Footage from Sophie's Birthday Concert

The Satanic Angels Review - Film Reviews-Cairo Fest, Entertainment - Variety

New film highlights the problems musical subcultures have in Islamic countries such as Morocco :

The Satanic Angels Review - Film Reviews-Cairo Fest, Entertainment - Variety
Dec 18th 2007

A Boulane O'Byrne Prod., Cinedina Studios, 2M Soread production. (International sales: Redfern Film, London.) Produced by Ahmed Boulane, Sarim Fassi-Fihri. Directed, written by Ahmed Boulane.

With: Rafik Boubker, Driss Roukhe, Amina Rachid, Amal Ayouch, Mansour Badri, Younes Megri, Fahd Benchemsi, Youssef Chakiri, Amal Chabli, Youssef Britel, Najat el-Wafi, Salah Dizane, Mohamed Karrat, Karima Skalli, Rachid Fekkak, Mehdi Ouazzani, Nadia Niazi, Malika Hammaoui, M'hamed Ouaglou, Toufik Kamal, Belkacem Boutayeb, Med el-Habib Hamdane, Elhachmi Benamar, Ahmed el-Maanouni, Sarah Ogden, Oumnia Ben Mansour.
(Arabic, French dialogue)

A heavy-metal band is arrested for "shaking the foundations of Islam" in "The Satanic Angels," an accomplished, at times gripping critique of contempo Morocco that refreshingly adds another dimension to the usual cinematic treatments of the country. Basing his script on a real case, sophomore helmer Ahmed Boulane fearlessly places blame at nearly all levels of society, using the sheer absurdity of the charges to highlight the increasing grip of fundamentalism on an ostensibly secular state. Despite occasional sound problems, pic -- a major hit at home -- is eminently exportable.

Casablanca, 2003: As in every city the world over, heavy metal and goth culture have their share of devotees, expressed not just through music but through the uniform of long hair, black T-shirts and multiple piercings. Band member Ali (Fahd Benchemsi) gets help from friends cleaning up the rehearsal space so they can throw a welcoming party for his American g.f., Ariane (Sarah Ogden).

Without warning, the authorities raid the den, rounding up 14 members after making sure the American is escorted out of Morocco. Who ordered the arrests is unclear, but conservative elements are quick to spread lurid rumors, full of accusations of satanic rituals.

Most of these kids come from solidly middle-class homes, such as Momo (Youssef Chakiri), whose cosmopolitan parents (Younes Megri, Nadia Niazi) recruit crusading journalist Hakim (Mansour Badri) when their son is arrested at home, his Metallica posters confiscated as evidence.

Short but powerful trial scene reps the strong heart of the picture, as the youths are defended by lawyers (Elhachmi Benamar, Amal Ayouch) who remind the judge that neither musical tastes nor black T-shirts are legally proscribed. The case becomes a cause celebre, attracting partisans from all levels of society.

Pic opens and closes with concert footage of the loud but mediocre band, composed of harmless kids having fun with a style that has as much hidden meaning as most other antiestablishment fashions trying too hard to get noticed. Boulane shows how linking devil worship to clothing choice -- remember the controversy over Ozzy Osbourne and Marilyn Manson? -- can be turned into a dangerously insidious form of control. He also metes out harsh judgment on the media, police and judiciary for allowing Morocco to be hijacked by Islamists intent on transforming a semi-open society.

Despite a final victory of sorts, pic is a cry of frustration, as Momo's father, jailed as a youth for democratic activities, declares that nothing has changed in the country. Ending title about a fundamentalist suicide bomber drives home the increasingly divisive problems Morocco and the whole region are facing.

Helmer scrupulously avoids saying whether the king (an untouchable figure) ultimately intervened in the case, but hints at tensions between the Islamist juggernaut and the more liberal monarch.

Lensing is smooth, and Boulane does well to refrain from flourishes in the courtroom scene, thereby subtly building the thrust of the lawyers' arguments. An early, gratuitous flashback serves no purpose, while a teasing hint of violence at the start confuses without increasing tension. Sound balance is a problem, especially when music drowns out dialogue.

More than one option

• (Co) Metallica
• (Person) Metallica

Camera (color), Serge Hannecart; editor, Arbi Ben Ali; music, Joel Pellegrini; production designer, Dana Schondelmeyer; costume designer, Khalil Boulane; sound (Dolby SR), Mohamed Bounouar; associate producer, Nejib Ayed; assistant director, Elyes Zrelli. Reviewed at Cairo Film Festival (Arab Competition), Dec. 5, 2007. Running time: 86 MIN.

BBC NEWS | England | Lancashire | Five youths deny student's murder

BBC NEWS | England | Lancashire | Five youths deny student's murder


Five boys have denied murdering a woman who was kicked to death in a park.

Sophie fell into a coma after the attack

Sophie Lancaster, 20, was walking with her boyfriend Robert Maltby, 21, in Stubby Lee Park in Bacup, Lancashire, when they were attacked on 11 August.

Ms Lancaster was left with serious head and facial injuries and fell into a coma. She died on 24 August.

Three 15-year-olds and two 17-year-olds appeared at Preston Crown Court to deny murder as well as causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Maltby.

The hearing was adjourned for a pre-trial review on 22 February.

Three of the youths were granted conditional bail, while the other two were remanded in custody.

Judge Anthony Russell QC fixed a provisional trial date of 10 March.

Mr Maltby was also left in a coma with bleeding on the brain following the attack, but recovered from his injuries.

Date set for Sophie murder trial
This Is Lancashire, UK - 14 Dec 2007

The defendants, who are all aged between 15 and 17 and cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to murdering Sophie Lancaster when they appeared at Preston Crown Court yesterday.

The trial will take place on March 10 after a pre-trial review in February.

advertisement

Former Haslingden High school pupil Sophie was walking through Stubbylee Park, Bacup, with her boyfriend, 21-year-old Manchester art student Robert Maltby when they were allegedly attacked in August. She died almost two weeks later in hospital after her life support was switched off.

The five youths have also denied causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Maltby.

Judge Anthony Russell remanded two of the youths in custody, while the other three were remanded on conditional bail.

They are banned from associating with co-defendants, contacting prosecution witnesses and leaving the UK.

Other conditions include an 8pm to 6am daily curfew. Sophie's death has prompted an outpouring of grief from friends and family in East Lancashire.

Her mother Sylvia has established SOPHIE (Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere) to call for greater understanding for marginalised sections of society.

Several fundraising events have been held to support the groups work in Bacup, Blackburn and Blackpool.

An online petition launched in memory of Sophie on the Prime Minister's website has also attracted more than 1,500 signatures.

Man Jailed For Two Years Over Chav Stabbing (from The Northern Echo)

Very interesting case in the NE. Here divisions between chav/emos are used as a defence in court over a stabbing incident. Unusually here it is the emo in trouble but it seems he had a history and much provocation at least according to him. Some similarities to the Dele Little case I think. It looks like it started out with an abusive behaviour incident and then escalated. Of course this being a court case it is difficult to know what exactly happened.

The key point is that once again subcultural divisions ended up with violence.

Man Jailed For Two Years Over Chav Stabbing (from The Northern Echo)

Dec 11th

A MAN has today been jailed for two years for knifing a teenager at the Stockton Riverside Festival.

The judge told Michael Dixon, 22, that he had marred the festival which was a joyous event and something of which the people of Stockton could be proud.

Fear spread along the town's Finkle Street when Dixon was seen covered in blood and waving a knife, said prosecutor Martina Connolly. Ambulance staff went to the aid of Dixon's victim Michael Hancock, 19, whom he stabbed twice in the back on August 4 with a Swiss Army knife, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Michael Hancock had gone to the aid of his friend James Parker who was in an altercation with Dixon. Mr Hancock was walking away when he felt a hard punch to his back, and when he turned around he saw Dixon screaming abuse at him.

The pair rolled over on the ground punching and kicking but it ended when Mr Hancock pushed Dixon away.

Mr Hancock's friends then noticed that his back was bleeding heavily. He was treated in hospital and discharged within hours.

When Dixon saw the police he was still waving the knife and he shouted at them "Come on", added Miss Connolly. During his arrest he threw the knife over a wall but it was recovered later.

Dixon was drunk, and when he was interviewed the next day he said that it had been an argument between chavs and emos - fans of emotional, heavy metal music who wear tight clothing.

Dixon claimed that he had the knife to open bottles, and he said he regretted his actions.

Miss Connolly said that Dixon had previous convictions for possessing a machete and a knife, and for violence.

Robin Denny, defending, said that a prison sentence was inevitable. He said that Dixon was an emo who had been picked on by Mr Hancock, a chav with convictions for drunk and disorderly behaviour, affray and assault on police.

He added: "The defendant initially intended to frighten the victim. He was obviously initially attacked by someone who is particularly prone to attacking people for no good reason late at night."

The Recorder of Middlesbrough Judge Peter Fox QC told Dixon: "Your drunkenness affords you not the slightest excuse.

"You have got a very bad record for violence, but in particular this is the fourth time in your young life that you have been convicted of having an offensive weapon.

"The suggestion that you had bought that Swiss Army knife to open bottles is all very well. There are such things as bottle openers, you don't stab people in the back with a bottle opener."

The judge added: "The Riverside Festival is something that the people of Stockton can be proud of. It's a happy, joyous event, almost everybody behaves themselves and has a good time. You're the exception, your behaviour was particularly bad."

Dixon of Mapleton Road, Hartlepool, was jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon, unlawful wounding and affray.

Riverside Festival knife attacker jailed - Gazette Live

Dec 11 2007 Evening Gazette

Mr Hancock had gone to the aid of his friend James Parker who had been in an altercation with Dixon, 22.

Mr Hancock was walking away when he felt a hard punch to his back. When he turned round he saw Dixon screaming abuse at him.

The pair rolled on the ground punching and kicking but it ended when Mr Hancock pushed Dixon away.

Mr Hancock’s friends then noticed that his back was bleeding heavily, leaving him needing hospital treatment.

When Dixon was interviewed the next day he said it had been an argument between chavs and emos - fans of emotional, heavy metal music who wore tight clothing.

Dixon claimed that he had the knife to open bottles, and he said he regretted his actions.

He pleaded guilty on the basis he was with his girlfriend when he was attacked by Mr Hancock and another.

Meanwhile...

Rome and Juliet - a review

Weston & Somerset Mercury, UK - 14 Dec 2007

THE audience at The Kings of Wessex School escaped the wild December weather last Thursday and Friday evening (6 and 7/12/07) to journey to Verona for the Year 9 Thespians' production of Shakespeare's first romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

This modern interpretation used minimal props. The bold black and white Ying Yang motif on stage was a vivid reminder of the playoff between opposites. The two sworn rival families: the Capulets (Juliet) and Montagues (Romeo) were brought to life via the students' portrayal of today's "Chavs" and "Emos". The warring factions brutally manifested in the realistic fight scenes were all too reminiscent of the divisions in today's society and across the globe. Following the deaths of Romeo's friend Mercutio (Max Hopestone Bell) by Tybalt (Russ Eccleston), swiftly followed by his killing at the hand of Romeo, a plague is cursed upon both houses, setting the scene for more tragedy.

And yet love blossoms between Romeo and Juliet who in the famous balcony scene arrange a secret marriage with the help of Friar Lawrence (Adam Clegg) and the Nurses (Aggie Morris/John Male). Their first kiss is sealed with suitably, striking strobe lighting.

As a technical devise, music is used well. The pulsating opening beat builds up to the cacophony in the street scene foretelling more drama. Whilst the Chavs' dance sequences were slinky, posing to Justin Timberlake's Love Stoned, the Emos opt for the aggressive, fight-inspiring Hard Fi's Suburban Knights.

Costumes were jeans and coloured t-shirts, with Romeo and Juliet in red t-shirts - very much the roses of the show and just as sweet. 13-year old Ben Champion plays love-struck Romeo, akin to a dreamy troubadour, wandering about stage as "fortune's fool". With touching tenderness, "never was such beauty" 14-year old Sophie Caunt plays Juliet at the same age.

"Thou canst not speak if thou canst not feel". Indeed, Kings' 13 and 14-year old cast of strong performers artfully mastered the Bard's language, demonstrating understanding, with plenty of dramatic anger and desperation in the face of doomed love.

This story of woe was a "heavy day" that would not be easily forgotten. As Massive Attack played out the end with "Teardrop", the audience reflected on the play's contemporary themes - arranged marriages, fighting on the streets, feuding between inner city estates... Ultimately, the love potion, like Shakespeare's favourite theme of misadventure, is taken to its most fatal conclusion.

New Emo Goth Danger?

We mentioned before this strange saga (More media lies about goths and emos ) in the press from this stupid article EMO cult warning for parents | the Daily Mail which focused particularly on My Chemical Romance. They have often promoted anti self-harm message so pinning the blame on them is stupid.

But what can you expect from the Daily Mail who loved the colour black in the thirties when it was worn by the British Union of Fascists famously running the headline "Hurrah for the Blackshirts!". They frequently said good things about Hitler and Mussolini and supported the appeasement line.

The Guardian interview with My Chemical Romance at the time was interesting:

Alexis Petridis meets My Chemical Romance The Daily Mail says they're a threat to society. Rival bands say they're dangerous. Are My Chemical Romance really as evil as all that? Alexis Petridis finds out

Friday October 27, 2006
The Guardian

"I'm surprised a newspaper thought we were such a threat that they had to write a whole article about us and our fans, calling them a death cult," frowns Gerard Way. His brother wearily points out that we have been here before. "In the 1980s, people thought Judas Priest was promoting suicide," he sighs. "They were like, Dee Snider from Twisted Sister? Dude's in league with the devil, man!"

In addition, they claim not to be an emo band at all: "We're so opposed to it because when we started out there were emo bands all around and we stuck out as not being emo," complains Gerard. "What that translated to is that we couldn't get booked up for shows, no one would take us on tour with them apart from Christian metal bands. We didn't get any of the benefits of being an emo band, our influences didn't come from emo. We just became emo by default, because we became one of the biggest bands from that scene." He quickly corrects himself: "That we weren't even a part of."...

The other factor is the band and their fans frequently have faced rivalry from others like metal bands etc which has led to fights :

The other factor in My Chemical Romance's rise to mainstream stardom seems to have been their appearance at this year's Reading Festival. Plenty of artists have sealed their elevation to the big time via a triumphant summer festival appearance, but My Chemical Romance stole the show at Reading by the unlikely expedient of having bottles thrown at them by disgruntled fans of metal band Slayer, who preceded them on the bill. The Slayer fans were either provoked by My Chemical Romance's music, or Gerard Way's frenetic, mincing stage manner ("right from when we started," says Iero phlegmatically, "people have yelled 'fags' at us"), or the youth of their fanbase. Either way, the column inches most expected to go the Arctic Monkeys or Muse went their way. The hype was increased when fellow alt-rockers Kasabian and the Killers' Brandon Flowers dismissed them in terms your average 14-year-old is likely to find irresistible: the former called them "dark and weird", the latter "dangerous".

Mention of the Reading performance evokes mixed emotions. Iero claims he thought the incident "ruled", but still seems a bit angry - "we have more heart in one fuckin' bead of sweat than most of those people have in their entire bodies". Gerard Way seems positively delighted: "That was our greatest victory as a show," he smiles. "This band was always about facing adversity. We got bottled for being dangerous. We oppose everything that's conventional about rock'n'roll in this country, our home country, everywhere in the world. That weekend, kids were getting beat up in the audience, the guys on stage were getting beat up, and we got through it, just like the kids got through it."

This article covers the same ground:
New Emo Goth Danger?

The band’s young audience is a concern to know-nothing sorts who’ve been campaigning against the alleged persuasive nature of rock music for what feels like forever. Only recently, in August 2006, The Daily Mail ran an article warning parents of the ‘New Emo Goth Danger’ – those are exact words they used, and the piece can be read online here. One of only three bands mentioned in the piece – bands that apparently encourage behaviour such as self-harm – was My Chemical Romance. Gerard doesn’t know whether to laugh out loud or cry silently to himself.

---
"Papers like that will never do their homework, but it is kind of funny to call it ‘emo death cult’, or whatever it was called."

“The funny thing is that I’ve met more kids that have stopped self-harming because of us, than anything,” he says, his face masked with absolute seriousness. “That’s the case with most of the kids I meet, especially in the UK, so I guess it is some sort of epidemic. Most of the kids that I meet, that say thank you, are kids that used to self-harm. Kerrang! was involved, as one of their readers wrote in about it, and I ended up having a very personal discussion with this girl. I noticed she had all these cuts, and it really bummed me out, and I was hoping that she didn’t feel that she needed to do that in order to come to the show. And I ended up meeting the girl and her mother – the mother had written a letter to Kerrang! – and she said because of the band she’s now stopped doing that. Papers like that will never do their homework, but it is kind of funny to call it ‘emo death cult’, or whatever it was called. ‘New Emo Goth Danger’?”

Iero cackles: “Ha! I like that! That’s the title of the next album, New Emo Goth Danger!”

The matter raises a final point, though. My Chemical Romance are superstars nowadays, playing to thousands of kids – and we do mean kids – at each and every show they play. They must come in for a lot of stick from right-wingers who haven’t taken the time to realise that the band’s fantasy-horror lyrics are just that: fantasy. The music's immediate and the lyrics fun: there are no hidden messages calling for kids the world over to scratch their best friend's eyes out. Sure, the five-piece have posed for photo shoots covered in fake blood, playing-dead models lying at their feet, but that doesn’t make them a bad influence. They just like, as has already been mentioned, playing it up, theatrically.

“We live in a very sick bubble, made of concrete and bullet-proof casing,” says Gerard. “If you acknowledged all the ignorant stuff you heard, you’d never sleep, we’d never sleep. There’d be no time. I gotta say I’m not a fan of that Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back movie, but it has one of the best scenes I’ve ever seen. They literally go around to peoples’ houses that have talked shit about them on the internet and give it back to them. It’s the coolest thing in the world.”

The Tragic Suicide of Nicola Raphael - bullied to death for being a goth

September 10, 1985- June 24, 2001

A case which attracted a lot of media attention especially in the Scottish press back in 2001 was the tragic suicide of Nicola Raphael a 15 year old who endured constant bullying simply because she dressed in black. This ties into the recent reports on the square in Glasgow which was Nicola's favourite hangout [Glasgow - Alternative teens banned from public place]. In many ways the suicide could be read as a grim warning of the strength of hatred that was to lead to Sophie Lancaster’s death. There is bright spot in the tragedy of Nicola’s death in that her organs later helped save lives:

Nicola's frozen heart saves toddler-three years after her suicide Teenager who was bullied to her death gives the gift of life to a little boy after her organ is defrosted for a remarkable transplant operation
Mail on Sunday; 10/17/2004; “Surgeons carried out the remarkable operation last week after the heart was 'defrosted'. The organ came from schoolgirl Nicola Raphael, 16, who committed suicide in 2001 after being bullied for wearing Goth makeup”

The extent of the bullying is all discussed in an article from 2006:

EXCLUSIVE: MY NICOLA'S DEATH SAVED JACK'S LIFE - Mirror.co.uk 20/03/2006

But Nicola had endured months of vicious bullying by a gang of 30 teenagers, known as "the Neds". They threw stones, cans, water bombs and food at Nicola simply because she dressed differently to them. "She dressed as a goth, wore dark eye make-up and a long black coat, but was a neat, clean girl, " says Rona. Then one day Nicola arrived home with bruises."She told me 'I'm sick of it, Mum, ' she told me, " says Rona."Her shoulders were bruised after stones were thrown at her. I went to see her headmaster, but nothing changed.

"The bullies called her names like 'zombie', 'walking dead' and 'witch', ".

"I offered to take her out of school, but she refused to let them win. She seemed to be resolute about coping." But Nicola, who gained top grades in her GCSE mocks, seemed happy at home and was looking forward to the summer holidays.

Then one Friday night Nicola hit a new low."Her brother was home from university and we sat chatting, " remembers Rona. "When we went to bed, she said: 'Mum, I'm out of eyeliner, could you get me some?' They were her last words to me.

This important and detailed article in the Scottish Sunday Herald covers the incident and reveals the extent of harassment teen goths in glasgow were undergoing at the time:

Suddenly they're everywhere. Their black clothes and purple lipstick

Sunday Herald, The, Jul 1, 2001 by Alan Crawford

"They think we worship Satan, just because of the way we dress," says Gill Cairns, a 16-year-old who lives in Clarkston in Glasgow. The first thing you notice about Gill is her lips, smeared in dark purple lipstick. She has a stud in her tongue to match the one in her nose and is wearing a black hooded top over a pair of baggy jeans.

"Everyone seems to think we're wrong or evil, but we all do really well in our classes. We're the ones that work in school. None of us wants to fight, but we all feel intimidated all the time. We just keep ourselves to ourselves. We never say, 'Look at you, you're wearing trainers.'"

Gill is standing outside the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square with around 150 friends and acquaintances, all dressed in punk, goth or "mosher" style. Black is the colour of choice. Feelings at their favoured meeting place are running high today; many of those present have just returned from the funeral of their friend, Nicola Raphael, who was buried in her home town of Kirkintilloch after taking her own life. She was 15.

Scores of teenagers joined the funeral cortege; some wearing black make-up and hooded tops, others in dark trenchcoats and with long chains dangling from their waists. Heavy clouds raced over the Campsie Hills as the youths followed the hearse on its painful way the few hundred yards from St Columba's Parish Church to the cemetery. With the coffin was a message from the girl's mother, Rona, which read: "To my wonderful daughter Nicola. Give 'em hell!!!!"
Like her school friends, and in common with hundreds of teenagers all over Scotland, Nicola liked to wear clothes and make-up that made her stand out from the crowd. Goth, mosher, punk, whatever; Nicola's friends say she was bullied at school and in the street, simply because of the clothes she wore. Just two days before her death she and her school friends had to be escorted from their school, Lenzie Academy, because of intimidation from other youths.

"There were neds bringing stones in and throwing them at us because of the way we dress," said one 15-year-old school friend. "That's when it got really bad."

Another girl, also 15, added: "We went to the head teacher [at Lenzie Academy], and he basically said it was our own fault because of the way we dressed. We went to him again and his solution was just to stay away from them. They weren't reprimanded at all."

These problems led to fears of a major riot in August 2001 as reported in the Herald in July.

THE teenage fans of Eminem and Marilyn Manson are being secretly spied on by undercover police intelligence officers who fear violence at next month's Gig on the Green concert in Glasgow.

They believe that fans of controversial rapper Eminem could round on so-called "goth" or "mosher" fans of Marilyn Manson, as both acts are on the bill for the Glasgow concert on August 25. The police action follows the suicide of 15-year-old Lenzie schoolgirl Nicola Raphael, who took her own life after being bullied for dressing like a goth. Many of her friends have reported being attacked in the street by what they call "ned" gangs simply for dressing in black clothes and wearing dark make-up....

Officers in charge of the gang surveillance operation said: "Manson's fans will inevitably be the target of the much more streetwise fans of Eminem. There is seldom any problem with goth fans, as they tend to be quite well educated and well spoken."

Police say they will be staging one of their biggest security operations ever during the event. More than 200 officers will be drafted in for crowd control, backed up by an underwater unit, mounted police and a helicopter team.

In the event there was no trouble and Manson himself dedicated a song to Nicola and discussed her death on stage: Marilyn Manson comforts a grieving mom... [More on that here: SeemsLikeSalvation News.]

Interesting to note that Sophie Lancaster was a massive Manson fan and one of his songs played at her funeral just as it was hopped to play one at Nicola’s funeral. The significant thing is the police operation indicates that they were well aware of the grim reality that goth/metalers faced harassment and violence in 2001. Nothing has changed.

Bands Take To The Stage For Sophie Lancaster Fund (from The Bolton News)

Bands Take To The Stage For Sophie Lancaster Fund (from The Bolton News)

12th December 2007

THEY might seem more likely to scare small children, but four of Bolton's finest hard rock and metal bands are coming together to raise money for charity.

Princess Die, Cupids Revolver, Uncle Rotter and Total Victory will all play a gig at the Dog and Partridge on December 22, to raise money for the Sophie Lancaster fund.

Sophie was killed on August 24 this year while walking home through Stubby Lee Park in Bacup with her boyfriend, Robert Maltby. Police believe that the couple were attacked because they were wearing "goth" clothing.

advertisement

The fund was set up by her friends and family to "provide an appropriate memorial; a lasting legacy to raise awareness of the injustice perpetrated against Sophie Lancaster and to work towards a more tolerant, less violent society."

Admission to the event is free, although there will be several buckets for donations.

Search for motives for Colorado killer

A killer who attacked two churches on the weekend killing 4 has caused a flurry of media attention. Matthew Murray had evangelical home school upbringing but turned violently against the church after his plans to become a missionary failed. It appears that his killing spree began through an argument with staff at a Christian shelter

Murray had turned from the church to another interest heavy metal - Marilyn Manson and Cradle of Filth being an especial favourites. He also dabbled in the occult.

Murray attended events held by the Denver-based occult group Ad Astra Oasis during the last two years, but was turned down when he sought to become a member of the group. His involvement with them apparently ended in October.

Bizarrely the media missed a trick here as this connection means they could (with appropiate manipulation and spin) blame it on Aliester Crowley. I guess that will be the next step.

ABC News: Colo. Church Gunman Left Twisted Trail

He posted an online rant that ended:

"I'm going out to make a stand for the weak and the defenseless this is for all those young people still caught in the Nightmare of Christianity for all those people who've been abused and mistreated and taken advantage of by this evil sick religion Christian America this is YOUR Columbine."

Murray simply cut and pasted the words of the Columbine killers with some alterations.
Web posting replicates Columbine shooter's manifesto
Denver Post, CO - 11 Dec 2007
Debate renewed on Columbine writings
Denver Post, CO - 12 Dec 2007

He assembled a massive arsenal so he may have been planning or thinking about this for some time
Gunman legally amassed weaponry in year's time
Denver Post, CO - 6 hours ago

Inevitably metal music is being blamed as one thing behind the attacks.

Christian Leaders Say Popular Culture Behind Teen Violence

Colorado gunman Murray had shown possible signs of media influence years before the shootings. He posted lyrics by industrial rock band KMFDM on a website designed for people who left evangelical religious groups. At a YWAM Christmas festival in 2002, he played what his former roommate, Richard Werner, described as “bizarre” music. The two songs he played were Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams (are Made of This)" and Linkin Park's "One Step Closer" which included the lyrics "Cause I'm one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break." Meanwhile, songs played during the festival had been about Christmas, God and friendship, reported CNN.

Don't blame the music, metal frontman implores

The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 12/13/2007

Heavy-metal musicians are accustomed to being scapegoats after tragedies like the shootings in Arvada and Colorado Springs.

But while musicians may be used to the blame, they don't own it.

"Don't blame metal," said Devil Driver frontman Dez Fafara, standing in his tour bus in the back parking lot of the Fillmore Auditorium on Wednesday night. "We're all out here trying to give the kids some hope."

Talking before his death-metal band's show, opening for like-minded rock outfits Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage, Fafara — a father of three boys back home in Santa Barbara, Calif. — was clearly concerned about the shootings that left five people, including gunman Matthew Murray, dead. He sent his condolences to all ofthe families involved, including Murray's.

"But before laying the blame anywhere outside the home, you have to look inside the home," Fafara said. "Something touched that kid that was not right. And it had to come from the household."

Fafara said he monitors his kids' music and gaming intake, forbidding bands and video games that are overly violent or degrading to women.

Murray was a death-metal fan, according to posts he purportedly wrote on various websites. He attended a mid-October Cradle of Filth show, and afterward he posted, "Some people say this is 'just entertainment,' but for me, and some of my friends, the songs bands like this sing are VERY REAL, it's kind of something we can 'see' and can feel and in a spiritual sense and we're able to 'connect' 'into' the music." The post included a link to the video for the 1999 Cradle of Filth track "From the Cradle to Enslave."

Murray also claims online that he went through Bill Gothard home schooling, a fundamental Christian organization that has about 2,000 students enrolled nationally. Gothard's program bases a curriculum on the 54 verses from the Sermon on the Mount, and its strict teachings prohibit rock 'n' roll and television.

Gothard, in an interview Wednesday, said he "didn't recall" ever meeting the Murray family, but he was sure one of the parents was probably trained in his program.

Ultimately, Gothard blames rock music for Murray's murderous rampage.

"That is the most contributing factor," said Gothard, who is based in a small town south of Chicago. "It'd be important to see the connection between his passion to rock music and how it ultimately brought this on."

Gothard said whenever he gets calls from parents having trouble with their kids, he asks about what they listen to. "In every case, (the kid) is listening to rock music," he said.

As is the home schooling packs which Gothard provides:
Institute defends teachings in wake of posts by Murray
Rocky Mountain News, CO - 7 hours ago

Shooter had problems at Christian facilities
Summit Daily News, 13th dec

After the conference, the user said his mother and a pastor
searched his room for "anything evil," including video games and a DVD collection.
"After that incident my mother searched my room for the next 3 months EVERY SINGLE DAY. After that I decided it was over, that I had had it with christianity."

In the 1,200-word post, Christnghtmr tells of growing up in a Christian homeschooling family and being removed from the Youth With a Mission program, as Murray had been. As in other postings linked to Murray, the writer expresses anger toward his family and makes allegations of homosexuality in church organizations.

He said being removed from the Arvada mission caused him to lose his faith.
"When I got back home it was back to the good old restriction and that is when I started having serious doubts about christianity," Chrstnghtmr wrote. But according to the post, problems at the mission were only part of a troubled past.

"In addition to all of (Christian homeschool curriculum guru) Bill Gothard's insanity, my mother was into all the charismatic/"fanatical evangelical" insanity.," Christnghtmr wrote. "Her and her church believed that Satan and demons were everywhere in everything. The rules were VERY strict all the time. We couldn't have ANY christian or non-christian music at all except for a few charismatic worship CDs."

Gunman wrote of rejection
Denver Post, CO - 12 Dec 2007

Carl Raschke, a professor of religious studies at the University of Denver, said he believes Murray was "under huge psychological turmoil."

"It seemed like he was involved in his own spiritual battle against the empire of Christianity," adding that one of the screen names, nghtmrchld26, is taken from a video game in which characters battle evil demons.

"I would call him a defector from the spiritual warfare that he was brought up in," Raschke said.

Steve Mariner, the president of Denver's occult group Ad Astra Oasis, says Murray attended group meetings for about a year before being asked to leave in September. Ad Astra Oasis is an officially chartered body of the Ordo Templi Orientis, a ceremonial magic order based on the teachings of English poet and mystic Aleister Crowley.

"He was a mostly quiet, geeky young man," Mariner said of Murray. "He was a skinny little kid. He was your typical I-like-college-over-cars type. He was a voracious reader, as far as I could tell. I never heard him raise his voice."

Mariner said the group of about 15 people realized over time that Murray was not fitting in."It seemed like he needed some time to back off and evaluate himself," he said. "We could summarize it as saying the personalities were not a good mix."Mariner said he was shocked when he learned Murray was the shooter.

"You are sitting there having a conversation with someone ," Mariner said. "We all have our little personality quirks, but you don't appraise them of being someone who would go off and do something this atrocious."

But Murray's behaviour demonstrates classic signs of schizophrenia and other mental problems. Blaming the music he listened to is as inadequate explanation as Murray's decision to blame his Christian upbringing for his social problems and to go on a rampage.

Curiously one of Murray's victim's was a reformed metaler:
Missionary went from rebellion to redemption
Philip Crouse is remembered for his turnaround from "the dark lord" to Christianity.
Denver Post, CO - 6 hours ago
By Kirk Mitchell As a skinhead and Goth in Washington, Pa., Philip

Crouse was the one others feared. "He would come to youth group in a black trench coat," childhood friend Shiloh Ryan-Anikienko said Wednesday morning. "He really embraced being the Goth scary guy." But Wednesday morning at his memorial service, those who knew him honored him as a selfless missionary who wanted to find homes for orphans and teach the Gospel to people in foreign countries...
"He went from the dark lord from the abyss to this angel of light," Ryan-Anikienko said.

While another victim was a metal musician:

Dan Griebenow is known as a snowboarding missionary, his sister said.

Griebenow, 24, who was wounded in the neck in the Arvada shooting, was in critical but stable condition at Denver Health Medical Center.

He snowboards and sang with a Christian heavy metal band in South Dakota before enrolling two years ago in the missionary training program in Arvada, his sister, Becky Griebenow, told the Rocky Mountain News

.

Brian Deneke - ten years on

Amarillo.com | Local News: Short life remembered 12/09/07

Family still strong after 10 years

Brian Deneke looked different than most teenagers.

He and his friends wore colored spiked hair, body jewelry and non-traditional clothing. They were called "punks."

Their appearance varied greatly from their counterparts, the stylish "preps." On the night of Dec. 12, 1997, punks and preps brawled in the parking lot of Western Plaza Shopping Center in a dispute that spilled over from IHOP, 2100 S. Western St.

When the confusion cleared, Deneke, 19, lay dead, run over by a Cadillac driven by 17-year-old Dustin Camp.

Deneke's death and Camp's ensuing legal saga drew the national press and television spotlight to Amarillo.

Ten years after his death, Deneke's story still impacts lives, said his father, Mike Deneke of Amarillo.

"I'm somewhat surprised by all the attention 10 years later," Mike Deneke said. "There are approximately 25 events going on across the nation in tribute to Brian this weekend. We never expected that.

"We hope because of all the attention there have been some changes. I hope it's opened some eyes about how people feel about people who look different, dress different."

Mike Deneke said some young people say their differences are more tolerated these days. He also hears from the other side.

"I hear from high school kids who talk about how they get picked on because they're not part of the 'in crowd' - dress a little different, that kind of thing," he said.

"Brian has become a symbol of people who have experienced those sort of things. I think that's why the story still has such a big impact," the father said.

Another part of the story that produced a big impact was the controversial sentence Camp received after a jury convicted him of manslaughter in August 1999. He received 10 years of probation and a $10,000 fine.

"We were not happy with the original sentence," Mike Deneke said.

Camp ruined his chance to avoid prison when Canyon police arrested him in June 2001 on charges of evading arrest and being a minor in possession of alcohol. In September 2001, 108th District Judge Abe Lopez sentenced Camp to eight years in prison for the probation violations.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles twice denied parole for Camp before granting his early release in July 2006.

Mike Deneke said he never has had contact with Camp or his family, who left Amarillo.

"We do not know where he is at," Mike Deneke said. "He was paroled into the El Paso area."

Mike Deneke and his wife, Betty Deneke, said they hold no bitterness.

"Nothing is going to bring Brian back or undo what happened that night," Mike Deneke said. "I hope he (Camp) has a chance to move on with his life and do something good out of it."

Betty Deneke said, "I don't have any bitterness anymore. I did at first. I don't anymore through the grace of God. He helped me get through it. I just don't want it to happen to anyone else.

"Ten years later, we still feel like he's still with us, still a part of us."

Betty Deneke said she hopes that through the death of her son, people will learn "to treat other people the way they would want to be treated. Respect their individuality."

Said Mike Deneke, "We have tried to move on. Brian wouldn't want us to be bitter. He would want us to move on.

"Out of the tragedy there has been some good that has come: an awareness of the consequences of actions of intolerance."

Police to probe mystery goth weekend e-mail - Whitby Today

Police to probe mystery goth weekend e-mail - Whitby Today

• 11 December 2007
• Source: Whitby Gazette

WHITBY Gothic Weekend organisers have called in police after what they believe is a smear campaign which aims to drive the event away from town.

Jo Hampshire, who with her husband Sam Hoyle, run the twice yearly event from their home in Sneaton, alerted the Whitby Gazette to a mysterious email sent to four of Whitby's borough councillors as well as high-ranking council officials.

Couns Jane Kenyon, Joe Plant, Peter Booth and Mike Ward, as well as chief executive Jim Dillon and tourism and leisure services chief Steve Hollingworth, all received the e-mail.

Claiming to be from an Ian G Patterson of Fylingthorpe, the message centres around a conversation the writer claims to have overheard in the Duke of York pub in Church Street, Whitby, where it is alleged Mrs Hampshire and three friends were discussing the future of the gothic weekend.

In that conversation it is claimed they slated Scarborough Council in a row over money that the council says it is owed by the gothic weekend organisers and suggested Mrs Hampshire would refuse to pay up.

The e-mail further alleges the manager of Whitby Pavilion, Jill Gomez-Manion, and sales and marketing assistant manager Jaclyn Goddard, also came in for criticism during the conversation.

And it claims the writer's wife spoke to a barmaid at the pub, who apologised for the rowdiness and told her the woman was Mrs Hampshire.

Couns Kenyon and Ward got in touch with Ian Patterson of Fylingthorpe – the only Patterson listed in the phone book – to thank him for his comments and observations. But Mr Patterson, chairman of governors at Eskdale School, was quick to point out the email was not from him.

And when contacted by the Whitby Gazette in relation to the mysterious email, Mr Patterson, who runs a management consultancy firm in Fylingthorpe, confirmed it was nothing to do with him. He is unaware of the existence of the Ian G Patterson the email is purported to be from – as are the various Whitby Gazette contacts who were quizzed in and around the village.

The Gazette has also sent an email to the Yahoo address the original email came from and is awaiting a reply. Scarborough Council has also tried to contact Ian G Patterson but without success.

Landlord of the Duke of York, Lawrie Bradley, as well as all his staff, deny the alleged conversation involving Mrs Hampshire ever happened in their pub. Mr Hoyle told the Whitby Gazette he is angry at the accusations in the email – and has forwarded the matter to police in a bid to get to the bottom of the mystery.

He said: "They should be able to work with Yahoo to find out where this email has come from and I would like to think it will come to light very soon.

"I have spoken to Mr Patterson in Fylingthorpe, who is a friend of my family, and he is disgusted that someone is using his name in this manner and is willing to help police in any inquiries.

"We were not in town at the time of this conversation in the Duke of York so do not understand the 'facts' of this e-mail either. We have a hard enough job to organise the event without this sort of thing happening – it is as if someone is out to get us.

"We want the event to stay in Whitby – if we didn't want it to we could have gone to Scarborough by now where we could save thousands of pounds."

Mr Hoyle did admit he is in dispute with Scarborough Council over some money they say is still outstanding which is supposed to be being paid back through the council keeping back tickets for the event to sell itself. But he added he meets regularly with council officials to iron out this and any other problems and that all parties are working together to find a solution.

Steve Hollingworth, Scarborough Council's chief of tourism and leisure, who said he was aware of the e-mail which was being investigated, told the Gazette: "We want to maintain the gothic weekend in Whitby for the long term and want to work with the organisers to sort out any problems to ensure the success of the festival around the town."

Leeds Corn Exchange under threat

Following the loss of Camden market and the threat to Manchester's Affleck's palace now Leeds Corn Exchange is under threat. Similar problem to the Glasgow event noted recently. Particularly interesting is the police campaign against alternative youth highlighted by this article:


http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/11/386716.html

As most people form Leeds know, the Corn Exchange plays a major part in the city's youth alternative culture and has done for decades. On any day you'll see goths, punks, emo kids and just general teenagers meeting there, making new mates, getting along and having fun.

POLICE ASBO'S DEEPER SECRET?
Just over a year ago the owners of the building (Eagle Star Life Assurance / Zurich) and the centre management (Phoenix Beard) pressurised West Yorkshire Police, who were far from reluctant to act, to get rid of this young community through months intimidation; ranging from placing dozens of police officers outside the centre each weekend, arresting people for standing in the 'wrong place' and serving Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on kids for doing what kids do. They have also tried a smear campaign telling people that the Corn-X is a hotspot for drugs and underage drinking when this is infact far from the truth. At first the police and owners claimed the reasoning for their actions was that people gathering outside were intimidating those shopping there, but this didn't wash because it is a fact that most of the custom of shops inside comes from the youth who meet outside. Now it's appearing that the police smear campaign was just to try and get rid of the young community outside so the sale of the building can go ahead and the Corn-x can be redeveloped as a posh food emporium.


LEEDS ALTERNATIVE SCENE AT THREAT
The Corn Exchange is central to the alternative scene in Leeds due to it's high profile; it is one of the only places teenagers in the city hang out and keep entertained by friends instead of going off with a few mates and drinking in parks, or being reckless. Without it many people would lose friends they have seen on a weekendly basis; as well as the tight community where there is a large range of people from all different walks of life. If someone has something to talk about, there is always someone of their own age there who can help and even share experiences.


SMALL TRADERS WILL SUFFER
The stores inside the centre have been given until January to find an alternative premises, or face closure. These shops are small traders and cannot afford to move and pay the expensive rent for the other places in Leeds City Centre; and aside from the money aspect there is a lack of empty premises in town as they are all being bought out by large retailers - this is also another contributor to the rise in costs for renting space. Either way these shops will have to close down which will have an effect on the local economy, as well as the customers who shop there as due to many of the stores being specialist traders. Not only shops inside the Corn-X will suffer, but many of the alternative stores in the vicinity will lose a large amount of custom as they are a tight community of traders; not forgetting that there will be a lack of customers around for them...

Similar points are made elsewhere and in this protest video from 2006 which shows the feelings of locals:

Corn Exchange demonstration against exclusion order

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Youth Comment - James Roberts - 01/04/2006 - Communitycare.co.uk ...

Glasgow - Alternative teens banned from public place

Following the recent events in Blackburn, Glasgow is the latest city in which alternative youth is facing harassment from the authorities.

---

Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Goma goths banned - heaven knows they're miserable now

Sun 9 Dec 2007
MARC HORNE (mhorne@scotlandonsunday.com)

WITH their black clothes, white faces and mournful expressions they have become an instantly recognisable part of life in Scotland's city centres.

But now Glasgow's goths have a genuine reason to look miserable. City leaders have branded them a threat to economic prosperity and have launched a bid to bar them from their favourite hangout.

For years dozens of outlandishly dressed youngsters have made Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square in the city centre their second home.
But now the council has accused them of intimidating shoppers and being behind a rise in anti-social behaviour.

In a bid to move the youngsters on they have cordoned off steps between Borders bookshop and the Gallery of Modern Art (Goma) - a favourite goth gathering point. Security guards have been brought in to supervise the area. A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "Royal Exchange Square is one of the jewels in Glasgow's crown.

"In recent months, however, there has been the risk of the Square, and in particular the steps at the western end, becoming a focus for anti-social behaviour.
In consultation with businesses in the Square it was decided to cordon off the steps.

"This measure will remain in place for as long as is necessary to ensure it remains one of the country's premier locations for shopping and entertainment."

A council insider said: "Royal Exchange Square is a gateway between our premier shopping locations and, as such, is incredibly important to us.

"We need it be a nice, safe area for the people who are walking through it. We have had complaints about teenagers gathering there and there were allegations about drinking, drug-taking and inappropriate behaviour. So far the measures we have taken seem to have helped."

But youngsters who are refusing to leave the area, which is full of exclusive shops and eateries, claim the council's tactics were heavy-handed, discriminatory and unnecessary. One teenage girl said: "There is absolutely no way we are here to cause trouble.

"We are too young to go to the pub and we hang around here for the simple reason that we have nowhere else to go to chat and meet up with our friends.

"It's laughable that Glasgow City Council regards us some sort of threat to society simply because we choose to dress differently."

Her purple-haired friend added: "There are so many real problems with violence in Glasgow yet the city council is spending money sending security guards to intimidate groups of well-behaved teenagers.

"I suppose they see us as an easy target. We are meant to be the friendly, welcoming Commonwealth Games city, but we are clearly not welcome here."

The alternative teenage tribes of Royal Exchange Square, including punks, emo-kids and metal-heads, have become such a part of the city life that in 2003 they were featured in a BBC documentary entitled Glasgow's Goth Kids. Work created by the youngsters has been displayed at the nearby Goma.

Last year a study conducted by Dr Dunja Brill concluded that goths were largely sensitive youngsters who eschewed violence and were more likely to get good grades and go on to higher education.

Isn't enough that alternative people have to face abuse from thugs that they must be targeted by the authorities for simply existing? If individual people are misbehaving then what about the laws which exist to deal with individuals? CCTV covers the square after all. Why target a group as a whole? If you feel strongly about this try complaining to Councillor Steven Purcell.

Leader of Glasgow City Council - Scottish Labour Party
Email: steven.purcell@councillors.glasgow.gov.uk

There is a long history of similar issues in relation to the square.

Art chiefs' bid to get rid of Goths

Daily Record Feb 7 2003

ART gallery bosses tried to scare off gangs of Goths with classical
music. But it backfired on them as the youngsters - fans of shock-rockers
such as Marilyn Manson and Slipknot - discovered an unexpected taste for
Vivaldi.

Even more of them turned up at their meeting place outside Glasgow's
Gallery of Modern Art as the classical tunes blasted from its windows.

Gallery bosses took action because they believed the Goths
congregating in Royal Exchange Square were scaring off art-lovers.

The Goths also got into the building and took over the toilets to do
their distinctive make-up and hairstyles. Graffiti was daubed over the outside of the building and there were violent clashes with rival gangs of "neds".

The gallery set up patrols in the square and removed benches but
hundreds of youngsters still congregated outside.

Assistant curator Clare McLeod said they then resorted to playing
music they thought would annoy their unwelcome visitors.

She said: "We decided to blast Vivaldi at full volume from windows
above their heads to sicken them but they actually seemed to enjoy it in the
end.

"There are several hundred kids around here at the weekend and the
numbers certainly didn't decrease so we had to eventually think of different
ways to solve our problem.

"Our intial reaction was to get rid of the kids or move them along but
in the end we had to rethink."

The gallery has now invited the Goths to workshops and set up an
exhibition entitled Nu, which pays tribute to the Goth culture.

A focus group was also established in the gallery library so the Goths
could offer ideas about what they'd like to see there.

TV producer Tanya Cheadle, who has made a BBC1 documentary on the
Goths which will be shown next week, said: "We found them intimidating and
people wanting to get into the gallery were put off, so the steps they took
were perfectly valid.

"But I think the story ends on a very positive note. The exhibition
shows the children are threatening in appearance but are very much an art
form themselves."

Alterophobia's research has revealed that similar moves have recently occurred in Bristol as well. More on this later.

Links to the events mentioned:

Glasgow Needs Youth! Gallery Of Modern Art Gives Kids A Chance ...

Lion Television . Productions . Glasgow's Goth Kids

Athens - Emos assaulted

No doubt emos in greece have faced violence before in Greece but now it is in the papers, alongside the usual anti Emo garbage. I am still amazed how much nonsense newspapers print since when is Green Day emo? Glyfada is a suburb of Athens.

ekathimerini.com | Injuries in youth culture clash
Kathimerini, Greece - 5 Dec 2007

An attack on two adolescents in Glyfada by a large group of teenagers has highlighted growing tensions between “rival” groups of fashion-conscious youngsters.

The attack, which occurred in central Glyfada early Sunday, resulted in minor injuries to one of the two victims and the arrest of three alleged assailants who faced a prosecutor yesterday. Meanwhile, police are seeking another 18 youngsters implicated in the attack.

The two victims define themselves as “emos” – code for a tribe of youngsters who wear black clothes, dyed black hair brushed over their face, and listen to an “emotional” strain of post-punk music. The pair claim to have been surrounded by a group of “trendies” – a rival band of preppy youngsters – who demanded they hand over their money and mobile phones. The victims say they were attacked after refusing to give in to the demands. They say they were targeted for being “emos.”

The “emo” trend, which appeared in other European countries several years ago, has only recently gained ground in Greece. Youngsters claiming allegiance to the clan – girls and boys alike – typically dress in black with drainpipe jeans and heavy black makeup. They tend to listen to bands playing a strain of post-punk music featuring angry and retrospective lyrics, such as Green Day and My Chemical Romance.

The tendency of some emos in other countries to intentionally harm themselves – generally minor cuts using razors – does not appear to have been embraced in Greece.

Nevertheless, psychologists are concerned that this type of allegiance is not a particularly healthy one for youngsters. “This is the first time such an emotionally charged youth movement has appeared in Greece,” clinical psychologist Eleni Kouloutzou told Kathimerini. “These children appear almost mournful but they have turned their anger in on themselves rather than against society – they don’t believe in anything,” she said.

Apart from “emos” and “trendies,” Greece also has “kangoures” – male teenagers with a loud, brash style who drive their cars dangerously.

The interesting thing is that the assault is identical to all the other attacks we have covered across the world in it has emos assaulted by trendies in large numbers. A followup article is even more disturbing...

Violence is not about style
Kathimerini, Greece - 7 Dec 2007

By Nikos Xydakis

Recent youth clashes are being seen by many as a war of stylistic differences. The «cool» kids beating up on the «emos.» Next, we will embark on an analysis of each trend or the subculture to which each belongs.

But this approach harbors many dangers. First, we begin by looking at violence as a matter of aesthetics, a lifestyle conflict. It is that, but only partly. It is like the clashes between hooligans that have sometimes even ended in death - and are not just about the color of one's jersey.

No 17-year-old living in Athens who has been witness to such incidents has any doubt about what to call those of his peers who attack emos with scissors and switchblades, hack away at their bangs and beat them in the face: They are bullies. Pure and simple.

You may even hear something about the packs of semi-feral teenagers prowling neighborhoods on their noisy mopeds until a lone long-banged kid walks by. «What are you looking at?!» That's how it begins, and sometimes it ends in a vicious beating. The pack mentality and senseless violence are characteristics of a youth that is full of rage, that lacks a smooth process of assimilation or passage into wider society. With schools degraded, a society that doles out hypocrisy and insecurity, a professional outlook that is limited to delivering pizzas or becoming a night watchman, with ideological hatred being vented on every Internet site, teenagers, and especially these semi-marginalized teenagers, are pushed to aggression, to blind competition, to the exclusion of all «others,» to forming packs within which they have an identity.

Bullies, of course, have always been around. But in cases such as these beatings, in Glyfada and Syntagma, their pack mentality puts them on a par with the lumpen hooligans. Violence is not just a matter of aesthetics.

US Police target alternative teen

Mother claims police bullied their way into her home | Battle Creek Enquirer - www.battlecreekenquirer.com - Battle Creek, Mich.:
Sunday, December 9, 2007

Trace Christenson/The Enquirer

Charity Young holds her son, Matthew, with her son, Wesley Gilbert, at the front door of their home.

A Battle Creek woman complained Friday that police used strong-arm tactics when they raided her home this week searching for bomb-making materials.

Charity Young, 33, said police with guns and wearing black masks pushed through her front door and scared her and her 2-year-old son as they searched the house during an investigation into bomb threats at Battle Creek Central High School.

"They grabbed my shirt and were screaming in my face," Young said. "I didn't have time to cooperate because I didn't know what they wanted me to do."

She said she was pushed into a chair, aggravating a back problem, as police searched her house.

Officers pulled down an American flag on the front door, stepped on her couch and left the doors open to the winter air, she said.

A security officer and law enforcement student, Young said the incident has changed her attitude about police.

"I am thinking about giving up my dream. I wanted to be an officer, but if they are training officers to terrorize women and small children, I will not do it," she said.

Members of the Emergency Response Team and the Bomb Unit obtained the warrant to search the house in the 200 block of Laurel Avenue for evidence in recent bomb threats at Battle Creek Public Schools, Lt. Duane Knight said after the raid.

Nine threats have been reported at the high school and two middle schools since Nov. 26, including two on Nov. 28 that canceled classes at the high school.

Detective Sgt. Todd Madsen said the search warrant was obtained after at least three students reported hearing Young's son, Wesley Gilbert, 16, and a sophomore at Battle Creek Central make statements about the bomb threats.

"He made statements about making bombs," Madsen said Friday. "We raided the home for the protection of the community."

Police did not find any bomb-making materials, Madsen said, and nothing was seized.

But he said the investigation is continuing and he expects investigators to seek a warrant for Gilbert.

Gilbert said he did not make any statements about bombs and is not responsible for the bomb threats.

He said he has been targeted because he wears Goth clothing and because he was vocal last year about the lack of security at the high school.

Gilbert was suspended from school Thursday after several of his friends threatened two of the students who alleged they heard his comments about bombs. He said he did not encourage his friends' actions.

Madsen said officers knocked on the door and waited for Young to open it before they entered the house. He denies officers were rough with Young, her 2-year-old son, Matthew, or her boyfriend, Bert Howe, 43.

"This was the slowest and most patient and methodical entry we have made in 1,000 entries of the Emergency Response Team," he said. "But we are not going to turn a blind eye to this. We want to stay on top of it."

The Legacy of Columbine continues.

More media lies about goths and emos

A newspaper article insults a goth teen just for liking his friends!!

You silly Lotto!

Dec 9 2007 by Nathan Bevan, Wales On Sunday

NOW for a new weekly section called Well, Bloody Give It Back Then...

First recipient of the WBGIBT Award is £8.4m Lotto winner Jenny Southall from Newport.

Or, more precisely, it’s her teenage son Jamie who I’m naming and shaming for refusing to move from their pokey council house a mile away. Apparently, the young goth doesn’t want to leave his friends behind – besides, he’s probably only recently finished painting his entire bedroom black and has no doubt just perfected infusing his sheets with the rancid stench of fetid teenager.

Jamie, with that much dosh you can buy more friends, better looking ones, ones who don’t cover their faces with Mother’s Pride while listening to Fields Of The Nephilim records.

Last time I looked Britain was a free country people can wear as much or as little makeup or the clothes they want. If you don't like that well then move to Iran or another country where teenagers can be arrested for dressing in the wrong way or listening to the wrong kind of music.

In an article on the remake of the classic St Trinians fifties films is par for the course for the Daily Mail. Unless the film does portray emos as self-harming goths which I certainly hope it doesn't.

Meet the tribes of St Trinian's | the Daily Mail

6th December 2007

Modern girls: (left to right) Trustafarian (Juno Temple), Chav (Kathryn Drysdale), Geek (Lily Cole), The Emo (Paloma Faith), Posh Totty (Tamsin Egerton. Click ENLARGE to see the full profiles

There is a geek with granny glasses and knee-length skirt who is such a computer whiz she can mastermind a multi-million-pound art theft.

There's a chav Essex girl and a freakish creature with pink and black hair who is so emotional that her eyeliner is constantly running down her face.

"The actresses chosen to play the St Trinian's girls needed to be uncompromising, upfront, genuine, and most importantly independent minded, and this is exactly what we got," says director Oliver Parker...

"Girls at modern schools today are divided into gangs and cliques. By visiting a number we were able to plug into the mindset of today's girls and get a sense of which bands they were talking about, what cliques they had and what slang they were using."

"We went round to lots of schools to do our research including posh public schools and comprehensives,' adds co director Barnaby Thompson.

"After talking to the girls for ten minutes, what was interesting was that they all talked about the same things. So we have Chavs, Emos [emotionals - self-harming teenage Goths], Trustafarians, Geeks and Posh Totty in this film.

But hey this is the Daily Mail which printed one of the most inaccurate and stupid articles ever written on emo (and there is great competition for that particular award) in August 2006. Check out:

EMO cult warning for parents | the Daily Mail

Oh yes watch out for those fearsome emos...

The Emos - short for Emotional - regard themselves as a cool, young sub-set of the Goths.

Although the look is similar, the point of distinction, frightening for schools and parents, is a celebration of self harm.

Emos exchange competitive messages on their teenage websites about the scars on their wrists and how best to display them. Girls' secondary schools have for some time been concerned about the increase in self harm.

One governor of a famous boarding school told me that it was as serious a problem as binge drinking, but rarely discussed for fear of encouraging more girls to do it.

Although it is invariably described as a 'secret shame', there is actually a streak of exhibitionism about it.

The internet has many sites dedicated to Emo fashion (dyed black hair brushed over your face, layering, black, black, black), Emo bands (Green Day, My Chemical Romance), Emo conversation (sighing, wailing, poetry).

Kerrang responded by pointing out the Daily Mail knew nothing about Emo. Anyone with a passing interest in youth culture could see the article was so stupid it was amazing. Emos=goths makes no sense what so ever as for the bands it lists as being emo well.

The interesting thing about the film is that it clearly is based on the real tribalistic divisions in schools which do result in conflict. Interestingly a recent initiative in Somerset deals with the same themes:

Kids teach adults a lesson
Weston & Somerset Mercury, UK - 5 Dec 2007

YOUNGSTERS dressed up as 'chavs' and 'emos' to help members of Nailsea's older generation understand more about youth culture.

Three pupils from Nailsea School, in Mizzymead Road, were invited to a Neighbourhood Watch meeting to try to improve relationships between the two generations.

Scott Davie, Libbi Cooper and James Daley donned drainpipe jeans, tracksuits and hoodies as they explained what members of different culture groups liked wearing and what their interests were.

The meeting was part of an initiative by Nailsea School and the Neighbourhood Watch group to try to breakdown barriers and stereotypes between the younger and older generations.

Nailsea School teacher, Dilly Taylor, said: "We are looking at ways of getting the two generations together, to get rid of some of the fear for the older people, and to encourage youngsters to be more conscientious in looking out for the older generation in their communities."

Members of Nailsea Neighbourhood Watch are now planning to give a presentation to youngsters at the school about the aims of their group.

Chairman Don Plevey said: "We want to develop a relationship between Neighbourhood Watch and schoolchildren because older people often perceive youngsters as some kind of threat, when they aren't.

"We are convinced that if we establish a relationship between youngsters in the town it will help prevent vandalism and other problems. We are also thinking of setting up a Watch scheme for youngsters."

Pupils have been thinking of ways to spend more time with older people in the community.
One of the suggestions includes inviting members of the group to the school cafe or meeting up with them in town to try to forge friendships. About 3,800 households in Nailsea belong to the Watch scheme and members meet at the United Reformed Church hall in Stockway North on the second Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm.