In the last few days there's been a disgusting rise in Facebook fan pages paying tribute to James Holmes, the 24-year-old man who is accused of opening fire during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo., killing 12 people and injuring 58.
Are you really surprised?
Our sister paper, Denver's Westword, reports that while some of these tribute pages have been mostly ignored, there's at least one that's collecting a disturbing number of "likes." On top of it, they've been a repository for memes like this one below that trivialize the massacre.
The Facebook page is written from the voice of Holmes, who was looking a little tired and dazed yesterday when he made his first court appearance. Here's a sample of the sick stuff we read:
I want you guys to understand this. Whatever you have to say to me, I don't care. Whenever you report me. This page isn't affected. (I've been reported over like a billion times and nothing has happened). And if you are going to try and report me, stop wasting your time by telling me and others. I don't give a shit. Also, I don't believe in karma, and I don't believe in hell. Please keep this in mind when you post. Unless its something smart or funny, Please know; I'm just going to laugh at you and all you're doing is wasting your time. Thanks.What is almost as disturbing as the gunman himself is the 500-plus "likes" this page already has, with users calling him an "entertainer" and a "comedian." But among all the fans and attention this disturbing page has received, there's been some vocal opponents who have left their two cents behind. Like this guy, who actually came up with a pretty good solution, we think:
The amount of comments against this kind of humor isFollow us on Twitter at @SFWeekly and @TheSnitchSFactually a positive thing. I'm glad that although many people cannot
spell or use grammar, they are still not as fucked up as I thought
Americans were. ♥ oh and whoever made this page needs to be sterilized.
