Editing Columbine High School massacre (section)

=== Media speculation ===
====Bullying====
Early stories following the massacre charged that school administrators and teachers at Columbine had long condoned bullying by jocks and this explained the motive.<ref name="kassb">{{cite news |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/1003col4.shtml |title=Students tell of bullying at Columbine High |first=Jeff |last=Kass |date=October 3, 2000 |newspaper=[[Rocky Mountain News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010221025234/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/1003col4.shtml |archive-date=February 21, 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Lorraine |last2=Russakoff |first2=Dale |date=June 12, 1999 |title=Dissecting Columbine's Cult of the Athlete |page=A1 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/june99/columbine12.htm |url-status=live |access-date=October 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009035341/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/june99/columbine12.htm |archive-date=October 9, 2014}}</ref> The link between bullying and school violence has attracted increasing attention since.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Long |first1=Colleen |title=Secret Service study: Most school shooters were badly bullied, showed warning signs |url=https://coloradosun.com/2019/11/07/school-shootings-columbine-high-gun-violence-sandy-hook/ |work=Colorado Sun |agency=AP |issue=Crime and Courts |date=7 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dr. Froggé |first1=George |title=Bullying and Its Correlation with School Violence |url=https://www.ebpsociety.org/blog/education/388-bullying-and-its-correlation-with-school-violence |website=Evidence Based Community |publisher=Austin Peay State University |date=20 October 2019}}</ref>

Accounts from various parents and school staffers reported bullying in the school.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colorado News and Denver News: The Denver Post |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/news/col1003a.htm |access-date=2022-01-12 |website=extras.denverpost.com}}</ref> Reportedly, Harris and Klebold were regularly called "[[Faggot (slang)|faggots]]".<ref>{{cite news |date=April 30, 1999 |title=The Community: Columbine Students Talk of Disaster and Life |newspaper=The New York Times |url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/043099colo-voices.html |url-status=live |access-date=October 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611192303/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/043099colo-voices.html |archive-date=June 11, 2011}}</ref> Klebold said on the Basement Tapes, "You've been giving us shit for years;" however, they also stated several times on the tapes and in the journals that no one else was to blame, nor could have prevented the attack.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_basement_tapes_1.0.pdf|title=Transcript of the Columbine "Basement Tapes"}} "There is nothing you guys could have done to prevent any of this. There is nothing that anyone could have done to prevent this. No one is to blame except me and Vodka [Klebold's nickname]. Our actions are a two man war against everyone else."</ref> Dylan when talking to his father about the jocks had stated, "They sure give Eric hell." but he also said that the jocks tended to leave him [Dylan] alone.<ref>{{Harvnb|Klebold|2016|p=187}}</ref> Brown also noted Harris was born with mild [[Pectus excavatum|chest indent]]. This made him reluctant to take his shirt off in gym class, and other students would laugh at him.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|2002|p=51}}</ref> Nathan Vanderau, a friend of Klebold, and Alisa Owen, who knew Harris, noted they were picked on. Vanderau recalled that a "cup of fecal matter" was thrown at them.<ref name="under">''Investigative Reports: Columbine: Understanding Why''. A&E. 2002</ref>

It has been alleged that Harris and Klebold were once both confronted by a group of students at CHS who sprayed them with ketchup while referring to them as "faggots" and "[[queer]]s". Klebold told his mother it had been the worst day of his life.<ref name="kle189">{{Harvnb|Klebold|2016|p=189}}</ref> According to Brown, "That happened while teachers watched. They couldn't fight back. They wore the ketchup all day and went home covered with it." According to classmate Chad Laughlin, it involved seniors pelting Klebold with "ketchup-covered tampons" in the commons. Laughlin also stated, "A lot of the tension in the school came from the class above us...There were people fearful of walking by a table where you knew you didn't belong, stuff like that. Certain groups certainly got preferential treatment across the board."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.westword.com/news/forgiving-my-columbine-high-school-friend-dylan-klebold-5834485 |title=Forgiving my Columbine High School friend, Dylan Klebold |author=Prendergast, Alan |date=April 17, 2009 |newspaper=Denver Westword Post}}</ref>

A similar theory was expounded by Brooks Brown in his book on the massacre, ''[[No Easy Answers]]''; he noted that teachers commonly ignored bullying and that when Harris and Klebold were bullied by the jocks at CHS, they would make statements such as: "Don't worry, man. It happens all the time!"<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/june99/columbine12.htm |title=Dissecting Columbine's Cult of the Athlete |access-date=October 15, 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 12, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309020347/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/june99/columbine12.htm |archive-date=March 9, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cullen, as well as psychologists dispute the theory of "revenge for bullying" as a motivation. While acknowledging the pervasiveness of bullying in high schools including CHS, Cullen claimed they were not victims of bullying. He noted Harris was more often the perpetrator than victim of bullying.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cullen|2009|pp=158–159, 208}}</ref> In an entry by Eric Harris in his journal, he stated that even if he were complimented and respected more by his peers, the attack would have still, in all likelihood, occurred.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Langman |first1=Peter F. |author1-link=Peter F. Langman |title=Eric Harris: The Search for Justification |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/harris_search_for_justification_1.3.pdf |website=schoolshooters.info |access-date=9 November 2023 |quote=If people would give me more compliments all of this might still be avoidable... but probably not.}}</ref> In another entry by Eric in his journal he says not to blame the school's administration for the attack as the staff is doing a good job running the school.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Langman |first1=Peter F. |author1-link=Peter F. Langman |title=Eric Harris: The Search for Justification |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/harris_search_for_justification_1.3.pdf |website=schoolshooters.info |access-date=9 November 2023 |quote=God damnit do not blame anyone else besides me and V [Vodka, i.e., Dylan] for this. Don't blame my family, they had no clue and there's nothing they could have done, they brought me up just fucking fine... don't blame the school... the admin[istration] is doing a fine job.}}</ref> In a fact check published on April 19, 2019, on the eve of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the massacre, Gillian Brockell in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' underscored that, contrary to the popular view, their attack was not revenge for being bullied.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/19/bullies-black-trench-coats-columbine-shootings-most-dangerous-myths/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421033120/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/19/bullies-black-trench-coats-columbine-shootings-most-dangerous-myths/ |archive-date=April 21, 2019 |title=Bullies and Black Trench Coats: The Columbine Shooting's Most Dangerous Myths |first=Gillian |last=Brockell |newspaper=Washington Post |date=April 19, 2019 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Author Jeff Kass who has also published a book on the attack believes that bullying wasn't the cause.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/20/columbine.myths/ |title=Debunking the myths of Columbine, 10 years later - CNN.com |website=www.cnn.com}}</ref> Peter Langman also argues against bullying being the cause of the attack.<ref name="schoolshooters.info">{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/search_for_truth_at_columbine_2.2.pdf |title=The Search for Truth at Columbine |author=Peter Langman |date=31 July 2014 |website=schoolshooters.info}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/harris_search_for_justification_1.3.pdf |author=Peter Langman |date=3 February 2016 |title=Eric Harris: The Search for Justification |website=schoolshooters.info}}</ref> Other researchers have also argued against the bullying hypothesis.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/15564886.2017.1307295 |title=Columbine Revisited: Myths and Realities About the Bullying–School Shootings Connection |year=2017 |last1=Mears |first1=Daniel P. |last2=Moon |first2=Melissa M. |last3=Thielo |first3=Angela J. |journal=Victims & Offenders |volume=12 |issue=6 |pages=939–955 |s2cid=148745392 | issn=1556-4886}}</ref>

==== Isolation ====
[[Social rejection|Rejection]] was also highlighted as a cause. Social [[cliques]] within high schools such as the Trench Coat Mafia were widely discussed. One perception formed was that Harris and Klebold were both outcasts who had been isolated from their classmates, prompting feelings of helplessness, insecurity, and depression, as well as a strong need for power and attention.<ref name="hist" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/april99/suspects21.htm |title=Gunmen Recalled as Outcasts |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1999-04-21 |access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref> Harris's last journal entry reads, "I hate you people for leaving me out of so many fun things",<ref name=HJ4399>Harris journal, April 3, 1999</ref> while Klebold wrote "The lonely man strikes with absolute rage."<ref>Klebold's day planner</ref> In an interview, Brown described them as the school's worst outcasts, "the losers of the losers".<ref>{{cite web |last=Lynch |first=Jared |url=http://bsuenglish.com/dlrOLD/past/issue1_lynch.pdf |title=Resurfacing Specters in the House of Media: The Ghosts of Columbine in American Horror Story: Murder House |publisher=Ball State University |page=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724020542/http://bsuenglish.com/dlrOLD/past/issue1_lynch.pdf |archive-date=July 24, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Larkin|2007|p=77}}</ref>

This concept too has been questioned, as both Harris and Klebold had a close circle of friends and a wider informal social group.<ref name="ten" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=David |date=2004-04-24 |title=Opinion &#124; The Columbine Killers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/opinion/the-columbine-killers.html |access-date=2022-01-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Cullen and Brockell both also say they were not in the Trench Coat Mafia and were not isolated outcasts or loners.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Cullen|2009|pp=146–147}}</ref> Other close friends of the pair such as Chad Laughlin and Nathan Dykeman state the duo were not outcasts.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.westword.com/news/forgiving-my-columbine-high-school-friend-dylan-klebold-5834485 | title=Forgiving my Columbine High School friend, Dylan Klebold }}</ref> Peter Langman also concurs by also arguing against the pair being loners and outcasts.<ref>{{cite web |first=Peter |last=Langman |title=The Search For Truth at Columbine |website=School Shooters |date=31 July 2014 |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/search_for_truth_at_columbine_2.2.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Peter |last=Langman |title=Eric Harris: The Search for Justification |website=School Shooters |date=3 February 2016 |url=https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/harris_search_for_justification_1.3.pdf}}</ref>

====Political terrorism====
Some peers, such as Robyn Anderson, stated that the pair were not interested in [[Nazism]], and they did not worship or admire Hitler in any way. However, in retrospect, Anderson also stated that there were many things the pair did not tell friends. Harris at least did revere the Nazis, often praising them in his journal.<ref name="ideo" /><ref name="Fatal" />
While some sources claim that there is a connection to Hitler's birthday (20 April 1889), the theory is dismissed by others since the date of the attack had been delayed due to a munitions problem.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/20/its-25-years-since-columbine-this-is-why-i-cant-leave-the-story-behind | title=It's 25 years since Columbine. This is why I can't leave the story behind | newspaper=The Observer | date=April 20, 2024 | last1=Cullen | first1=Dave }}</ref>

[[Sociologist]] [[Ralph Larkin]] has theorized that the massacre was to trigger a revolution of outcast students and the dispossessed: "[A]s an overtly political act in the name of oppressed students victimized by their peers. [...] The Columbine shootings redefined such acts not merely as revenge but as a means of protest of bullying, intimidation, social isolation, and public rituals of humiliation."<ref name="larkin2009">{{cite journal |last=Larkin |first=Ralph W. |year=2009 |title=The Columbine legacy: Rampage shootings as political acts |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247751861 |url-status=live |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |volume=52 |pages=1309–1326 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403013535/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247751861_The_Columbine_LegacyRampage_Shootings_as_Political_Acts |archive-date=April 3, 2017 |access-date=April 2, 2017 |number=9 |doi=10.1177/0002764209332548 |s2cid=144049077}}</ref>

In contrast with the theory that attack was political, one author argues Columbine was only increasingly linked to terrorism after the September 11 attacks.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Altheide |first=David L. |date=2009 |title=The Columbine Shootings and the Discourse of Fear |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/06cf/7864b3e22df4c08ec7f08808d4ee44f04a5b.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207141520/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/06cf/7864b3e22df4c08ec7f08808d4ee44f04a5b.pdf |archive-date=2020-02-07 |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |volume=52 |issue=10 |pages=1354–70 |doi=10.1177/0002764209332552 |s2cid=145396477}}</ref>

====Marilyn Manson====
{{Main|Marilyn Manson–Columbine High School massacre controversy}}
In the late 1990s, Marilyn Manson and his band established themselves as a household name,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/marilyn-manson-interview-i-just-think-you-have-to-be-astonishing |title=Marilyn Manson interview: 'I just think you have to be astonishing' |first=Mischa |last=Pearlman |work=Time Out |date=January 21, 2015 |access-date=April 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126040415/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/marilyn-manson-interview-i-just-think-you-have-to-be-astonishing |archive-date=January 26, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and as one of the most controversial rock acts in music history.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/02/06/marilyn-manson_n_6625118.html |title=25 Unexpected Facts About Marilyn Manson (Only One of Which Involves Mario Kart) |first=Brian |last=Gasparek |work=The Huffington Post |date=February 6, 2015 |access-date=July 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819191844/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/02/06/marilyn-manson_n_6625118.html |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Their two album releases prior to the massacre were both critical and commercial successes,<ref name="NMEalbums">{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/photos/marilyn-manson-s-albums-ranked-from-worst-to-best-do-you-agree-1403501 |title=Marilyn Manson's Albums Ranked From Worst To Best |first=Emily |last=Barker |work=NME |date=June 12, 2015 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519133654/http://www.nme.com/photos/marilyn-manson-s-albums-ranked-from-worst-to-best-do-you-agree-1403501 |archive-date=May 19, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> and by the time of their [[Rock Is Dead Tour]] in 1999, the frontman had become a [[culture war]] iconoclast and a rallying icon for alienated youth.<ref name="RSMMAG">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/marilyn-manson/biography |title=Marilyn Manson Rolling Stone Biography |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=July 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829094114/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/marilyn-manson/biography |archive-date=August 29, 2016}}</ref>

Immediately after the massacre, a significant portion of blame was directed at the band and, specifically, at its outspoken frontman.<ref>{{cite news |last=France |first=Lisa Respers |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/04/20/columbine.pop.culture/index.html |title=Columbine left its indelible mark on pop culture |publisher=CNN |date=April 20, 2009 |access-date=November 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514002848/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/04/20/columbine.pop.culture/index.html |archive-date=May 14, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1160375.stm |title=Never mind the headlines... |work=BBC News |date=February 9, 2001 |access-date=October 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415123154/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1160375.stm |archive-date=April 15, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the weeks following the shootings, media reports about Harris and Klebold portrayed them and the Trench Coat Mafia as part of a gothic [[cult]].<ref name=hist>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/topics/columbine-high-school-shootings |title=Columbine Shooting |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=history.com |access-date=April 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315062132/http://www.history.com/topics/columbine-high-school-shootings |archive-date=March 15, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/01/us/terror-littleton-shunned-for-those-who-dress-differently-increase-being-viewed.html |title=For Those Who Dress Differently, an Increase in Being Viewed as Abnormal |last=Goldberg |first=Carey |date=May 1, 1999 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=October 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027011637/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/01/us/terror-littleton-shunned-for-those-who-dress-differently-increase-being-viewed.html |archive-date=October 27, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Early media reports alleged that the shooters were fans, and were wearing the group's T-shirts during the massacre.<ref name=Salon/><ref>{{cite web |last=O'Connor |first=Christopher |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/513754/colorado-tragedy-continues-to-spark-manson-bashing/ |title=Colorado Tragedy Continues To Spark Manson Bashing |publisher=MTV |date=April 27, 1999 |access-date=May 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008181330/http://www.mtv.com/news/513754/colorado-tragedy-continues-to-spark-manson-bashing/ |archive-date=October 8, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Although these claims were later proven to be false,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/marilyn-manson-media-storm-after-columbine-really-shut-down-my-career-entirely/ |title=Marilyn Manson: Media Storm After Columbine 'Really Shut Down My Career Entirely' |website=Blabbermouth.net |date=June 24, 2015 |access-date=June 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627061551/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/marilyn-manson-media-storm-after-columbine-really-shut-down-my-career-entirely/ |archive-date=June 27, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> news outlets continued to run sensationalist stories with headlines such as "Killers Worshipped Rock Freak Manson" and "Devil-Worshipping Maniac Told Kids To Kill".<ref name="Screaming">{{cite magazine |first=Tom |last=Bryant |date=November 11, 2010 |title=Screaming For Vengeance |magazine=Kerrang! |issue=1338 |pages=40–42 |issn=0262-6624}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Steve |editor-first=Steve |editor-last=Jones |title=''Pop music and the press'' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-ViwZnnR3oC&q=Killers+worshipped+Rock+Freak&pg=PA126 |access-date=November 14, 2010 |year=2002 |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-1-56639-966-1 |pages=126–127}}</ref> Speculation in national media and among the public led many to believe that Manson's music and imagery were the shooter's sole motivation,<ref>{{cite web |last=D'Angelo |first=Joe |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1443825/20010517/marilyn_manson.jhtml |title=Colorado Governor, Congressman Support Anti-Manson Group |publisher=MTV |date=May 21, 2001 |access-date=November 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040910144235/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1443825/20010517/marilyn_manson.jhtml |archive-date=September 10, 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Screaming"/> despite reports that revealed that the two were not big fans.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/columbine-whose-fault-is-it-19990624 |title=Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? |first=Marilyn |last=Manson |author-link=Marilyn Manson |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=April 24, 1999 |access-date=June 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721192522/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/columbine-whose-fault-is-it-19990624 |archive-date=July 21, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Holland |first=Meegan |url=http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/04/separating_myth_from_fact_on.html |title=Columbine High School massacre on 10th anniversary: 5 myths surrounding deadliest school attack in U.S. history |newspaper=The Grand Rapids Press |date=April 20, 2009 |access-date=November 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415123201/http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/04/separating_myth_from_fact_on.html |archive-date=April 15, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite this, Marilyn Manson were widely criticized by religious,<ref name="Ape">{{cite magazine |last1=Kessler |first1=Ted |date=September 9, 2000 |title=Marilyn Manson Goes Ape |magazine=NME |pages=28–31 |issn=0028-6362}}</ref> political,<ref name="Reexamination">{{cite news |last=Burk |first=Greg |url=http://www.laweekly.com/news/marilyn-a-re-examination-2132874 |title=Marilyn: A Re-Examination |newspaper=LA Weekly |publisher=Village Voice Media |date=January 18, 2001 |access-date=May 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529211151/http://www.laweekly.com/news/marilyn-a-re-examination-2132874 |archive-date=May 29, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> and entertainment-industry figures.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Uhelszki |first=Jaan |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lynyrd-skynyrd-threaten-marilyn-manson-with-a-can-of-whoop-ass-19990813 |title=Lynyrd Skynyrd Threaten Marilyn Manson With a Can of Whoop Ass |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=August 13, 1999 |access-date=June 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519133714/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lynyrd-skynyrd-threaten-marilyn-manson-with-a-can-of-whoop-ass-19990813 |archive-date=May 19, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Under mounting pressure in the days after Columbine, the group postponed their last five North American tour dates out of respect for the victims and their families.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1431704/marilyn-manson-postpones-us-tour-dates.jhtml |title=Marilyn Manson Postpones U.S. Tour Dates |publisher=MTV |date=April 28, 1999 |access-date=March 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813220034/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1431704/marilyn-manson-postpones-us-tour-dates.jhtml |archive-date=August 13, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/331363.stm |title=Manson cancels rest of US tour |work=BBC News |date=April 29, 1999 |access-date=November 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415123212/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/331363.stm |archive-date=April 15, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427257/19990422/story.jhtml |title=Marilyn Manson Concert, Other Denver Events Cancelled in Wake of High School Shooting |publisher=MTV |date=April 22, 1999 |access-date=November 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011110152256/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427257/19990422/story.jhtml |archive-date=November 10, 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Manson published his response to these accusations in an [[op-ed]] piece for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', titled "Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?", in which he castigated America's gun culture, the political influence of the National Rifle Association, and the media's irresponsible coverage, which he said facilitated the placing of blame on a [[scapegoat]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/columbine-whose-fault-is-it-232759/ |title=Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? |author=Manson, Marilyn |date=June 24, 1999 |publisher=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/news/nme/1434 |title=Marilyn Manson: The Write To Be Wrong |work=NME |date=May 1, 1999 |access-date=March 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119100905/http://www.nme.com/news/nme/1434 |archive-date=January 19, 2012}}</ref>
After concluding the European and Japanese legs of their tour on August 8, the band withdrew from public view to work on their next album, 2000's ''[[Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)]]'' as an artistic rebuttal to the allegations leveled against them.<ref name=Salon/><ref name="Screaming"/><ref name=Sterngold>{{cite news |author=Sterngold, James |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/29/us/terror-in-littleton-the-culture-rock-concerts-are-cancelled.html |title=Terror in Littleton: The Culture; Rock Concerts Are Cancelled |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 29, 1999 |access-date=November 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701001244/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/29/us/terror-in-littleton-the-culture-rock-concerts-are-cancelled.html |archive-date=July 1, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>