OlderRemembering Lawrence King
CNN host Anderson Cooper just blogged about a shooting at a junior high school computer lab in California that happened two weeks ago. Consequently, as a result of a hate crime, 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot to death.
Anderson, 40, posed the question, “When does bullying become a hate crime?” Here’s his entry:
“We are focusing on a story that hasn’t received the attention it deserves. The story is about a young man named Lawrence King. He was 15 years old. On the morning of Feb 12, a classmate of Lawrence’s allegedly walked into the computer lab in front of some two dozen other students and shot Lawrence in the head. He was declared brain dead later at the hospital. According to authorities, this was not a random killing, it was a hate crime. Lawrence had recently told people he was gay, and apparently wore clothing that was viewed as effeminate. According to many accounts he had been bullied repeatedly, and some parents have even claimed students knew of threats to Lawrence’s life. At this point it doesn’t seem clear how much school officials knew of the bullying, but a full investigation needs to be done. If this had been an African-American student bullied by a teenage skinhead would it have received more attention? Would school officials have taken it more seriously if it had been a Christian campus leader attacked by another student because of his/her religious beliefs? I don’t have the answers to those questions, but I do think they are worth asking. Bullying is a problem in schools across the country. We’ve seen this time and time again. Is enough being done to stop it?”
In response to this hate crime, both Democratic presidential candidates released statements regarding this tragic event:
Said Hillary Clinton, “I was deeply saddened by the recent death of 15-year-old Lawrence King who was killed at his school in Oxnard, CA. No one should face intimidation or violence, particularly at school, because of their sexual orientation or the way they express their gender identity.We must finally enact a federal hate crimes law to ensure that gay, lesbian and transgender Americans are protected against violent, bias-motivated crimes. We must send a unified message that hate-based crime will not be tolerated.”
Barack Obama is on the same page, adding, “It was heartbreaking to learn about Lawrence King’s death, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. King’s senseless death is a tragic example of the corrosive effect that bigotry and fear can have in our society. It’s also an urgent reminder that we need to do more in our schools to foster tolerance and an acceptance of diversity; that we must enact a federal hate crimes law that protects all LGBT Americans; and that we must recommit ourselves to becoming active and engaged parents, citizens and neighbors, so that bias and bigotry cannot take hold in the first place. We all have a responsibility to help this nation live up to its founding promise of equality for all.”
The L.A. Times also has a write-up of last week’s memorial service for King: “At a memorial attended by more than 500 people in Port Hueneme, Lawrence “Larry” King was remembered Friday as a sensitive child who liked to draw, paint and crochet. One Christmas, he helped his mother crochet hundreds of scarves so that U.S. troops in Afghanistan wouldn’t be without a holiday gift.”
You can also visit the website that King’s family set up: RememberLarry.com.
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96 Comments
anderson is right. this act of bullying is definitely a hate crime and the media needs to pay attention.. if it had been an issue of race or gender or religion, we would be hearing about this non stop
and just to put this out there: TEAM BARACK
yeah and the fact that he was being bullyied beacuse of being gay just makes it worse! this has to stop! they are or were kids! just 15 years old!
Hearing about these hate crimes literally makes me sick to my stomach.. . I dont know how or why people can kill another human being, and just because of their race or sexual orientation. Just nauseating.
I hope his family can find some kind of comfort. Bless them
This was a big story out here in CA. I had no idea it was not a national story. It was such a horrible and senseless crime. (BTW you have Florida listed as the location in the intro.)
I cannot believe this happened. You are entitled to your own opinion but that does not give anyone the right to go about and shoot people because of their belief. Can America see the violence that is happening in schools? Bullying even in the smallest form has a great impact on how that kid grows up (that includes verbal abuse). I found that a lot of the bullied kids grow up to be socially disengaged and are more prone to depression.
“African-American student bullied by a teenage skinhead would it have received more attention?”
I agree yes this story needs more attention. But whats the point of this statement. Black hate crimes get attention because black communities and leader make them get attention. This is sad yes, but its his job to get the word out about this, why blog about this. He has a huge show that gets tons of viewers, he should make a whole program about this boy’s story.
Thanks, Britt!
This is such a sad story. I got teary eyed reading how he and his mom crocheted the scarves for the troops as holiday gifts. I think I read that the kid who did is going to be charged as a juvenile which is ridiculous considering how calculated it was.
This is not only horrible, but a wake up call to all of us. It is not enought to read the news, feel sorry and then forget about the issue– until next time. We must be consistant and should get involved. We must show SOLIDARITY and push for changes. 1+1+1+1… can make a difference.
My heart and love is sent to Larry King and his family. This kills me!! How can this be happening!!!
All I can say is my condolences go out to his family. I live in California, so I’ve heard about this story. However, I had no idea it would become [or try to become] national. I agree with Anderson Cooper. We need to show this story on how something like this could happen. These hate crimes need to be stopped.
glad that you posted this. please spread the word about incidents like these. one correction though: it was california, not florida.
I never heard a word about this story on the East Coast. It’s stories like this that really remind me of how far our Civil Rights have come and how very far we have yet to go to protect all. I understand the jist of what A.C was saying, enough is enough! I will pray for all involved tonight.
This story makes me sick to my stomach, but I’m so glad that many of our leaders are willing to stand up and speak out against such a heinous crime.
Thanks, Jared, for not letting this one go quietly.
ohhh man. shootings all the time…:(
how sad.
I live in in California also and had heard about the shooting but not this background on it, I can’t believe it, I can never understand how people can have so much hate in them and that we still live in a world where people have to live in fear of being themselves. Thanks for posting. This is so ridiculous, what are these parents teaching their kids and why are guns so easily available to them. I really hope Hillary or Obama win, mccain is such a bush #2.
I hadn’t even heard about this. This is heartbreaking and I agree with Anderson- it is a hate crime.
We have a similar story to this is florida where the kid go stabbed on the bus before it left the school. school should be a safe haven for kids not a danger zone. what can we do to make this story go public? i think it has to do with the fact that hes gay… its such a shame
how heartbreaking. :(
What I can’t understand is, if his parent/s knew that he was gay,
why couldn’t they send him to another school. They should have
protected him.
R.I.P Lawrence King.
May thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Bullying can go both ways. Either the bullied are killed, or the bulliers are killed. either way, it’s tragic and devestating and makes me hate the fact that my kid is in a public school. Two weeks ago, at our PTA meeting, it was discussed that a thrid grader was sent home for repeatedly calling another classmate a *****. The kid obviously heard it from somehwere and I don’t understand how a Bully law hasn’t been passed yet. If your 18 you can’t jump on someone underage, so why do we allow underage kids, to be able to jump on underage kids? We have to get some kind of law passed, that holds the parents responsible as well. I’v seen numerous parents encourage their kids to defend theirself and fight back. I’m not saying, they shouldn’t, I’m saying, it shouldn’t be encouraged and should be stopped, by the board of education if it’s at school and law enforcement if it isn’t.
Thank you so much for posting this JJ. Living in L.A. I’ve been reading about this story and have been sick I can’t believe this horrible crime so easily and callously took place in front of a whole school! You know and it’s important that so many people came out for the service BUT where the hell were people when this poor boy was alive? I don’t know but I truly hope he felt loved, accepted and supported by his friends because from what I understand he was bullied quite a lot. If that’s the case then he was failed by many even before he was murdered.
i read this in the l.a. times, from the time it happened to the time of services for larry. true, i never heard of this in any colorado papers, why? it is good to know that we can reach out to other cities, states and countries to read what is happening in this world, via the internet. my thoughts go out to larry king, his family and any other person who might be reading this thinking, i am the only one. you are not alone, we are everywhere. peace to all.
E.O Green Jr High School is 5 min away from my house in Oxnard, I passed by the school and there was a blanket of flowers on front of the school. My prayers are out to this 15 year old’s family and foster family.
No one deserves to die, why do humans always feel we can be the judge, jury and persecuter? Even if you disagree with whatever that person’s beliefs are, they have no right to judge. It’s not our place. Killing someone is pathetic, and that person should be punished.
*executioner (not persecuter)
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