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Boreal

(725 posts)
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 06:18 PM Aug 2014

Maryland teacher gets disappeared for writing fictional book about school shooting

And I mean disappeared because he's been taken to some unknown location, outside of the area where he lives and it's a secret.

Writing fiction, even about school shootings, even if you're a teacher, is not a crime! This is scary.


CAMBRIDGE, Md.- He's a man with many names, and the books he has written have raised the concerns of the Dorchester County Board of Education and the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office.

Early last week the school board was alerted that one of its eighth grade language arts teachers at Mace's Lane Middle School had several aliases. Police said that under those names, he wrote two fictional books about the largest school shooting in the country's history set in the future. Now, Patrick McLaw is placed on leave.

Dr. K.S. Voltaer is better known by some in Dorchester County as Patrick McLaw, or even Patrick Beale. Not only was he a teacher at Mace's Lane Middle School in Cambridge, but according to Dorchester Sheriff James Phillips, McLaw is also the author of two books: "The Insurrectionist" and its sequel, "Lillith's Heir."

Those books are what caught the attention of police and school board officials in Dorchester County. "The Insurrectionist" is about two school shootings set in the future, the largest in the country's history.

Phillips said McLaw was taken in for an emergency medical evaluation. The sheriff would not disclose where McLaw is now, but he did say that he is not on the Eastern Shore. The same day that McLaw was taken in for an evaluation, police swept Mace's Lane Middle School for bombs and guns, coming up empty.

Dorchester County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Wagner said the Dorchester County Board of Education has taken its own action.

"We have advised our community that the gentleman has been placed on administrative leave, and has been prohibited from entering any Dorchester County public school property," Wagner said.


http://www.wboc.com/story/26367051/cambridge-maces-lane-middle-school-teacher-on-administrative-leave
129 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Maryland teacher gets disappeared for writing fictional book about school shooting (Original Post) Boreal Aug 2014 OP
another article... Boreal Aug 2014 #1
Evidently the thought police have him. hobbit709 Aug 2014 #2
Very 1984. nt valerief Aug 2014 #4
Wow. Frightening. nt valerief Aug 2014 #3
That is scary! 951-Riverside Aug 2014 #5
OMG Boreal Aug 2014 #13
I checked and it says its still working its way through the courts. cstanleytech Aug 2014 #72
More here about what they did to him Boreal Aug 2014 #74
In addition to Boreal Aug 2014 #6
^^^^^^^ ReRe Aug 2014 #87
Something does seem to be fishy here marions ghost Aug 2014 #7
Pinochet's back! nt valerief Aug 2014 #8
+1 million Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #104
Given the amount of children killed in recent shootings... Lancero Aug 2014 #9
BS tea and oranges Aug 2014 #12
Right on! Disappearing people is Kafkaesque. Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #105
The books were two fantasies set 900 years into the future. pnwmom Aug 2014 #22
Wrong rpannier Aug 2014 #35
Whatever was in the writings certainly terrified them. Chemisse Aug 2014 #84
Is it possible he DID have mental-health problems, and they're protecting his privacy? ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #10
That was my first thought ... etherealtruth Aug 2014 #15
HIPPA, etc., was also my first thought. n/t ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #16
That would make sense ... there could be some horrid conspiracy,but ... etherealtruth Aug 2014 #17
Ocaam's Theorem. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #19
What theory? Boreal Aug 2014 #34
Did I say that? ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #36
That's why I'm asking Boreal Aug 2014 #42
That the man may possibly have been had a mental-health problem, when the LEO's encountered him. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #46
No, that the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Occam's Razor. n/t nomorenomore08 Aug 2014 #38
And what would the simplest explaination be? nt Boreal Aug 2014 #41
In this case, I'm not sure. Seems kind of sinister at first look, though. nomorenomore08 Aug 2014 #54
I think the simplest explanation, given the known facts, is that some concerned citizen pnwmom Aug 2014 #82
I certainly think the authorities overreacted here, to say the least. nomorenomore08 Aug 2014 #90
Yep. Simple fascism. nt valerief Aug 2014 #117
I don't see a large conspiracy Boreal Aug 2014 #96
I agree with all of that. nomorenomore08 Aug 2014 #98
The simplest explanation is that some idiot got suspicious after learning about the book, pnwmom Aug 2014 #85
That's life in a fascist police state. Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #106
HIPAA not HIPPA. But I bet you're right. Laffy Kat Aug 2014 #79
Hmmmm...possible marions ghost Aug 2014 #18
One reason it ocurred to me is something that happened here, just this week. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #20
He published his school-shooting novel -- set 900 years in the future -- three years ago. pnwmom Aug 2014 #23
Yup. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #25
True. But so what. He's had three years to become a crazed school shooter, and yet pnwmom Aug 2014 #28
That wasn't what I meant. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #30
Anyone can claim "mental health problem." joshcryer Aug 2014 #56
None of us *know* that 'they found nothing'. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #60
Well, weapons wise. joshcryer Aug 2014 #64
I agree with you. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #69
The police acknowledged that their searches yielded nothing. n/t pnwmom Aug 2014 #80
Yielded nothing criminal, yes. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #92
They probably found a young man who was scared to death by their SWAT team, pnwmom Aug 2014 #103
A plausible scenario marions ghost Aug 2014 #113
We only have 897 years to prevent it then!!!! Waterboard that mfer! elehhhhna Aug 2014 #57
Doubt it rpannier Aug 2014 #33
Whatever it is, these actions must have a writ, or Eleanors38 Aug 2014 #37
Law enforcement protecting black people? Really? nt valerief Aug 2014 #116
Where did my country go? Are we in the Twilight Zone or what? rickyhall Aug 2014 #11
They want us to blame it all on 9/11. Uh huh. blkmusclmachine Aug 2014 #14
Too many missing facts... ReRe Aug 2014 #21
They are available online. The school shooting novel, a fantasy set 900 years in the future, pnwmom Aug 2014 #24
Key word tooeyeten Aug 2014 #26
I'm wondering if this story is more about Blue_Tires Aug 2014 #43
Writers often use pseudonyms. What's so scary about that? n/t pnwmom Aug 2014 #45
Well, only because the story says "aliases" instead of "pseudonyms" Blue_Tires Aug 2014 #53
Remember how the media twists things. Someone used the word aliases quite deliberately, I bet. pnwmom Aug 2014 #59
matter Montecore Sep 2014 #125
There you go... ReRe Aug 2014 #63
Yep--and some under the pen name Richard Bachman--or as this article tblue37 Aug 2014 #83
+1 Ed Suspicious Aug 2014 #97
"who would even entertain the thought of writing a book about school shootings?" Boreal Aug 2014 #29
Oh, a few score screenwriters, a documentarian, others. Eleanors38 Aug 2014 #39
My bad... ReRe Aug 2014 #73
It's completely lawless Boreal Aug 2014 #76
Ummmmmm rpannier Aug 2014 #32
"Arsenal." What evidence of something, somewhere, somehow. Eleanors38 Aug 2014 #40
Stephen King wrote a great one Codeine Aug 2014 #66
Given the content of much fiction... malthaussen Aug 2014 #27
I think there may well be both more AND less to the story. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #31
+1 Blue_Tires Aug 2014 #44
I wasn't going to go there, but yes. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #47
Writers use pseudonyms all the time. Why would that make your eyebrows twitch? n/t pnwmom Aug 2014 #50
As I read the story, the a/k/a's weren't noms de plume. n/t ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #52
Right. That's what the accusers obviously want us to think. But the articles say pnwmom Aug 2014 #62
Pretty difficult to conclude anything else from this sentence: ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #68
I've learned enough by now to know how often articles get details wrong -- and then repeat pnwmom Aug 2014 #70
I agree with you about that. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #71
This other article says he had a legal name change 5 years ago, from Beale to McLaw. pnwmom Aug 2014 #78
I realize that's not the same as using an alias. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #94
It's one more sign of either very sloppy reporting or deliberately misleading statements pnwmom Aug 2014 #102
If it was recrimination, there will likely be a quiet settlement. joshcryer Aug 2014 #112
Kenneth Bulmer published under at least 15 pen names. Downwinder Aug 2014 #75
He teaches language arts and he's written novels under pseudonyms. Since when has that been pnwmom Aug 2014 #48
Authors use pseudonyms. I'm on my 3rd. And I know someone who had valerief Aug 2014 #118
If there's not more to it, there's a lawsuit waiting to happen. joshcryer Aug 2014 #51
Yeah, that guy ought to sue. Freedom of expression and all. Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #107
Hmm. I wonder, I wonder, -- what teachers fantacize about... immoderate Aug 2014 #49
This is going to be one hell of a lawsuit. joshcryer Aug 2014 #55
In one of the articles Boreal Aug 2014 #91
Amazon isn't giving out an anonymous pseudonym without cause. joshcryer Aug 2014 #111
"Luke, we gotta get your mind right." Hoppy Aug 2014 #58
fwiw he's a 23 year old black man elehhhhna Aug 2014 #61
That'll do it. joshcryer Aug 2014 #65
Having the police go after him was like having his worst nightmare come true. pnwmom Aug 2014 #67
I agree, especially if he was exploring experimental narratives. joshcryer Aug 2014 #88
HIs next book will be VERY interesting. Imagine. elehhhhna Aug 2014 #114
Bingo! ReRe Aug 2014 #81
I like to think I can discover personality traits from the face. joshcryer Aug 2014 #89
With the settlement he gets from his lawsuit, he'll be able to quit tblue37 Aug 2014 #77
I hope that's how it works out for him Boreal Aug 2014 #93
You are seriously dreaming marions ghost Sep 2014 #126
This is the sort of case the ACLU is often willing to take, tblue37 Sep 2014 #127
I'm skeptical marions ghost Sep 2014 #128
His books can be purchased on Amazon, if anyone is interested in tblue37 Aug 2014 #86
I have not read the entire thread. Jenoch Aug 2014 #95
writers write Boreal Aug 2014 #99
True. Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #108
Actually, he wrote the novel when he was a college student. I'm sure he had heard of a number pnwmom Aug 2014 #110
It's one of two novels about a repressive militaristic government and a tblue37 Aug 2014 #100
He was a student. A writer. He published under a psuedonym. Who though it was a good idea to Ed Suspicious Aug 2014 #101
^^^THIS^^^ valerief Aug 2014 #119
He published the book three years ago when he was a college student. pnwmom Aug 2014 #109
At least schools are equal opportunity police states. Trillo Aug 2014 #115
Update. Downwinder Aug 2014 #120
Notice how it says Boreal Aug 2014 #121
What exactly is the crime? ClarkeVII Aug 2014 #122
Thought crime nt Boreal Aug 2014 #123
look Montecore Sep 2014 #124
Okay, a different story has emerged Boreal Sep 2014 #129
 

Boreal

(725 posts)
1. another article...
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 06:26 PM
Aug 2014
“The residence of the teacher in Wicomico County was searched by personnel,” Phillips said, with no weapons found, reports WBOC.”A further check of Maryland State Police databases also proved to be negative as to any weapons registered to him. McLaw was suspended by the Dorchester County Board of Education pending an investigation and is no longer in the area. He is currently at a location known to law enforcement and does not currently have the ability to travel anywhere.


http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/08/28/police-teacher-placed-on-leave-for-authoring-fictional-book-of-the-largest-school-massacre/


WTF? Where the hell is he?
 

Boreal

(725 posts)
13. OMG
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 07:12 PM
Aug 2014

Did he ever get a judgment and payout?

I cannot say how much I hate Bloomberg. NYPD was nothing but his personal Praetorian guard and he even referred to them as his private army. He's a megalomaniac and dangerous individual, imo. Look how fast those corrupt goons turned on this guy. Anything for a paycheck. They should all be in prison, right up to Bloomberg and Kelly.

That cooking the books on violent crime is also done in London. Coincidentally, Bloomberg said he wanted NYC to be just like London. I'm sure that meant a totally controlled, Orwellian police state in service to millionaires and billionaires. Can't accurately report crime because it might scare away investment, conventions, tourists and whatnot.

cstanleytech

(26,080 posts)
72. I checked and it says its still working its way through the courts.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:46 PM
Aug 2014

If true though he should imo be awarded millions for it.

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
6. In addition to
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 06:45 PM
Aug 2014

this man being ABDUCTED for being a writer of fiction, why in the hell would he be taken out of the area? Maryland doesn't have adequate interrogation facilities? Is he at Gitmo? Is the PATRIOT Act being used against him? I want to know where he is. Damn this could happen to anyone!

Lancero

(2,979 posts)
9. Given the amount of children killed in recent shootings...
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 06:54 PM
Aug 2014

I'm not that surprised that the police and school are overreaching in response to this. Given the calls some make to do 'whatever is necessary' to prevent future shootings, it's no real suprise that a school teacher writing school shooting fantasies under a fake name got disappeared.

Hell, if this happened a week or so after a widely reported shooting then most comments here would be supporting it.

tea and oranges

(396 posts)
12. BS
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 07:06 PM
Aug 2014

Most commenters here would be against disappearing a teacher or anyone else no matter what day of the week it was, what disapearee did, & or what happened yesterday.

Most commenters here support democracy & disappearing people really doesn't have any overlap w/ democracy.

ps, I say"most" b/c trolls.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
22. The books were two fantasies set 900 years into the future.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 07:44 PM
Aug 2014

Hard to imagine that they indicated a real threat today.

rpannier

(24,304 posts)
35. Wrong
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:43 PM
Aug 2014

Majority would not have
Most people here recognize the difference between a novel and an actual threat

I find it disturbing that you seem okay that he has been 'disappeared.'

Chemisse

(30,793 posts)
84. Whatever was in the writings certainly terrified them.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:31 PM
Aug 2014

But it seems really odd - an rather creepy - to make this man vanish.

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
10. Is it possible he DID have mental-health problems, and they're protecting his privacy?
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 06:59 PM
Aug 2014

Just wondering if that might be the case....

etherealtruth

(22,165 posts)
17. That would make sense ... there could be some horrid conspiracy,but ...
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 07:28 PM
Aug 2014

... the simplest explanations are often the most likely

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
46. That the man may possibly have been had a mental-health problem, when the LEO's encountered him.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:03 PM
Aug 2014

It's not at all unheard of for officers to be asked to check out X, and find no evidence of X, yet find an individual in need of psychiatric care.

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)
54. In this case, I'm not sure. Seems kind of sinister at first look, though.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:10 PM
Aug 2014

But I think all the previous poster was saying is that a large conspiracy is less likely than something simpler.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
82. I think the simplest explanation, given the known facts, is that some concerned citizen
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:28 PM
Aug 2014

made an overwrought report to the police, who followed up by charging in, scaring the teacher half to death, and using his reaction as the reason -- along with the book -- to pull him in for a psych evaluation.

What we know:

The police acknowledge finding no guns or other weapons.

The school shooting book was written three years ago.

The "aliases" consisted of pen names he used on his two books, and a legal name change at the age of 18. (Something not uncommon in children with complicated family situations.)

He passed a background check for teachers a year ago.

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)
90. I certainly think the authorities overreacted here, to say the least.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:54 PM
Aug 2014

What makes the situation even more ridiculous is that the books were science fiction, set centuries in the future.

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
96. I don't see a large conspiracy
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:13 PM
Aug 2014

(beyond the constitution and human rights being destroyed at the federal level), I see a shift in what this country has turned into where law enforcement and the judicial system are completely corrupt and unaccountable, the mental health system colludes with them, and people can be disappeared with no recourse. I'd be willing to bet that some anti terrorist BS law provided the pretext for his abduction.

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)
98. I agree with all of that.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:15 PM
Aug 2014

You don't have to be a "conspiracy theorist" to see that things are seriously fucked up.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
85. The simplest explanation is that some idiot got suspicious after learning about the book,
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:36 PM
Aug 2014

reported him to the police, the police went charging in looking for weapons, frightened the young man half to death, and used his reaction as a pretext for taking him for a psych evaluation.

This was a 23 year old teacher who had been nominated for a best teacher award.
Who had passed a background check the year before.
Who had written a book about a school shooting while he was still a college student.
Who had written another book, online published last fall, about a militaristic government.
Who wrote his fantasy novels under pen names.
Who went to Court to get a legal name change, for personal reasons, when he was 18.
Whose apartment contained no weapons or anything else the police were expecting to find.

Who was young. And scary. And black.

That's the simplest explanation, IMHO.

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
20. One reason it ocurred to me is something that happened here, just this week.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 07:34 PM
Aug 2014

There was some sort of incident at the local McDonald's, and the news report quoted the police chief as saying he couldn't release the man involved''s name or location because he had been transported to 'a medical facility' for a mental-health evaluation.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
23. He published his school-shooting novel -- set 900 years in the future -- three years ago.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 07:55 PM
Aug 2014

They are the ones saying they investigated him because of the novel he wrote three years ago -- not because of anything he did now.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
28. True. But so what. He's had three years to become a crazed school shooter, and yet
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:33 PM
Aug 2014

the police didn't find a single questionable thing in their search.

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
30. That wasn't what I meant.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:36 PM
Aug 2014

All I meant was that when they did encounter him, he may have exhibited signs of some sort of a mental-health problem.

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
56. Anyone can claim "mental health problem."
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:15 PM
Aug 2014

And the police can, if they want, take people in for "mental health problems," if they can trump up enough evidence. In this case all they had was a book about a school massacre, used it as a pretext to search his house. They found nothing. What now?

Seems like this guy was a big advocate for getting people published online and helped one of his students get published. I have to wonder if that's what got the target on his back. Once someone found out he wrote those books they called him a psycho.

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
60. None of us *know* that 'they found nothing'.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:19 PM
Aug 2014

Or did I miss something in the article that says what they did or didn't find?

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
64. Well, weapons wise.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:29 PM
Aug 2014

You are correct that he could still fail the presumed psyche exam.

If he passes, then the cops need to explain why they got him in the first place.

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
92. Yielded nothing criminal, yes.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:03 PM
Aug 2014

That doesn't mean they didn't find a man suffering some sort of mental-health problem.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
103. They probably found a young man who was scared to death by their SWAT team,
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:59 PM
Aug 2014

and they used his reaction (or his righteous anger) as an excuse to pull him in for a psych eval.

marions ghost

(19,841 posts)
113. A plausible scenario
Sun Aug 31, 2014, 08:08 AM
Aug 2014

--will writers of fiction that deals with dangerous subjects need to have previous "clearance" to write them?

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
37. Whatever it is, these actions must have a writ, or
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:46 PM
Aug 2014

other court action; otherwise, there is a gross violation of due process. Folks, keep tabs on this.

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
21. Too many missing facts...
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 07:35 PM
Aug 2014

... were these books actually published? Who brought this to the attention of the school board? The publisher? Did he have an arsenal in his home? Did he have his class reading True Crime novels? You'll have to admit, who would even entertain the thought of writing a book about school shootings? He's probably in a mental institution somewhere going through every mental exam they've got and waiting while someone makes up some more tests for him.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
24. They are available online. The school shooting novel, a fantasy set 900 years in the future,
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:00 PM
Aug 2014

Last edited Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:31 PM - Edit history (1)

was published in 2011 -- so maybe he wrote it as a college student. The sequel, a dystopian novel about a militaristic government, was published last fall.

They searched his home and found nothing. No weapons of any kind. No arsenal.

Lots of writers I'm sure have thought about writing a book about school shootings -- every time there is one. Writers often base their novels on current events.

Stephen King wrote a book about an enraged girl who set her school on fire. No one's arrested him yet.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
43. I'm wondering if this story is more about
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:00 PM
Aug 2014

what he's been doing under those alternate identities versus some online books he'd written on a touchy subject...I'm hard-pressed to think of any legit, wholesome reason why a 23-year-old would need or want multiple identities -- If he didn't disclose them on his job application, he's as good as fired...

I know school systems are desperate (especially for male teachers of color), but I'm beginning to wonder how he even got hired...I had to go under a very extensive background check just to be a substitute teacher several years back...

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
53. Well, only because the story says "aliases" instead of "pseudonyms"
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:09 PM
Aug 2014

I may have read wrongly into it, but when I see "alias", I'm thinking he has a driver's licence/SSN/passport/etc. and presented himself in public under those names...

If all he's done is write some online sci-fi fanfic, then yes this is an overreaction...

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
59. Remember how the media twists things. Someone used the word aliases quite deliberately, I bet.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:18 PM
Aug 2014

When all he was really accused of doing was writing these dumb novels under pen names.

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
63. There you go...
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:27 PM
Aug 2014

... Stephen King. Exactly. Think of all the novels he's written and all the movies. I bet you the "militaristic government" book is the one that they zeroed in on.

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
83. Yep--and some under the pen name Richard Bachman--or as this article
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:29 PM
Aug 2014

Last edited Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:18 PM - Edit history (1)

might phrase it, the alias Richard Bachman.

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
29. "who would even entertain the thought of writing a book about school shootings?"
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:35 PM
Aug 2014

What does that mean? Writers write fiction about all sorts of ghastly stuff. Not my cuppa but some of the best selling authors write horror and crime novels. Should they be disappeared or brought in for psych evaluations?

If this were even remotely on the up and up - as in evidence implicating this man in planning or committing a crime - we would be hearing from his lawyer, not the cops or the school board. He probably doesn't even have a lawyer because he's been taken away, to some unknown place, "out of the area". There is no excuse for that. This smacks of the PATRIOT Act.

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
73. My bad...
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:08 PM
Aug 2014

... I didn't read the article linked to the OP.

We don't "disappear" people in this country. The young man needs to be freed immediately.

WTF is happening in this GD country?

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
76. It's completely lawless
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:17 PM
Aug 2014

with criminals pretending to be acting in the name of the law. At any time, anyone can end up like this guy, or shot dead, and it's all business as usual. We live in a Nazi state, now.

rpannier

(24,304 posts)
32. Ummmmmm
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:38 PM
Aug 2014

No he did NOT have an arsenal

From an earlier reply

“The residence of the teacher in Wicomico County was searched by personnel,” Phillips said, with no weapons found, reports WBOC.”A further check of Maryland State Police databases also proved to be negative as to any weapons registered to him.

malthaussen

(17,065 posts)
27. Given the content of much fiction...
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 08:19 PM
Aug 2014

... either there is more to this story than meets the eye, or someone has overreacted badly.

-- Mal

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
62. Right. That's what the accusers obviously want us to think. But the articles say
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:20 PM
Aug 2014

that he wrote the stories under his "aliases," which means they are equating using a pen name with having an alias.

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
68. Pretty difficult to conclude anything else from this sentence:
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:42 PM
Aug 2014

"...Dr. K.S. Voltaer is better known by some in Dorchester County as Patrick McLaw, or even Patrick Beale....".

Read in context, that sentence clearly refers to 'Patrick Beale being an alias, not a nom de plume.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
70. I've learned enough by now to know how often articles get details wrong -- and then repeat
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:44 PM
Aug 2014

the mistakes, like a giant game of telephone.

It will be interesting to hear the final outcome, if we ever do.

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
71. I agree with you about that.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:45 PM
Aug 2014

My observations have been strictly based on taking the article 'at face value'.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
78. This other article says he had a legal name change 5 years ago, from Beale to McLaw.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:22 PM
Aug 2014

He changed his name through the courts when he was 18. That's not the same as using an "alias."

When young adults do that, it's often because they are either dropping or adding a father's name; or for some other perfectly legitimate reason. If it was an "alias," he wouldn't have gone to court to make it official.

http://www.myeasternshoremd.com/news/dorchester_county/article_f34bc33b-0a51-5217-a3a7-62bce57ca631.html

ColesCountyDem

(6,943 posts)
94. I realize that's not the same as using an alias.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:06 PM
Aug 2014

They taught us the difference at Drake U. Law School.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
102. It's one more sign of either very sloppy reporting or deliberately misleading statements
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:42 PM
Aug 2014

by the police.

I only found the one article that mentioned he had his name changed in court, in 2009 (which would have made him 18). That puts a different perspective on all this talk of aliases.

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
112. If it was recrimination, there will likely be a quiet settlement.
Sun Aug 31, 2014, 02:38 AM
Aug 2014

Most message boards are really upset about this, and for good reason.

I want to know who reported him if that's what happened (and I'm not ruling out that there was an investigation that discovered the writings and it's being portrayed wrong, but I just don't get that feeling on this one).

Downwinder

(12,869 posts)
75. Kenneth Bulmer published under at least 15 pen names.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:13 PM
Aug 2014

Bulmer's pseudonyms include Alan Burt Akers, Frank Brandon, Rupert Clinton, Ernest Corley, Peter Green, Adam Hardy, Philip Kent, Bruno Krauss, Karl Maras, Manning Norvil, Chesman Scot, Nelson Sherwood, Richard Silver, H. Philip Stratford and Tully Zetford.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
48. He teaches language arts and he's written novels under pseudonyms. Since when has that been
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:04 PM
Aug 2014

highly suspicious?

valerief

(53,235 posts)
118. Authors use pseudonyms. I'm on my 3rd. And I know someone who had
Sun Aug 31, 2014, 10:11 AM
Aug 2014

his named changed for personal reasons. He wanted his father's name, because he wanted his father to accept him.

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
51. If there's not more to it, there's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:07 PM
Aug 2014

If they really did arrest this guy just because they found out he wrote these books, I will be quite upset.

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
55. This is going to be one hell of a lawsuit.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:13 PM
Aug 2014

I want to know who ratted him out. What a shifty group of cronyists. Someone had to have ratted him out, said he was acting suspicious, and that compelled the police to get him a psyche eval.

At least his books get noticed I suppose.

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
91. In one of the articles
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:59 PM
Aug 2014

it said it was a prosecutor's office. Did someone just stumble upon his book on FB or Amazon and decide he needed to be targeted?

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
111. Amazon isn't giving out an anonymous pseudonym without cause.
Sun Aug 31, 2014, 02:26 AM
Aug 2014

Amazon has strict terms of service and privacy policy.

It's unclear whether the book was discovered after suspicious activity or not. If he was acting weird, then, OK, perhaps it could've come up during an investigation. But if it is as it sounds, that the book was what was part of the investigation which prompted the psyche eval, then I think someone had to have found out about it, found it repulsive, and decided it merited a call to police.

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
65. That'll do it.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:33 PM
Aug 2014

Get questioned over some stupid crap that isn't even on your mind (you probably chose the subject matter because it's close to your job environment and you can easily take cues from the environment). Get defensive because of other events you've been hearing about people being questioned by unruly officers. Pow, psyche eval.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
67. Having the police go after him was like having his worst nightmare come true.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 09:41 PM
Aug 2014

He probably did become very upset -- as anyone would -- and they used that as an excuse.

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
88. I agree, especially if he was exploring experimental narratives.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:41 PM
Aug 2014

And he did worry about the implications if those narratives were keyed to him, as a teacher, which is why he chose a pseudonym (which is perfectly fine, there is no rule about pseudonym usage).

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
81. Bingo!
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:27 PM
Aug 2014

That's what jumps out at me. He's a young black man. When I seen his face in that article (after I read the thing, sorry to everyone for not doing that in the first place). When nothing else makes sense, then I see his face. Someone needs to sic Lawrence O'Donnell on this.

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
89. I like to think I can discover personality traits from the face.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:45 PM
Aug 2014

And this guy looks highly intelligent, articulate, and generally a good person. I think you could get him upset if you got in his face and accused him of something he knew, deep down, he didn't do. That's the messed up thing about law enforcement. They say if you're too calm about an incident, it means you're guilty, and if you're upset about a false accusation, it means you're guilty.

Basically guilty until proven innocent is really the name of the game.

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
77. With the settlement he gets from his lawsuit, he'll be able to quit
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:21 PM
Aug 2014

his day job and devote himself to writing full time.

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
93. I hope that's how it works out for him
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:03 PM
Aug 2014

and that he is actually set free and not permanently traumatized.

marions ghost

(19,841 posts)
126. You are seriously dreaming
Mon Sep 1, 2014, 09:06 AM
Sep 2014

--most slanted hand-picked juries are not on the side of intellectual freedom. They don't do nuance. It will be painted as a possible threat to the school children. "Just doin our job --a little too well..." if he has been detained without evidence (which it looks like but we don't know) --this will be the defense. Never mind the constitution. At best, he'd just get an apology. You're also assuming he can afford to sue.

In theory the laws may be there, in application it may not matter what they say.

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
127. This is the sort of case the ACLU is often willing to take,
Mon Sep 1, 2014, 01:01 PM
Sep 2014

and if it were just a matter of the cops checking him out, I would probably agree, but the part about snatching him into the mental health system the way the Soviets used to do, combined with the recent raising of awareness because of Ferguson, would make his chances of winning much greater, as long as he has even a halfway competent attorney.

marions ghost

(19,841 posts)
128. I'm skeptical
Mon Sep 1, 2014, 11:54 PM
Sep 2014

I don't see that kind of justice very often in the typical case like this. He would have to get an awful lot of backing behind him and the best of attorneys. In this kind of case they can easily stack the jury with people who don't really understand the intellectual freedom arguments whatsoever.

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
86. His books can be purchased on Amazon, if anyone is interested in
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:38 PM
Aug 2014

seeing what constitutes punishable thought crime in a supposedly free society.

 

Jenoch

(7,720 posts)
95. I have not read the entire thread.
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:07 PM
Aug 2014

I also don't know much about this story (does anyone?). The thought I have is why a school teacher thought it was a good idea to write a novel about a school shooting.

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
99. writers write
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:24 PM
Aug 2014

all sorts of stories that you might not think are a good idea. People are also informed by their interests and environment. As a writer and a teacher, a novel about a school shooting sounds like something he got ideas about from RL events and may have been more on his mind than someone who is not a teacher. Would you be suspicious of a cop who writes murder mysteries?

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
110. Actually, he wrote the novel when he was a college student. I'm sure he had heard of a number
Sun Aug 31, 2014, 01:37 AM
Aug 2014

of school shootings by the time he was in college.

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
100. It's one of two novels about a repressive militaristic government and a
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:24 PM
Aug 2014

sinister shadowy group the government is trying to destroy.

I have not read the books, but the school shooting, as described in the first book's blurb, sounds integral to the dystopian plot.

Tom Clancy might need to seek asylum somewhere, condidering the subjects of some of his novels.

Ed Suspicious

(8,879 posts)
101. He was a student. A writer. He published under a psuedonym. Who though it was a good idea to
Sat Aug 30, 2014, 11:25 PM
Aug 2014

bring Minority Report to life?

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
109. He published the book three years ago when he was a college student.
Sun Aug 31, 2014, 01:36 AM
Aug 2014

He probably got the idea from various school shootings that occurred when he was in high school.

Stephen King wrote a book about a girl who, in a rage, set her school on fire. No one arrested him, but he wasn't young and black.

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
121. Notice how it says
Sun Aug 31, 2014, 08:06 PM
Aug 2014

nothing new about him or his whereabouts. Just reinforcing the security/keeping us safe meme.

ClarkeVII

(89 posts)
122. What exactly is the crime?
Sun Aug 31, 2014, 10:11 PM
Aug 2014

What is the reason for him being detained? And what part of Ferguson is this?

 

Boreal

(725 posts)
129. Okay, a different story has emerged
Tue Sep 2, 2014, 07:15 PM
Sep 2014

and it makes more (though not complete) sense.

Snip is from page 2 of the article linked:

UPDATE (September 2, 2:51 p.m.): According to The Los Angeles Times, a law enforcement official is saying that McLaw drew the attention of authorities not because of his books, but because of a "a four-page letter to officials in Dorchester County." The report goes on to say, "Those concerns brought together authorities from multiple jurisdictions, including health authorities."

The story goes on to state, "McLaw's letter was of primary concern to healthcare officials, Maciarello says. It, combined with complaints of alleged harassment and an alleged possible crime from various jurisdictions led to his suspension. Maciarello cautions that these allegations are still being investigated; authorities, he says, "proceeded with great restraint."

I'm glad local authorities are releasing more information about McLaw, but these are the same authorities who last week told the press that McLaw was removed from his job because he wrote novels about a school shooting under a pseudonym (see, for instance, this CBS story: "Police: Md. Teacher Placed on Leave for Authoring Fictional Book of the ‘Largest School Massacre&quot . I've been trying to get the sheriff of Dorchester County on the phone, to no avail. It would be useful at this point for the authorities to get their story straight.

UPDATE II (September 2, 5:37 p.m.)

I just got off the phone with Matthew A. Maciarello, the state's attorney for Wicomico County, Md., where McLaw lives -- he taught in Dorchester County, which responded to his various troubles by sending K-9 units through the schools in search of bombs and guns. Maciarello told me that the issues here have less to do with McLaw's books and the overall state of his mental health. When I asked him if Dorchester authorities led the press -- and public -- to believe that McLaw was being removed from his job because of the books he had written, Maciarello said, "We have a different way in Wicomico County. I can't speak for Dorchester." (The Dorchester sheriff has not returned my phone calls seeking comment.)

"From our perspective, this was more about a health concern about Mr. McLaw than about a security issue," Maciarello said. Authorities grew concerned about McLaw after he sent a "four-page letter" to a school administrator over the summer. According to Maciarello, the letter contained no threats against schools or school personnel, but that it indicated that McLaw was not mentally sound. "Health care professionals were concerned, he was in a relationship that had just come to an end, he was talking about his mother as being overbearing, there was some thought that he could be a threat to himself." Based on the "totality of the circumstances," Maciarello said, McLaw was involuntarily committed for evaluation. Among those circumstances: Authorities said that McLaw had built a model of a school building in his home, and had asked an administrator to move classrooms, to one near the "point of ingress and egress" of the school.

Yes, I too was underwhelmed by that response. I asked Maciarello if the novels McLaw had self-published had been a factor in county decision-making: "The books are a factor," he said. "You cannot consider the total picture without knowing that he had this book, this other writing. This was very concerning to the administrators. It's 2014 -- you can't have a person who has mental issues, someone who's complaining about his mother, complaining about teachers -- it's all taken into totality. It was a very restrained response, actually. We didn't freak-out because of the books. The main impetus was the four-page letter. It was just out there, you know, it wasn't something you give to your employer. To quote our health officer, it was a cry for help." One other thing: "He had some Columbine material at his house."

I asked for specifics. He said the "Columbine material" consisted of a report on the infamous Colorado school shooting. It could have been meant for research for his novels, I suggested.

"Absolutely, that could be true. We played all the angles on that. You can't just dismiss every little thing in a situation like this, in 2014." He went on to say, "If someone wrote a novel about school shootings it wouldn't concern me. I person is allowed to follow their pursuits. I love fiction. I love expression. But some citizens did react to this, there were citizen complaints based on the book, but this wasn't an overreaction. If you add this to the model of a school that he was building -- is this a tortured artist, or is this someone obsessed about schools? But I don't know how this story got out there that he was placed on leave because of these books. The main concern here is therapeutic, that he gets the help he needs."

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/in-cambridge-md-a-soviet-style-punishment-for-a-novelist/379431/

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