Court hearing today.
Today is William Poole's day in court. LEX18 isn't much help as the headline they give links to their original story. Way to go, LEX18! There's some real investigative journalism (CAUTION! link contains disturbing pictures) for ya.
Too many people are all too willing to jump on the "this is against the First Amendment" bandwagon without looking into the case. If some government, somewhere doesn't like what someone wrote and arrests them because of it, thousands instantly cry foul. So far, the only real sources I have been able to find for this story are a local T.V. station and an anonymous poster that appears to be making the blog rounds. And from all the research I have done, that really is all anyone has.
Let's see what happens in court...
posted by Aaron Bynum at 10:53
3 Comments:
Here's another source -- the Lexington, Kentucky newspaper (which is a Pulitzer Prize-winning paper -- several Pulitzers, in fact) in a story that was picked up by the Associated Press. We'll see tomorrow how many of the places that picked up WLEX's original story give the more balanced information found in this story.
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/2005/03/09/news/11086999.htm
Posted on Wed, Mar. 09, 2005
Details of student's writings revealed
By Peter Mathews
CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
WINCHESTER - A lot of people think William Poole is being unfairly persecuted for writing zombie fiction.
That's the theory on the Internet, where the George Rogers Clark High School student's story has attracted interest worldwide. But the evidence presented yesterday in Clark District Court was quite different.
Poole, 18, was arrested last month on a charge of terroristic threatening. Authorities said he had made threats against students, teachers and police.
Poole's grandmother found the writings at their Winchester home and was worried enough to call police.
In an interview after his arrest, Poole told WLEX-TV (Channel 18) that he had simply written a fictional story about zombies taking over an unidentified high school.
Sympathizers who saw the news story on the Internet have sent dozens of e-mail messages to police, the county attorney, teachers and others. In e-mail and on Web bulletin boards, they have suggested local authorities are "idiots" and "incestuous hillbillies" who were out to take away Poole's right to free speech.
However, Poole's teachers told police they had not assigned such a story or talked to him about it -- and had they seen it, they would have been obligated to report him to authorities.
And, as it turns out, Poole's writings include no brain-eating dead folks.
What they do contain, Winchester police Detective Steven Caudill testified yesterday, is evidence that he had tried to solicit seven fellow students to join him in a military organization called No Limited Soldiers.
The writings describe a bloody shootout in "Zone 2," the designation given to Clark County.
"All the soldiers of Zone 2 started shooting," Caudill read on the witness stand. "They're dropping every one of them. After five minutes, all the people are lying on the ground dead."
The papers contain two different dates of Poole's death.
Poole has corresponded with someone in Barbourville who claimed to have acquired cash and guns in break-ins, Caudill testified.
No other arrests are pending, he said, but authorities are looking for other potential suspects listed in Poole's papers who are identified only by pseudonyms.
District Judge Brandy O. Brown ordered the documents put under seal because they contain references to juveniles. She sent the case to the grand jury and rejected a request from Poole's attorney to lower his $5,000 cash bond. He is being held in the Clark County jail.
The story has attracted attention from traditional journalists at 60 Minutes and CNN, as well as Web sources such as morons.org and horrorwatch.com.
Authorities had released little information about the nature of the threats, and many people assumed from the WLEX story that Poole had been made a victim.
"I do find it sad that they would stunt the intellectual growth of a young person that way," one Web poster wrote.
Another offered a suggested headline for a parody publication: "Kentucky Police safe from Zombies because of lack of Brains."
Caudill said he had received more than 50 e-mails and perhaps a dozen "nasty phone calls."
But after school shootings such as the one at Columbine High School in Colorado, where 13 people died, authorities must take threats seriously, he said in an interview.
"Do we as a society want the police to stop there -- that he didn't mean it?" he asked. "I'm not going to take that responsibility and have children's and police officers' blood on my hands."
-----------------------------
Reach Peter Mathews in the Richmond bureau at (859) 626-5878 or pmathews@herald-leader.com.
8:19 PM
Again, thank you. Finally, an independent corroboration for your information. I've had an extremely hard time convincing anyone that your information is accurate. Keep the truth coming.
7:40 AM
Here's more. Apparently there is a story in there, but the information in the story fictionalizes/mirrors other information that indicates a real life plan. There are also the items of correspondence with the individuals Poole was trying to recruit. This has a few more direct quotes.
Also, I think it's important that the records have been sealed because they contain the names of minors. Although the story doesn't contain any names, note that Poole has been prohibited from meeting with any of the individuals named in his writing. According to his sister, there's a hit list of 500 teachers, students and police officers that Poole wants to "blow away." The records are sealed because of the minors named in them. (There are those who are skeptical of the reasons for the sealing, but I suspect once the trial is over, a good media lawyer could use the Freedom of Information Act to get the basics released even if the names of minors have to be deleted.)
http://www.winchestersun.com/articles/2005/03/09/local_news/news01.txt
Published on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 1:15 PM EST
Police disclose contents of writings allegedly threatening school takeover
Winchester Police Detective Steve Caudill, reads an excerpt from William Poole's journal, which police allege was a detailed plan to recruit a gang for an armed takeover of George Rogers Clark High School. During a preliminary hearing in Clark County District Court Tuesday afternoon, Caudill read from several documents written by Poole that referred to recruiting 100 people into an organization called NLS, or No Limited Soldiers. He also read from a letter reportedly written by an acquaintance in Barbourville, offering to provide money and weapons. (Sun photos by James Mann)
By TIM WELDON/Sun Staff Writer
A chilling and sometimes violent account of a school takeover raised eyebrows during a hearing in Clark County District Court Tuesday afternoon. What's still unclear is whether 18-year-old William Poole's journal entries were a fictional story or details of a plan to recruit a gang to unleash an armed assault on George Rogers Clark High School.
During the preliminary hearing, excerpts from a journal written by Poole, who is charged with second-degree terroristic threatening, seemed to provide few clear-cut answers.
The preliminary hearing marked the first time Winchester police have publicly disclosed Poole's writings that led police to charge him on Feb. 22 with threatening an armed takeover of the school, where Poole was enrolled as a junior.
Poole told police during a 30-minute interview following his arrest, and later reiterated during an interview with WLEX-TV, that what police had seized was a story about zombies taking over a high school, assigned by his English and computer teachers at GRCHS.
However, Detective Steve Caudill testified that neither teacher had any knowledge of what Poole had written and there was no mention of zombies in any of the writings.
Poole occasionally shook his head or laid his head on the defense table as Caudill read excerpts from a journal police allege was an attempt to recruit a gang to take over GRCHS.
Police were tipped off to the writings by Poole's grandmother, with whom he lived. Caudill explained that she read his journal and became concerned.
Seven documents were seized by police. According to police, Poole was attempting to create a gang called NLS, or No Limited Soldiers, sometimes also referred to as "True Soldiers," an organization that was to be comprised of Poole's acquaintances, according to Caudill.
Throughout his writings, Poole makes numerous references to a "brotherhood," such as in an overview, in which Poole wrote, "We will make the brotherhood known throughout the high school." It continues with a three-part plan: 1) Recruit new soldiers, 2) Get everyone in ranks, and 3) get the numbers to 100.
Caudill testified that at least seven acquaintances of Poole's reported that Poole had attempted to recruit them into a gang, but that none of them were interested.
In his writings, Poole makes references to four geographic zones. Zone Two refers to Clark County, according to Caudill. The other three zones mentioned in Poole's journal are Barbourville, South Carolina and New York City.
Caudill also read from a letter sent by an unnamed person who was referred to as a "colonel" in the Barbourville organization, promising to aid Poole with weapons and money. In one passage, Caudill testified the person in Barbourville admitted breaking into homes and said he had thousands of dollars and 50 guns at his disposal.
"You know what I mean, man. We will handle things if you want us to," the individual wrote Poole, who referred to himself in the journal as "Nappy Boy," the head of the Clark County organization, according to Caudill.
In the overview to his writings, Poole wrote, "We will shut down all the other groups that come against us." The only way to join the brotherhood, he wrote, "is doing something stupid."
A separate story, titled "War" was described by Caudill as "futuristic," and referred to a group of people sitting down at a kitchen table, where they plan a takeover of a school, determining how long it will take for police to arrive on the scene. "They will all die together," Poole wrote.
Another excerpt, read by Caudill, states, "All the boys sit down at the kitchen table and start planning it out. They wrote down how many teachers, students and guards were at the high school. Also, how long it would take police to get there. They wrote down what was needed and how they was going to do it. They agreed right there they they would all die together."
He continued, "They yelled, 'kill them,' and all the soldiers of Zone 2 started shooting. They are dropping every one of them. After five minutes, all the people are laying on the ground dead."
Other documents, titled "Death of a Soldier" tells his family goodbye and list two separate dates for his death, Nov. 20, 2004, and Feb. 19, 2005. The latter date was three days before Poole was arrested.
One document mentioned that William P would go to the school and map out the floor plan, including locations of the cameras.
Nowhere in Poole's writings did he refer to a specific school. It also did not list any specific targets, making only general references to teachers, students and school security.
According to Caudill, Poole told police that a teacher at GRCHS read the piece called the "Overview," and warned that Poole could be in trouble if others at school saw it. Consequently, Poole reportedly told police that he left his writings at home. The teacher told Caudill he did not see any of the journal entries that police confiscated.
Assistant County Attorney John Keeton told reporters after the hearing that, as a prosecutor, he has to take the writings seriously. "The downside of not taking it seriously is beyond comprehension," Keeton explained. He added that "it will all have to play out in court."
District Judge Brandy Oliver Brown denied a motion by Poole's attorney, Brian Barker, to reduce his $5,000 bond. Brown instructed Poole that if he's able to post a $5,000 bond, he is to remain away from school property and may not have contact with anyone named in his writings.
6:04 PM
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