I grew up in the wake of columbine, as a teen in the 2000’s. Weird time. Like someone on true anon said it best:
In a weird way this was the real end of America. Everyone in power punted on the chance to offer any meaningful remedy for school shootings, they eventually became normalized, and every other horrifying event that has occurred since is offered the same response that was offered to Columbine- thoughts and prayers.
I still remember when I learned about the white supremacist/Nazi side of the Columbine shooters, growing up I heard all the standard “they were bullied/trenchcoat mafia” type shit, I had to learn on my own about their obsession with hitler and how they were trying to follow the example of the Oklahoma city bomber
Yeah I didn’t learn the neo-nazi angle to the shooter’s until I started reading the subreddit back in 2019-2020 or so.
I was also a teen at the time but I knew about their idolization of Hitler pretty soon after it happened. I do remember it being mentioned in the news, but their Nazism was always just a quick side note, only remarked on in passing before focusing on the fact that they played Doom and listened to Marilyn Manson, which was where all The Discourse got centered. Their fascist inclinations were what got written off as typical edgy teenager behavior whereas the shit that really was just typical edgy teenager behavior (at worst) was what got all the attention. A decent example of emphasis/de-emphasis as a tool of propaganda in news media.
Learned about that from a YouTube doc about Teenage Dirtbag