The 15-year-old girl who carried out a deadly school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin on Monday photographed herself wearing the same t-shirt as one of the infamous Columbine High School gunmen.
Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow killed a teacher and fellow student at the Abundant Life Christian School before taking her own life. Several other students were injured in the shooting.
As her identity became known, photos of her started spreading online. In one of them, she was seen wearing a shirt featuring the German industrial band KMFDM.
The industrial band's music is a mix of electronic, metal and punk. The name KMFDM is an abbreviation for "Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid," which roughly translates to "No pity for the majority."
The band said it came up with the name by cutting out random words out of a German newspaper and then picking them out of a hat. They simplified the name to the first letter of each word.
Columbine killer Eric Harris had been photographed wearing one of the band's shirts before the 1999 mass killing in Colorado. Harris and his fellow gunman, Dylan Klebold, were reportedly fans of the band, which has been around since 1984.
Harris praised KMFDM in his writings before the massacre.
The band's album Adios was released the same day as the Combine shooting.
Harris wrote "how f------ appropriate" in his journal.
The band has been linked to school shootings since then despite founders Sascha Konietzko and Udo Sturm speaking out against violence.
"Violence only leads to violence. That's clear," Konietzko said in a 2022 interview. "We have to be intelligent about what has been given to us, human life."
An alleged manifesto by Rupnow has been circulating online, although its authenticity has yet to be verified.
"We are aware of the document, but we have not confirmed its validity," Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the press on Monday.
In a Tuesday morning TV interview, he said they are still trying to put a timeline together of Rupnow's final hours before the school shooting.
Columbine on left, today on right. Same shirts. KMFDM is a band. Acronym stands for “Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid”, roughly translating to “no pity for the majority” pic.twitter.com/78pkL4zYHJ
— Justin 🇺🇲 (@ORpatriot17) December 17, 2024
Originally published on International Business Times.
