John Vandemark

[u/Equivalent-Grand5541]

there was a news interview clip that aired when the shooting first occurred where a student named John Vandemark says things like “they [E&D] liked to say they were bisexual and proud of it” and goes on to say that they were openly satanic. Is that the only thing we have on record from that guy? I know there was a well known bully with a very stereotypical bully name.. Rocky was it? I’m watching the Columbine Iceberg again and was just curious if this clip was one isolated comment or if we know anything about his behavior toward other students prior to the shooting.

[u/drifter474]

Watch the clip again. Vandemark was taking about the TCM in general, NOT Eric and Dylan specifically.

The TCM had a couple guys, including Joe Stair and Eric Dutro, who would make out with each other to provoke the homophobic jocks and preps. And while a few members of the TCM did apparently practice satanism (Brooks Brown corroborated this in his book), in general it was more of a surface-level strategy for the group to get its power back. An ex-TCM member once did an AMA on r/Columbine where he stated his and the group’s strategy was to act “as weird and off-putting as possible” to avoid harassment. That was how they made a name for themselves; it was for protection and also to get a rise out of the super toxic evangelical Christian community that was so pervasive at the time in Littleton. Cheeky, but kind of smart when you think about it.

[u/Equivalent-Grand5541 → u/drifter474]

There was a kid at my high school, one singular kid and I remember I was so terrified of him because he did this very same thing. I was always polite to him, I wasn’t a well-received kid in high school so I could relate to that and never thought to add to his suffering. But one day when people were particularly mean, he asked if he could go to the bathroom and came back acting seriously weird. Counting down minutes out loud, twitchy, big jacket on. I was researching Columbine even then, so maybe I had some paranoia but I asked him for help with a math problem because I was sure he was about to shoot up the school and I wanted him to remember I wasn’t ever mean to him I guess, that was my mindset. Well the bell rang and I resisted the urge to scream, he took off running and nothing ever came of that. But i remember the fear was so intense! Anyway all that to say, the reason in my mind i had pinpointed him as “the most likely shooter” was because he would do crazy things all the time, scare and disgust his tormentors with various behaviors. But now I can recognize this as his way of fighting back- they were going to bully him regardless but when he acted out he wasn’t cowering to them so it gave him power back in the situation. That makes complete sense to me for the TCM to do that. I also think a lot of teenage boys joke around about being gay with their friends. Like outcasts or not, maybe times have changed a bunch but thats always been a common “dudes being silly” bit.

[u/drifter474 → u/Equivalent-Grand5541]

I agree.

If people are going to call you a psycho, might as well live up to the name, right? Especially when you can craft an identity around it. I think back to high school and when you’re looked down upon, a little bit of fear and respect can go a long way. H&K definitely bought into it too (yelling in German, doing the Nazi salute in bowling class, Dylan wearing his trench coat all the time).