Two Teens Arrested After Plots to Commit Mass Violence - Will the System Fail Them?
In a time when mass shootings seem to have reached a frequency of epidemic proportions (in reality, the frequency of these events hasn’t changed much over the years), many people are struggling to find a way to try and prevent them. We have seen state after state pass well-intentioned, but overall misguided red flag laws. We’ve seen a tightening of gun control laws, or at least attempts at such. But governments and activists have thus far seemed unable to tackle a prevailing issue - how to stop known threats from falling through the cracks.
We saw it with Nikolas Cruz in Parkland. We saw it with Devin Patrick Kelley in Sutherland Springs. We saw it again with Connor Betts in Dayton; Omar Mateen, too, had a past history of violence and threats of violence. All of these individuals also had histories of mental health issues that largely went untreated or ignored.
This is not a story of lax gun laws - it’s a story of current laws not being enforced, red flags being ignored, and, in the case of Kelley, the government itself neglecting to add vital information to the national databases.
Two new stories have surfaced in the last couple days of people being caught planning acts of violence and, in one case, being sent on their way without a single plan for supervision or even mental health treatment. Of course, we cannot punish people for crimes they haven’t committed, but it might be a good idea to at least have check-ins with people caught writing out detailed plans to commit mass violence.
A Gainesville, GA teen was recently thwarted in her alleged plans to attack a predominantly black church last Wednesday night. The teenager, who had allegedly chosen her target based on race, had planned to kill members of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church; luckily, there were no events scheduled the night she planned to attack, and she found the church empty. The usual Wednesday night Bible Study group hadn’t met that night.
Her school initially learned of the plan from students who had seen her notebook, which allegedly held “detailed plans to commit murder,” “disturbing information,” “manifesto-type language,” and violent drawings. The school called the police, and an investigation has revealed that she had been constructing the plans for at least two weeks. The notebook didn’t outline her weapon of choice, but police say she had a large collection of knives.
She’s been charged with criminal attempt to commit murder and is currently at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, but there is controversy around whether or not to try her as an adult. Church leaders have also pointed to the fact that Georgia doesn’t have a special hate crime law, and pinned that as the reason for the girl’s plot. However it’s unlikely that someone planning to carry out such a heinous crime would be thwarted by a couple years in prison beyond those already doled out as part of murder convictions.
The FBI has also been brought in, but federal charges are unlikely due to her being a minor.
An even more concerning story has just come out of Baker County, Florida. A 15-year-old boy was arrested in September after he was found with extensive plans to carry out a school shooting. A judge dismissed the case a month later, because the plans hadn’t actually been “transmitted” as a threat.
In this case, the teen also had a notebook detailing violent plans. The notebook held six pages of detailed notes as well as specific dates and times for the plans to be carried out. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the teen planned to first attack a school resource officer, take his gun, and then kill teachers, the principal, and other staff during a pep rally.
During an interview, he told detectives that the plans in the notebook were “a joke,” but also admitted that he “has had more disturbing thoughts than what was found in the book.” He also told detectives that his parents own an AR-15, but refused to give him the code to the gun safe. He then told detectives that if he were to carry out an attack, he “would rather use smaller handguns and knives.”
The students who saw the notebook are adamant that it wasn’t a joke.
The teen was arrested and charged with making threats to kill and/or conduct a mass shooting, which is a second-degree felony. He was taken to the same Juvenile Detention Center as the girl from Gainesville.
Despite the extreme detail in the notebook - such as estimated time he would have before police arrived and the words “make sure the teacher are dead, then rinse repeat” - a judge dismissed the case. Her reasoning was that the prosecution couldn’t prove the threat had been “transmitted” under state law. Florida statute 836.10 states applies to “any person who makes, posts, or transmits a threat in writing” and does so “in any manner that would allow another person to view the threat.” However, the judge ruled that the teen showing his plans to other students does not count as transmitting a threat.
The Sheriff’s Office is attempting to appeal the case.
It is true that neither of these teens committed acts of violence. There’s an argument that both of these cases are merely “thought crime.” But, it’s a serious issue that for either of them, this was a thought at all. It’s indicative of a greater issue, whether they actually were going to carry out these plans or not. It is at best, a cry for help, and at worse, the first incident in a pattern of disregard for human life.
A commission set up after the Parkland shooting has called for greater mental health funding and for judges to offer mental health services for children who find themselves on the other side of the law. Neither of the teens in these cases were offered such services.
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2018/12/08/air-force-failed-six-times-keep-guns-texas-church-shooter-before-he-killed-report-finds/
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/28/589502906/a-clearer-picture-of-parkland-shooting-suspect-comes-into-focus
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/us/connor-betts-dayton-shooting-profile/index.html
https://www.vox.com/2019/2/16/18227655/aurora-shooter-gun-domestic-violence
https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/breaking-year-girl-arrested-plot-attack-predominantly-black-church/utQwDjPJRESUuZCVcvufhO/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/19/white-teen-girl-detailed-plan-racist-attack-black-churchgoers-notebook-police-say/
https://www.news4jax.com/news/2019/09/10/deputies-student-15-had-notebook-detailing-school-shooting-plans/
https://www.news4jax.com/news/2019/10/15/case-dismissed-for-baker-county-student-found-with-school-shooting-plans/
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/florida-teen-who-meticulously-planned-school-shooting-is-released-by-local-judge/