I wouldn’t be sitting a Nazi boyfriend down for a heart to heart. I’d do what these parents did.
I don’t see why the parents of the girl have any obligation to have a heart to heart with an unsuitable boyfriend, wheth it’s a Nazi or a 30-year-old. Their obligation is to protect their daughter.
I think my mom (who is a professional mediator) sees discussion with the source of the issue as preferable to going behind his back, at least initially. I get it.
As I read it, the parents weren’t certain he was the owner of the neo-Nazi account. They might have asked him. Maybe they did.
My S has a lovely GF, for over a year now. If I saw white supremacist/neo-Nazi posts on her Twitter I’d probably ask her what the heck was going on before sending copies of them to her school. Certainly I’d confirm it was HER.
Seen nothing from Nicholas’ family - just saw this on NBC news:
But the family knew about the mowed swastika, right? So reports they knew nothing seem suspect.
Apparently it was widely known that the killer was also the swastika mower. If I see Nazi posts on the Twitter feed of someone who is a swastika mower, I’m not going to question their authenticity.
The more that comes out, the more preventable it seems this should have been. I understand the neighbors to the swastika mowing incident thought they did the right thing by speaking to the parents rather than calling police, but I wonder if the outcome might have been different.
How would the mowed swastika have been a police matter in any case? It’s offensive, but doesn’t seem to be a criminal offense.
A history teacher who had the boy in class might have some knowledge of the accuracy of this statement. He did an interview and said that the boy’s comments in class and his writings expressed great admiration for Hitler. Another teacher who had him in class was “shocked” at a comment he made and she took it up with the school’s administration. The history teacher said the report was “acted upon” so that might have involved notifying his parents. He also said that except for that issue he was a respectful and bright student.
Here’s the interview:
The swastika was mowed on public land. It would be vandalism, right?
Yes, in Virginia, it would be vandalism of plants on public property, apparently a class 3 misdemeanor subject to a fine up to $500:
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter5/section18.2-140/
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter1/section18.2-11/
However, a 17-year-old suspect would be under the juvenile justice system, so different procedures and penalties may apply.
@HarvestMoon1 , that video is about a totally different boy (the Charlottesville driver who mowed down the crowd) not the one involved in this shooting/murder. I’m not sure why that video about the Charlottesville case is linked in the article about the Reston couple who was murdered.
Yes, you are right @4kids4us – the article linked the wrong video. I hadn’t seen the picture of the young man charged in Charlottesville so I didn’t pick up on it.
This is a gross oversimplification that seems to absolve him of responsibility…
His views were even more extreme and violent than I had realized, and he had been enthusiastically expressing them on Twitter for more than a year. I don’t usually say things like this, but I hope he dies.
Wow. That’s extreme. What was the D thinking, she had these on her phone???
The article also contradicts the contention of a family member that the parents knew nothing about the boy’s admiration for Nazis. Why would the mother post pics of him at the shooting range with that specific target?
Teenage girls who have special needs often don’t have a lot of choice in boyfriends.
@“Cardinal Fang” I must have missed something in the news stories. She had special needs?
From the HuffPost article: “The teenagers met at the same private high school for students with special needs”
Haven’t seen any other details on that bit though.
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