Allen Lee from Cary, Illinois was about to become a Marine after signing enlistment papers this month. But the Marines are concerned Mr. Lee might just be too violent for the Marine Corp - the few, the proud, etc.
Mr. Lee wrote a violent, profanity-laced English essay that drew attention from the school and school district, resulting in pending criminal charges. Lee's recruiter told him Friday that the Marine Corps has discharged him from his contract, said Sgt. Luis R. Agostini, spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Station Chicago.
“Basically, he is no longer an applicant to become a Marine,” Agostini said. "You see, he's really violent. The Marine Corp prides itself on its non-violent stance."
Mr. Lee, a senior at the Chicago suburban school, Cary-Grove High School, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct after the principal turned his creative writing essay over to police.
“In light of recent events (at Virginia Tech), that is part of the context of what happened that makes the reaction all the more reasonable,” said Tom Carroll, first assistant state’s attorney in McHenry County. "This is just a simple matter of creativity gone wild. We need to get back to classic violence - Shakespeare, Hemingway, and Sylvia Plath."
The charges are a product of paranoia, born of the massacre of 32 students at Virginia Tech by a social outcast who then killed himself, said Mr. Lee's lawyer, Thomas Loizzo.
“Once the dust settles, once they look at this through clearer glasses, we think that the state will do the right thing and dismiss the charges,” Loizzo said.
The essay, written Monday, reads in part, “Blood, sex and booze. Drugs, drugs, drugs are fun. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, s...t...a...b...puke. So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did.”
Mr. Lee wrote a violent, profanity-laced English essay that drew attention from the school and school district, resulting in pending criminal charges. Lee's recruiter told him Friday that the Marine Corps has discharged him from his contract, said Sgt. Luis R. Agostini, spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Station Chicago.
“Basically, he is no longer an applicant to become a Marine,” Agostini said. "You see, he's really violent. The Marine Corp prides itself on its non-violent stance."
Mr. Lee, a senior at the Chicago suburban school, Cary-Grove High School, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct after the principal turned his creative writing essay over to police.
“In light of recent events (at Virginia Tech), that is part of the context of what happened that makes the reaction all the more reasonable,” said Tom Carroll, first assistant state’s attorney in McHenry County. "This is just a simple matter of creativity gone wild. We need to get back to classic violence - Shakespeare, Hemingway, and Sylvia Plath."
The charges are a product of paranoia, born of the massacre of 32 students at Virginia Tech by a social outcast who then killed himself, said Mr. Lee's lawyer, Thomas Loizzo.
“Once the dust settles, once they look at this through clearer glasses, we think that the state will do the right thing and dismiss the charges,” Loizzo said.
The essay, written Monday, reads in part, “Blood, sex and booze. Drugs, drugs, drugs are fun. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, s...t...a...b...puke. So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did.”
"Look," said Mr. Lee. "It says I didn't have sex with dead bodies. So, shouldn't I get an award or something? And it's written in iambic pentameter!"
"Be creative; there will be no judgment and no censorship,” Thomas Loizzo said. “There was never any warning from the teacher that if she determined the paper to be offensive, she would then pass it along to the authorities. My God, what has high school education come to if a young man cannot express his darkest thoughts without fear of great repercussions? How will our kids write grammatically correct suicide notes? When I have won this case, I'm going to spearhead a full investigation into what's going on in our grade schools."
School district spokesman Jeff Puma declined to discuss the specifics of the essay or Lee’s future, citing privacy concerns and fear of legal action against him. “The essay was inappropriate in that it caused a question about safety,” Puma said. "This is not without precedent. Last year a student wrote an essay about automobile accidents, and we took the appropriate action of suspending her driver's license."
Lee wrote in a statement provided by his attorney that he has completed military entrance exams, including a psychiatric evaluation.
“If I’m qualified to defend the country, I believe I’m qualified to attend school,” he wrote. "Or maybe it's, if I'm old enough to vote, I'm old enough to write about sexual intercourse with dead bodies. No, wait! It's: if I'm qualified to write a gross essay, I'm qualified to pile up nude bodies at Gitmo. Yea, that's it."
School district spokesman Jeff Puma declined to discuss the specifics of the essay or Lee’s future, citing privacy concerns and fear of legal action against him. “The essay was inappropriate in that it caused a question about safety,” Puma said. "This is not without precedent. Last year a student wrote an essay about automobile accidents, and we took the appropriate action of suspending her driver's license."
Lee wrote in a statement provided by his attorney that he has completed military entrance exams, including a psychiatric evaluation.
“If I’m qualified to defend the country, I believe I’m qualified to attend school,” he wrote. "Or maybe it's, if I'm old enough to vote, I'm old enough to write about sexual intercourse with dead bodies. No, wait! It's: if I'm qualified to write a gross essay, I'm qualified to pile up nude bodies at Gitmo. Yea, that's it."
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1 comment:
this is brilliant!
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