Trenchcoat Mafia' Opposed Blacks, Hispanics, Jews and Jocks
By STEVEN K. PAULSON
Associated Press Writer
LITTLETON, Colo. - They called themselves the "Trenchcoat
Mafia," a dozen outcast students who hated blacks,
Hispanics, Jews and athletes, and dressed up in long black
dusters, like villains of the Old West.
They played World War II games, bragged about their guns, and
razzed fellow students about kowtowing to the elite students at
Columbine High School.
But few students took them seriously until yesterday, when police
said two members of the rebellious group took out guns and
started firing.
Classmates and Denver media identified the dead gunmen as Eric
Harris and Dylan Klebold. Police refused to confirm the
identities, but were seen at Harris' home, carrying out items
including a computer.
The "trenchcoats" were seen as smart and
computer-savvy, fellow students said. Harris lived in a tidy,
two-story home on a quiet suburban cul-de-sac - deserted today
except for a steady stream of reporters driving through the
neighborhood.
Sean Kelly, a 16-year-old junior, shared a computer lab with
Harris.
"They just didn't seem to be all there. They liked things
like Soldier of Fortune magazine," Kelly said. Harris made
his own video production at school in which he bragged about some
of his new guns.
Authorities said the two boys killed themselves following a
"suicide mission" in which they marched through the
school, hurling pipe bombs and firing shotguns, leaving a trail
of bodies. They said they learned of the group only after
yesterday's shooting.
"School officials said they had no problems with the two
suspects, there were no discipline problems," Jefferson
County sheriff's spokesman Steve Davis said.
Other members were questioned by police, including one who was
led away in handcuffs yesterday. But no arrests were made, Davis
said, and there was no indication that any of the others took
part in the shooting.
Kelly said members of the group made a number of "generally
derogatory remarks" about Hispanics and blacks, and were
considered outcasts by other students at the school.
They had a long-running feud with some of the school's athletes,
who enjoyed the popularity the Trenchcoats lacked.
"A couple of months ago, the jocks were supposed to fight
them," said Matt Good, 16, a football player. But the
Trenchcoats showed up two hours late, at the wrong spot, carrying
swords and brass knuckles, and the fight was never rescheduled,
Good said.
In the 1998 yearbook, a photo showed members of the group locking
arms and smiling, was accompanied by the caption, "Who says
we're different? Insanity's healthy. ... Stay alive, stay
different, stay crazy."
Chris Morris, a leader of the group, is grinning broadly.
Klebold's sallow-faced picture appears on a separate page, with
the statement: "After going through many experiences in
their lives, oftentimes students have regrets of past
actions."
Student Andrew Beard said members of the group often came to
school in steel-toed combat boots, some of them wearing Nazi
crosses. Yesterday was the anniversary of Adolf Hitler's
birthday, and student Aaron Cohn said that was a significant day
for Trenchcoat members, who would make references to 4-20. He
said they often made anti-Semitic comments.
Beard said a dozen students joined the group last year, adopting
the trademark dusters and sometimes wearing red or green berets,
but the numbers dwindled to a half-dozen this year as the novelty
wore off. He aid he knew of no special significance for the
dusters.
"Dylan said he hated the jocks, and how they could walk over
people and thought they were tough," Beard said.
Josh Nielsen, 17, a junior at the school, said he knew members of
the group as well.
"They liked playing war games," he said. "That's
all they could talk about. They played war games and they liked
to re-enact World War II battles."
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