MISC exclusive: Thoughts of James Holmes' former college roommates (srs)

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

I went to the same school as James Holmes, and although I didn't know him, I knew two of his roomates. I guess they were being bombarded with questions about the guy, so they wrote out their thoughts on FB, and I'm here to bring you the exclusive, hot off their keyboards:

Thoughts about a friend named James Holmes
Wednesday, 25 July 2012 at 10:02 ·
Disclaimer: I'm not here to justify the actions of the Aurora shooting. Nothing can warrent such a ridiculous act. Instead, I'm going to give you some background on a side that not even the media has covered. After a few days of digesting this, I decided to write my thoughts about it all and kinda describe what I've been thinking.

For those of you who haven't already known, James (or Jim) was one of my 3 apartment-mates in my second year at UCR. Originally I was assigned to live with James, ---- (both lived with each other freshmen year) and someone named ----, who transfered out before the fall, in the newly constructed Glen Mor apartments . During winter quarter, ----- moved into the apartment. After the year was over, ---- moved out with his friend, ---- and I lived in ---, and James lived on his own until he graduated. We have seen James randomly throughout campus and lost contact with him after 2010, especially since his ******** was deactived (not that he used it that often anyway).

I had not heard anything about him until Friday morning, when a friend posted about the suspect. I saw the picture without looking at the name and said holy ****, that's James...I was in disbelief. It took me almost the entire day to really pull myself together...a man who's responsible for 12 deaths and 50+ injuries was my apartment-mate. My co-workers thought I was lying at first...but seriously how do you make this stuff up? I read all these comments and articles about how much of a monster James is...and I'm mixed with emotions...none of you know him. Everyone's disrespectful and ****...sure he did a huge crime, but he wasn't always like this.

James was an introverted guy, no doubt about that. A smart and witty guy who prefered to be doing his own things. He was not a loner; a loner implies that he struggled to make friends and socialize. Instead, he was self-sufficient and independant. He lived his own life, had his own schedule and did it; nothing wrong with that. He would always be in his room with the door open, either doing homework, playing video games, or lying on his bed and stare at the ceiling. When you see him walk by or ride his bike, you can see that he's in his own zone. The guy loved his solitude, but if you took the effort to get his attention you'd get it. As roommates, we would have to drag him out of his room to work out with us, or watch tv or eat. Nevertheless, he was warm and friendly. He liked listening to trance, he watches comedies such as the office, family guy, simpsons. He even came out a few times to play games with me and -----. He was never good at them, and he played 1/5th of what I used to play. He would always drive me to get groceries or to drive me to metrolink or even san diego when he was going home. The only thing I discovered was that he didn't like going home and he especially didn't get along with his little sister because she was bratty, but even then he would never show resentment or hate. This guy is more normal than some people I know right now. If you asked any of my roommates, they would tell you the same thing.

So what happened to this guy? I don't know...something definitely happened to him from the time we graduated to the shooting. He apparently went to Colorado to get his PHD but he ended up dropping out. I felt no danger living and interacting with him. Hell, a few of my SD friends even stayed over and met him during the SD wildfires. The thing that we can take from all this is that this could happen to anyone. It's unfortunate that a friend I got to know and bond with is involved with the shooting. It stings...because a vision of someone has been shattered by a crime. I feel bad that I didn't check up on him after college. I suggest that everyone should check up on their introverted friends and get to know them better. You'll learn a side that no one knows (remember, they're misunderstood, not crazy). Maybe you'll help them deal with something that they've been struggling with...because I feel like this could have been avoided if the proper steps were taken.

Hopefully this gives some perspective on the other side of James; my intentions aren't to change your mind about the crime, but give you some background on an area that isn't covered. The media does a fantastic job of making him look like a monster...but there's always two sides of the story. I do thank the people who has been checking up on me. Prayers go out to all the victims and their families, and even James's family.

I hope we can all move forward and learn from this instead of playing the blame game.

Thoughts on the Aurora, CO Shooting
Wednesday, 25 July 2012 at 21:33 ·
Since hearing about the news on Friday and posting the link on my ******** wall explaining my connection with the shooter, many people have asked me questions about him and who he was. I have only had enough time/energy to talk about it with close friends and family, so I decided that I would post this on my wall to hopefully lay the questions to rest. To be honest, I don't really want to talk about him anymore. I feel like he has been talked about too much already, and the only reason I want to say anything about him is to dispel the laughable way in which he has been portrayed in the media, and to pose my thoughts about what I think we can do moving forward.

James was my roommate along with 2 other UC Riverside students. I moved in later in the academic year, so I only lived with him for roughly 6-7 months before we all moved out to other apartments. He was not very social and talked very little. However, he maintained a somewhat social life and had others he would hang out with to have drinks, play video games, watch TV shows etc. -- as is common for most college students. He never talked about hating other people, and he was never violent or threatening. Aside from being a little socially withdrawn, he seemed pretty normal.

What bothers me the most about this whole incident is the media's portrayal of James’s personality. The constant focus in news articles on him being some exceptionally smart killer is not only inaccurate; it's downright insulting to the victims of this tragedy. Sure he had book smarts and did well in school, but let’s be clear: buying weapons and shooting up a movie theater full of innocent people is not intelligent. In fact, it's probably the most unintelligent thing anyone could ever do. Yet our media is intent on branding him some brilliant, brooding anti-hero.

If our media were smart, they would stop plastering his smirking face on every newspaper and web page across America. As just one example of this woeful activity, I recently saw a news segment on TV that showed a transparent picture of James face, hauntingly floating over crying and devastated survivors and their loved ones. The media is sending a very clear message, even if it's one they did not intend.

The truth is, this killing spree was not the masterwork of some nefarious prodigy; it was the twisted swan song of a shattered mind.

I can't put all the blame on our news outlets however, as they are simply working to feed our voyeuristic love affair with celebrities and criminals alike. I too am guilty of clicking through several websites trying to get as much info as I can on what happened; it's almost impossible to resist. But I feel like we don't stop to consider the anxiety of "knowing", and the effect it can have on us as a society.

I wanted to go and see The Dark Knight Rises the night before I heard about the shootings. Since then I have struggled with giving into my "irrational” fear, and finally decided to go see the movie with some friends a few days ago. About an hour into the film, someone who was either completely clueless or thought they were funny opened the left exit door of the theater we were in, but then went back to their seat, leaving the door cracked open. People started chattering and pointing, and a bunch of people began leaving the theater. Once I realized what was going on, my heart started to beat out of my chest, and I had an almost irresistible urge to leave the theater myself -- I was terrified. Even though theater staff came through and checked the place out and closed the door, the anxiety of knowing what happened that night in Colorado made the situation almost too much to bear. I have always understood the goals of terrorism intellectually, but that night I understood them viscerally.

I am not saying that James’s goal was terrorism, but I simply want to point out the effect of knowing the details of unthinkable acts. I just think it might behoove our news media to stop pilfering the emotions and stories of victims and criminals alike. And likewise it is incumbent upon us to stop feeling like we deserve such unrestricted access to the pain and suffering of victims, and the scheme’s and plots of criminals. These things, whether or not you think they are just, have consequences with which we must deal.

Recently a lot of people have been pushing the death penalty for James. I don’t blame people for being angry, for wanting some sort of justice for what he has done. But I can’t help but feel like that’s not the answer. Killing someone who has clearly stopped caring about death seems almost meaningless. I worry that we will eliminate him and then simply wash our hand of this matter, figuring society is now better off. But I don’t think this is the time for more killing, I think this is a time for serious reflection, a time where we can learn something about ourselves and our relationship to others.

I don’t know if James could have been helped, but I don’t think we can worry about that anymore. We have to instead worry about those we can help right now. We must refuse to fall into a nihilistic trap about this incident, proclaiming that there will always be some “crazy” with a gun that no one saw coming. Or to hang our guilt on the musicians, politicians, and institutions we happen to think are responsible. This incident is about us. We are responsible. The finger of blame is pointed squarely at everyone one of us who has not taken the time to talk to those who need it most. Who did not have the time to say a few simple words that could have meant the world to someone who has always felt like they did not matter.

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

I thought you guys would want to read it

[DKPSU]

He sounds like everyone on the misc.

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

i was sort of disappointed i don't give a fuk how the roommates feel i want the juicy info on James Holmes, nomsayin?

[Traps89]

notsureifsrs lol @ her acting like he isn't a monster

he would have always been like that but just hid his darker side from prying eyes

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

notsureifsrs lol @ her acting like he isn't a monster

he would have always been like that but just hid his darker side from prying eyes

they're all guys but I understand what you mean... the weirdest thing I saw was that he would lay down and stare at the ceiling... who does that and who has time to do that when you're a college student?

I think it's weird his ******** was deactivated but not the adultfriendfinder profile that makes him look like a pervert tho

[TheAdlerian]

Interesting.

It's no big deal, but I've always seen a "loner" as a person who does not need people, not a person who would like to be with people but can't. Serial killers and so on obviously are tired of people and don't respond to them so they're alone in their own universe. Staring that the ceiling for hours on end would likely be an indicator of being part of another private reality.

[probotic]

Interesting.

It's no big deal, but I've always seen a "loner" as a person who does not need people, not a person who would like to be with people but can't. Serial killers and so on obviously are tired of people and don't respond to them so they're alone in their own universe. Staring that the ceiling for hours on end would likely be an indicator of being part of another private reality.

yep, sounds like a loner to me.
people who want to be social but arent accepted are outcasts or something, this guy genuinely wanted to be on his own, thats a loner

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

Interesting.

It's no big deal, but I've always seen a "loner" as a person who does not need people, not a person who would like to be with people but can't. Serial killers and so on obviously are tired of people and don't respond to them so they're alone in their own universe. Staring that the ceiling for hours on end would likely be an indicator of being part of another private reality.

yep, sounds like a loner to me.
people who want to be social but arent accepted are outcasts or something, this guy genuinely wanted to be on his own, thats a loner

Well you've also gotta think that just because they were roommates, it doesn't mean that they were bffs. I know I wasn't great friends with the guys I was assigned to live with at the dorms. One of James Holmes' real friends from college said to the news that James had girlfriends and they went out to and had drinks, and that their group of friends just had just met up and gone to see the Mission Impossible movie not long ago.

But then again both of his roommates did call him an introvert. I don't know the 4th roommate but his profile is private.

[WastedLife]

how could a trance fan do such a thing?

i wonder what kind of trance he was listening too =(

[Teh-Gr8-Ze-brah]

how could a trance fan do such a thing?

i wonder what kind of trance he was listening too =(

this, fuk trance.
Dubstep all the way. trolololol


The second guy obviously had a different opinion.
Actually felt like there was no personal connection between the two of them,
aka was a useless piece.

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

this, fuk trance.
Dubstep all the way. trolololol


The second guy obviously had a different opinion.
Actually felt like there was no personal connection between the two of them,
aka was a useless piece.

Yeah. I knew the 2nd guy that year (I didn't actually know the 1st guy, but I was able to see the note bc his ******** was public) and I remember saying he didn't hang out with his roommates because he thought they were weird.

[DizzySmalls]

Social isolation does some strange things to the human brain

[The_Albatross]

like I said, forever alone loser, couldn't hack it in the real world, took his anger and self loathing out on others instead of blaming himself.

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

Social isolation does some strange things to the human brain

If this type of thing genuinely interests you, and you're in the natural sciences, I suggest you take classes that have to do with animal behavior. I took too- "animal behavior" and "hormones and behavior." The purpose of these subjects is not only to understand animal behavior, but extrapolate from those observations to understand human behavior better. Here's the main part of one of the more interesting studies I remember from one of the classes. It was a study looking at the effects of overcrowding on social behavior:

So what exactly happened in Universe 25? Past day 315, population growth slowed. More than six hundred mice now lived in Universe 25, constantly rubbing shoulders on their way up and down the stairwells to eat, drink, and sleep. Mice found themselves born into a world that was more crowded every day, and there were far more mice than meaningful social roles. With more and more peers to defend against, males found it difficult and stressful to defend their territory, so they abandoned the activity. Normal social discourse within the mouse community broke down, and with it the ability of mice to form social bonds. The failures and dropouts congregated in large groups in the middle of the enclosure, their listless withdrawal occasionally interrupted by spasms and waves of pointless violence. The victims of these random attacks became attackers. Left on their own in nests subject to invasion, nursing females attacked their own young. Procreation slumped, infant abandonment and mortality soared. Lone females retreated to isolated nesting boxes on penthouse levels. Other males, a group Calhoun termed “the beautiful ones,” never sought sex and never fought—they just ate, slept, and groomed, wrapped in narcissistic introspection. Elsewhere, cannibalism, pansexualism, and violence became endemic. Mouse society had collapsed.

On day 560, a little more than eighteen months into the experiment, the population peaked at 2,200 mice and its growth ceased. A few mice survived past weaning until day six hundred, after which there were few pregnancies and no surviving young. As the population had ceased to regenerate itself, its path to extinction was clear. There would be no recovery, not even after numbers had dwindled back to those of the heady early days of the Universe. The mice had lost the capacity to rebuild their numbers—many of the mice that could still conceive, such as the “beautiful ones” and their secluded singleton female counterparts, had lost the social ability to do so. In a way, the creatures had ceased to be mice long before their death—a “first death,” as Calhoun put it, ruining their spirit and their society as thoroughly as the later “second death” of the physical body.

There are tons of studies that for example, look at isolation and how it causes mice to become violent towards others and stuff like that. Of course, intro sociology courses will teach you about experiments like the Stanford Prison Experiment (was crazy), and there's this other one I don't remember the name but basically it was to find out how people reacted to someone is power telling them to do something wrong. In the experiment, the subjects were told to give another person electrical shocks when they got an answer wrong, and the shocks increased in power, and the experimenter kept telling the subject to shock the person even though the person was begging them to stop. Some people refused to keep going, but most people kept shocking the other person until they died (didn't really die, the other person was in on the experiment and was faking).

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

Found it, it was called the Milgram experiment:

The Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures was a series of notable social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. Milgram first described his research in 1963 in an article published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, and later discussed his findings in greater depth in his 1974 book, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View.
The experiments began in July 1961, three months after the start of the trial of German Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. Milgram devised his psychological study to answer the question: "Was it that Eichmann and his accomplices in the Holocaust had mutual intent, in at least with regard to the goals of the Holocaust?" In other words, "Was there a mutual sense of morality among those involved?" Milgram's testing suggested that it could have been that the millions of accomplices were merely following orders, despite violating their deepest moral beliefs. The experiments have been repeated many times, with consistent results within societies, but different percentages across the globe. The experiments were also controversial, and considered by some scientists to be unethical, physically or psychologically abusive, motivating more thorough review boards or committee reviews for working with human subjects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

[rmartinez13]

This is interesting, how did your conversations with this guy go, and what kinds of things was he interested in?

[SquallFF8]

Read the first one, will read 2nd another time. Insightful stuff that the media won't ever touch.

[JackTheRipperr]

Interdasting read OP. To quote from Silence of the Lambs "Oh, he's a monster. Pure psychopath. So rare to capture one alive. " We should use this to see what is causing people to do this, look into how society is creating these people.

[SyKoFaT]

From someone who has been following the story since 20 minutes after the police call this right here is awesome.

Reps bro..

Very interesting.. Also good that the media hasn't beating this to death also.


Seems like abc news is the worse about spreading false facts ... I.e.. Spitting at the gaurds enough to wear a face mask

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

This is interesting, how did your conversations with this guy go, and what kinds of things was he interested in?

read the OP brah, I didn't know him, just one of his roommates (2nd guy. 1st guy had ******** set to public)

Read the first one, will read 2nd another time. Insightful stuff that the media won't ever touch.

2nd one's not as good. I saw him a lot that year when they were roommates and he told me he didn't hang out w/ his roommates bc they were weird. He just talks about how the media sucks bc it gives false "facts" in their attempt to give us up-to-the-minute info.

Interdasting read OP. To quote from Silence of the Lambs "Oh, he's a monster. Pure psychopath. So rare to capture one alive. " We should use this to see what is causing people to do this, look into how society is creating these people.

I doubt we will learn a lot about him as the case has been closed to the public, so all of the facts will be kept under wraps until we're given an official story

From someone who has been following the story since 20 minutes after the police call this right here is awesome.

Reps bro..

Very interesting.. Also good that the media hasn't beating this to death also.


Seems like abc news is the worse about spreading false facts ... I.e.. Spitting at the gaurds enough to wear a face mask

did you know that they found all of his gear kinda next to his car right by the exit, yet the gas mask was found all the way the fuk on the other end of the theater? And I'm sure you've heard about the other guy (w/ the red backpack) they chased but lost him on foot.

[TheBenjoShow]

Interesting, thank you for posting. I love the power of the Misc.

[DarkskinBrah]

In for later reading. should be interesting...

[KlaMidEuh]

thanks for sharing OP, i hope this is legit and not some sort of fiction story you created lol....repped


starting reps: 45

[ClaptonDeCheeks]

thanks for sharing OP, i hope this is legit and not some sort of fiction story you created lol....repped


starting reps: 45

now: 47. feelsgoodman and no man I swear. I would've taken screen captures but I don't wanna expose their names, which is why I took them out of the notes too.

edit: saw you have the clap. my condolences. hope your dink doesn't fall off.

[GermanBB]

Social isolation does some strange things to the human brain

very much this.

they're all guys but I understand what you mean... the weirdest thing I saw was that he would lay down and stare at the ceiling... who does that and who has time to do that when you're a college student?

lost in thought.. the ceiling may be in the visual field but their awareness is mostly internal..... just lost in thought

[KlaMidEuh]

now: 47. feelsgoodman and no man I swear. I would've taken screen captures but I don't wanna expose their names, which is why I took them out of the notes too.

edit: saw you have the clap. my condolences. hope your dink doesn't fall off.

what do KlaMidEuh and a cheating boyfriend have in common?

















































my girlfriend has both and doesn't know about it yet.

[Grug]

"Social Isolation"? "loner"? Where are you guys getting this from. Both pieces pretty clearly state that he appears to be a pretty normal introverted person. That's something quite different.

Bizarre to think that something could flip a switch so completely in your mind - to take you from a regular person to a psychopath.

[GermanBB]

"Social Isolation"? "loner"? Where are you guys getting this from. Both pieces pretty clearly state that he appears to be a pretty normal introverted person. That's something quite different.

Bizarre to think that something could flip a switch so completely in your mind - to take you from a regular person to a psychopath.

didn't he move off to colorado for the phd? by himself?..

[Dazza3600]

"Social Isolation"? "loner"? Where are you guys getting this from. Both pieces pretty clearly state that he appears to be a pretty normal introverted person. That's something quite different.

Bizarre to think that something could flip a switch so completely in your mind - to take you from a regular person to a psychopath.

this

plenty of people prefer to be alone, it doesn't mean they will go on a killing rampage

however I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he had long term problems rather than a "switch" that changed him