He was not God. They were not deities. If the evidence holds up against 41-year-old John Allen Muhammad, aka John Allen Williams, and his 17-year-old companion, John Lee Malvo, the two jailed sniper suspects are, as suggested in this space two weeks ago, twisted punks living in a self-induced fantasy of being powerful.
Today, they are suspected of offenses so reprehensible that they will have earned, if found guilty, a place in the ranks of David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, Albert DeSalvo and Jeffrey Dahmer -- serial killers enshrined in infamy for their devaluation and wasting of all human life. The Muslim community, it has been reported, is worried because John Allen Williams converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad. They fear a backlash against their religion similar to what followed Sept. 11, 2001. Some African Americans also are said to be cringing because Muhammad and Malvo are black. Both groups should shake it off. Muhammad and Malvo, if guilty, belong to a separate moral universe of evildoers. They would be no more representative of a religion or race than white serial killers are of their own race.
There are, however, people who should be held up for praise. To Montgomery County Police Chief Charles A. Moose -- the public face of the investigation -- I say well done. Besides having to handle hordes of media and endure second-guessing from faceless law enforcement sources, Moose also had a few high, hard ones thrown at his head by some members of the press. The hurlers of bean balls came off looking worse.
And how about a nod to the feds, who threw in hundreds of agents, technicians and forensic experts but still gave the play to local authorities in area jurisdictions where the shootings took place? Time was, that kind of cooperation wouldn't have happened. The locals would have been shoved to the sidelines while the FBI hogged both the mikes and the promising leads. While we're in the bouquet-tossing business, let's not overlook those TV talking heads, and the much-quoted criminologists and forensic psychologists who profiled the shooter as a young, lone white guy from the suburbs. Y'all please stand up and take a bow. (Just pulling your chain.)
Now let me acknowledge the obvious: I have no idea what inner drives prompted Muhammad and his homey to go on their killing rampage. I tend to favor what someone called "old-fashioned human wickedness." Undoubtedly, this pedestrian view of human behavior is at variance with those held by practitioners of the softer sciences. To them I say, you need not bother to call or write. Allow me to give voice to your thoughts. I imagine they go something like this: Muhammad and Malvo spent the past three weeks allegedly shooting unsuspecting, innocent people because they have weak behavioral inhibition systems.
Did I get it right? Am I close? No? Well, how about they did it because: Neither had a pet he loved as a child; they weren't properly socialized as children; their self-esteem was low; they missed out on early-childhood education; and Daddy wasn't at home and Mommy lacked parenting skills.
And, of course, let's not forget the Big One: They became fearless sociopaths, well-formed toward violence, because they were victims of poverty, ignorance and unkind treatment by people who don't look like them.
Did I miss anything?
Frankly, and here's where I get in trouble with the clergy at St. Columba's church, I have come to believe that in this brief and transitory life, there are some people who are just no damn good. But whether Muhammad and Malvo were bad seeds or products of bad times is really not what matters most today. The quintessential fact, above all else, is that their suspected foray into death and destruction has laid ruin to the lives of scores of people who had done them no wrong.
The 10 murder victims and the three critically wounded people are the most obvious, but only the beginning. In their apparent murderous wake, Muhammad and Malvo leave new widows and widowers, children suddenly without mothers or fathers, devastated parents and throngs of brokenhearted friends. The two men blanketed a region in fear, a fear palpable in schoolrooms, boardrooms and bedrooms.
It takes a special kind to hide out, aim and shoot a semiautomatic battle rifle at a 13-year-old kid dropped off at school, a bus driver getting ready to start work, an old man crossing the street, a woman just sitting on a bench, a man mowing a lawn, a woman vacuuming her vehicle, men pumping gas, women shopping -- defenseless people minding their own business.
To a special kind, a special kind of justice is owed.
e-mail:kingc@washpost.com
