The Case of Holmes and Page.

The two recent mass shootings in Denver and Milwaukie have prompted Obama to state that some ‘soul searching’ is needed. Indeed there is, but I think any such process needs to recognise that, on the evidence reported so far, the two incidents are very different in one important respect: motivation.

Wade Michael Page apparently had an easily recognisable reason for what he did. We’re told that he was a white supremacist, and we all know what white supremacism is about and where it comes from. Sick though it may be, at least there’s something relatively simple to understand and ideologically concrete to work on.

James Holmes, on the other hand, had no such transparent motive. The reason he did what he did lies somewhere deep inside him, and those investigating the case must do all they can, however long it takes, to find out what it was and how it got there.

I’m implacably opposed to capital punishment. I think it compounds the wrong and serves no purpose except to give vent to the desire for revenge. Nevertheless, I can understand it up to a point in the case of Page. I suppose it can be said that he’s simply a bad man with a bad attitude.

In the case of Holmes, however, I think the State of Colorado will stand indicted of failing the American people and the need to understand the extremes of human behaviour if it merely executes him. Holmes is not a common criminal. Common criminals kill for all sorts of reasons, but they don’t do what Holmes did. If the cause is not identified, how on earth do you set about the business of prevention?