Did Timothy McVeigh Knew about Columbine?

If so, did he make any specific comments regarding Eric or Dylan? About how they wanted to rival him?

Everyone in America on April 20, 1999, knew about Columbine. Timothy McVeigh was in America.

He was in prison at the time, so he might not have known, and he probably didn't care. Columbine wasn't an attack on the US government, a form of government overreach or an infringement on the rights of US citizens, so it wasn't really up his alley.

I'm not sure he ever addressed the shooting publicly but its no doubt he was aware.

I also think it happening one day after the Waco/OKC anniversary would catch his attention to address the above post.

AlteRoad wrote:

He was in prison at the time, so he might not have known, and he probably didn't care. Columbine wasn't an attack on the US government, a form of government overreach or an infringement on the rights of US citizens, so it wasn't really up his alley.

Virtually all prisons in America have televisions for inmates. The inmates talk to each other. McVeigh might not have known that E & D referenced the OKC bombing, but chances are excellent that McVeigh heard of the Columbine shooting. I doubt McVeigh personally had a big emotional stake in it though.

gumshoe wrote:

AlteRoad wrote:

He was in prison at the time, so he might not have known, and he probably didn't care. Columbine wasn't an attack on the US government, a form of government overreach or an infringement on the rights of US citizens, so it wasn't really up his alley.

Virtually all prisons in America have televisions for inmates.  The inmates talk to each other.  McVeigh might not have known that E & D referenced the OKC bombing, but chances are excellent that McVeigh heard of the Columbine shooting.  I doubt McVeigh personally had a big emotional stake in it though.

If he had known that they were trying to outdo him I wonder what he would've thought about it.

QuestionMark wrote:

gumshoe wrote:

AlteRoad wrote:

He was in prison at the time, so he might not have known, and he probably didn't care. Columbine wasn't an attack on the US government, a form of government overreach or an infringement on the rights of US citizens, so it wasn't really up his alley.

Virtually all prisons in America have televisions for inmates.  The inmates talk to each other.  McVeigh might not have known that E & D referenced the OKC bombing, but chances are excellent that McVeigh heard of the Columbine shooting.  I doubt McVeigh personally had a big emotional stake in it though.

If he had known that they were trying to outdo him I wonder what he would've thought about it.

If Timothy McVeigh knew that E & D were trying to top McVeigh, I think that McVeigh was mature enough not to give a damn about the fact that E & D were trying to get a greater kill count than McVeigh got.  McVeigh was not as immature as E & D.  Wanting to kill more people for fun and for fame than other mass killers did is kiddie stuff.  I don't think that McVeigh would have thought much of the fact that E & D wanted to top McVeigh.

McVeigh did know about Columbine. From everything I have come to know of Tim, I just highly doubt he would have cared much about E&D trying to emulate his attack either way. It just wasn't on his spectrum of interest.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

McVeigh did know about Columbine. From everything I have come to know of Tim, I just highly doubt he would have cared much about E&D trying to emulate his attack either way. It just wasn't on his spectrum of interest.

I think too, the motivations for each of their attacks were so different. It probably wouldn’t even have registered with Tim.

If E&D's plan to make the cafeteria collapse and kill around 200 people worked, McVeigh would have probably admired them, but the failed bombing and 'low score' shooting spree would have made him think of them as amatures.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

McVeigh did know about Columbine. From everything I have come to know of Tim, I just highly doubt he would have cared much about E&D trying to emulate his attack either way. It just wasn't on his spectrum of interest.

Well I wonder if he would've regarded his attack as a failure in terms of spreading a message, since the only people going out to emulate him didn't share his motives and were only looking to outdo his kill count.