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The Accused

By  Todd Gitlin
July 24, 2012

[caption id="" align="alignleft” width="335"] (via New York Daily News)[/caption]

He’s dazed. His brow furrows. His blinks are slow in coming. At times his head rolls around. His eyes are vacant. He doesn’t focus—doesn’t appear to, anyway, though at times he seems to be trying to.

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[caption id="" align="alignleft” width="335"] (via New York Daily News)[/caption]

He’s dazed. His brow furrows. His blinks are slow in coming. At times his head rolls around. His eyes are vacant. He doesn’t focus—doesn’t appear to, anyway, though at times he seems to be trying to. James E. Holmes appears in court. He looks lost. “Ordinary” is one word for him. “Unprepossessing” is another. In some moments he seems unfathomably sad. What does he know? What does he think? Does he have any idea where he is, and why?

What does an alleged mass murderer look like? This one looks like this. Nothing extraordinary shows.

There is evil in the story, but none of it is visible. Take away the guns from James E. Holmes and he’s another suffering soul. You could say just another suffering soul.

Take away his guns.

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Take away his guns.

Todd Gitlin
Todd Gitlin was an author and a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University.
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