newman used should have been responsible for keeping the gun secure and keeping it out of the hands of a 14-year-old.

    Also, according to the article, Newman had been planning this for a while…

    “You can see he had been thinking about this and considering it,” Lt. Ron Donnelly said after detectives interviewed the suspect, found drawings and writings in his locker and talked with his family and friends.

    “Students who heard him talk about bringing the gun to school thought it was just talk,” Rusk said. “Now they feel very guilty and wonder what they should have done. They felt (his comments) were just middle school bravado and that he wasn’t serious.”

    When will kids learn that when someone talks about bringing a gun to school that it might not be a joke? Luckily, no one was killed this time.

  • Gun used at Pine Middle School shooting belonged to family

    Gun used in Reno school shooting belonged to suspect’s family:

    The .38-caliber pistol used in the Pine Middle School shooting by James Scott Newman belonged to an unidentified family member and was obtained without permission. The owner of the gun may also face charges. It hasn’t been determined yet whether or not Newman will be charged as an adult or not…

    That’s because the Nevada Supreme Court recently required that the state must prove a juvenile had a specific intent to kill in order to bring an attempted murder charge, he said.

    Yeah, I’m sure he brought the gun to school to use as a party favor.

  • Bonelli pleads guilty

    Bonelli pleads guilty

    Bonelli pleads guilty to all counts in mall rampage:
    Bonelli pleads guilty in mall shooting spree:

    I haven’t talked about Robert Bonelli in a really long time. He was the 24-year-old gunman in the Hudson Valley Mall shooting in Ulster, New York that wounded two people. When his home was searched, police found what they called “Columbine Memorabilia”. Bonelli pleaded guilty today to all charges against him…

    In entering his plea, Bonelli said that he had gone to the mall with the intention of committing “suicide by cop,” hoping to get killed by police officers.

    Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams said Bonelli’s handwritten notes showed that he’d planned for months to conduct an armed rampage no later than April 20 of last year.

    Williams also maintained Bonelli had a lurid fascination with the shootings in Columbine.

    Personally, I don’t buy the “suicide by cop” theory. I think he luckily lost his nerve by the time he got to the mall, but I think his original intention was to kill.

    Between his fascination with Columbine and the fact that he planned for months to conduct some kind of assault with an April 20th deadline lead me to believe that his original intention was to kill as many people as possible.

    Anyway, he’s looking at a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 40.

    Sentencing is set for May 19th.