By VANESSA MILLER
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A University of Colorado junior known for his controversial newsletter was arrested and suspended from school after he made "threatening" comments that seemed sympathetic with the Virginia Tech gunman, according to campus officials and police.
Max Karson was arrested on suspicion of "interference with staff, faculty or students of an education institution" because "he made comments about understanding how someone could kill 32 people," said CU police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley.
During a class discussion about the shootings, Karson said he was "angry about all kinds of things from the fluorescent light bulbs to the unpainted walls, and it made him angry enough to kill people," multiple witnesses told police, according to a report.
Police said students reported the statements Tuesday afternoon _ hours after they left the class.
Officers immediately launched an investigation, and Karson _ who publishes "The Yeti"_ was booked into the Boulder County Jail Tuesday night.
Wiesley said people in the class interpreted Karson's statements as threats, and he said a person can't legally impede teacher and student performance through the use of threats and intimidation.
"More than one student said they were afraid," Wiesley said. "They said they were afraid of him and afraid to come to class with him."
Karson's father, Michael Karson, said Tuesday evening that he hadn't been able to reach his son all day, but he'd spoken with officers and the student's friends.
A CU police commander told Michael Karson that his son's statements were "outrageous and threatening, and they go beyond free-speech rights."
The father said he's not buying that, and a national tragedy shouldn't take away anyone's First Amendment rights.
"I'm just in shock," he said. "I would have hoped that state officials would know their First Amendment better than they seem to."
The comments might have been misinterpreted, Michael Karson said, adding that one of his son's friends told him the student said: "Most people have probably been as angry as the kid at Virginia Tech at some point in their lives."
Michael Karson said an officer told him that his son's statements seemed more threatening in the context of Monday's massacre.
"But that shouldn't affect his standing and his right to say what he thinks," he said.
University spokesman Bronson Hilliard confirmed that Max Karson has been "issued a summary suspension pending the outcome of a judicial-affairs review." That means he's banned from the campus unless he's meeting with school officials or law enforcement.
Max Karson's newsletter spurred controversy in November over what he described as satirical comments about women and minorities.
School officials at the time said they were looking into whether he violated any conduct rules with the newsletter. But they determined that his speech was protected, and he wasn't punished.
Before that, Max Karson ran into administrative trouble as a high-school student. As a teenager rejected from his Massachusetts school's newspaper staff, Karson began his own underground publication and covered topics such as sexuality and race.
He was suspended, but the sanctions were eventually overturned.
(Contact Daily Camera staff writer Vanessa Miller at millerv@dailycamera.com. Camera staff writers Brittany Anas and Christine Reid contributed to this report.)
Are They Serious???
Only in Boulder...It is my sincere hope that after all these charges get thrown out the ACLU mounts a campaign to sue the very stench of self-importance out of that University and that City.
Mass Firings
No no no. You don't want to sue them; that just further perpetuates the problems in American society. Instead, have these officials fired. When our Founding Fathers laid down the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they did not do so to give violated citizens the opportunity for a free paycheck. The idea was not to have the official cough up some money and then continue on.
No, the idea was to keep these kind of things from happening at all. Award the victim some money, yes. But more importantly, make sure that every person involved in violating Karson's First Ammendment Right should be fired or at the very least barred from any further advancement. Punish the perpetrators, don't reward the victims. THAT'S how you prevent this BS from happening again.
Victim???
You may have the First Amendment right to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater or make a bomb joke in an aiport, but the police might want to have a word with you afterwards.
Max Karson, arrested?? as he
Max Karson, arrested?? as he should be!
I mean, if by in any way understanding the feelings behind, and of course NOT the actions OF, the gunman, he was not successfully isolating the killer even more, and that is just ludicrous! When the actions of alienated youth affect the lives of those around them, in particular TAKING their lives, we need to make SURE that we keep this sort of vicious isolation ALIVE to ensure such actions in the future! To express any sort of compassion with this merciless killers fellings is revolting in the first degree. I mean, it was clear this person was crying out for help, and if that was given to him, then the shooting may not have occured and there would be no way for Mr. Bush to continue to instill fear in the minds of the Americans he so eloquentlessly controls. How can we push for increased public spending on defense and keep americans afraid and in need of the president when our schools are safe? Appauling!
Of course he was not condoning the actions per se, but that is null and void as this is cleraly a black and white issue. I mean, if Max were Asian would we understand his accompanying feelings of validation? Sure, but that would be okay as then it would be a RACE issue that would change everything, when isolation and depression are about race, they need to be brought to light and fought to the teeth, as we can be classist and sexist and lookist, but NOT RACIST! NOT SINCE MARTIN LUTHER KING! Because deep down we are not just raceless human beings with hearts and feelings in need of others to support us in our lives. When a kid is a brat, it is their parents fault. When someone kills someone, it is just their fault, we need not look into the reasons behind it and how it may have been prevented, then and in the future.
The amount of unprecedented rage present in this individual, the killer, is actually quite common in the lives of young men who are so abandoned in the school sytems, in particular when it comes to finding some sort of emotional support, or outlets that are positive and healthy. But these are the BAD SEEDS, the ones who are not our pretty blonde-haired-blue-eyed straight-A students who fit the cookie cutter of the beauty and freedom of our country, so we look away as not to soil our reputation. A country where someone can be looked at and forgotten so many times that something just snaps and he whips out a gun and kills 32 ppl. A country where our president can bomb just as many countries in one day as the number of people kille don that tragic day and we see no connection. A country where one single indivdual attempts to express any sort of regard OTHER than hatred toward a victim of his own hatred, the killer, and he is locked up for opening his mouth and speaking his opinion. A country where we are told we can speak our opinion with freedom, yet get in trouble if we do, even when no direct threats of imminent harm were made. And a country where teachers and passerbys day after day can CLEARLY see that something has gone awry with this individual and not do a damn thing.
As long as its not MY son then its okay.
Until my son gets killed by one of these psychos...the we can REALLY have a reason to hate him.
God Bless Amerika.
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