I know Eric Hainstock we were going out kinda becuase we neva accutaly went out but still, my dad owns a bar in cazanovia named Jezmos, Eric's dad played horesshoes for my dads horseshoe team and i miss Eric dearly so i am 13 years old and i will try my best to support him because i love him so much. If you could tell him tessa says she loves him and tell him im still here and i love him and i will miss him and ask him if he could call but you may not be able to talk to him or send him n e thing.=( Well then if you cant do that then i will not b able 2 talk or write him cuz my mom wont let me cuz of what just happened but please tell him i love him if you could. Tell him i will support him cuz he tried to fight back and he did but im not happy that he did what he did but hey i still love him.
from tessa

....or maybe the kid was just f***** in the head and was too weak to deal with the harsh reality of life, which caused him to snap.

Millions of kids go through the same thing this loser did, but not all of them kill teachers.

You're a fuc**** idiot for even posting this.

I was very touched by the Eric Hainstock story. He was being harrassed at school being called a Faggot and even physically touched. He went to his principle for help. His principle did NOTHING to help him, but instead suspended him for smoking cigarettes! I'm not saying it was right for him to kill, I'm just saying that the system is so unfair...the teachers he went to see pleading for help are never going to be held accountable for their actions, or INactions rather, where as poor, YES poor Eric Hainstock will be sitting in prison for LIFE.

Eric Hainstock is a great person I'v Known him practicaly my hole life and I'v never known him to even thing about killing anyone we always spent weekends together and I even helped him with his homework we were just best friends we were inseperable and when I hurd what he had done it just crushed me! I know he never had the right to kill anyone and I wish all of this would have happend differently but thats life (i guess) This Sucks!!!!!!!!!!

omg. who ever thinks eric hainstock should be free, well SCREW U. eric KILLED my principal. ok, killed, get it? how would u like it if someone KILLED someone u luved? no one should feel sorry for that person. he is only using 'name calling' as an excuse. he brought everything on himself. HE called ppl names, and picked on them. my bro was in his class. how could this happen? weston is the best school there can be. look at our sports. We got volleyball conference champs 2 years in a row, and this year we got 2nd. And, our football got 2nd this year, too. I cannot believe this happened. i luved mr. klang. he was the best. i connot believe some of u ppl r saying " Free Eric Hainstock". U r sooooo immature.
GET A LIFE

Wow "foreverchanged" are you on any sports teams? Doing well in school? I'm not saying exactly that Eric should be completely freed...he SHOULD and WILL pay a big price for what he did. Just try to put yourself in his shoes for 1 minute though...imagine yourself at school every day just trying to get through the day and being called a "Faggot" by all the jocks and being used as their punching bag. How would you feel "foreverchanged"? As much as you hate Eric Hainstock, don't you sympathise with him at all? He couldn't concentrate on his education like you could because he was being bullied around and he went to these adults at your school for help! What would you do seriously if it seemed that nobody cared about you and nobody wanted to help you put an end to being bullied around? And don't tell me that he's making up this name calling. At every school in North America there's always the guy that all the kids pick on because he's different, and Eric Hainstock WAS that boy in your school, don't you read the papers? It's true, your principle didn't deserve to die, but Eric Hainstock DID have the right to attend school without being called Faggot or worse, and the system (your principle and some teachers) turned their backs on him.

omg james u r so right i was one of erics close friends and i saw him every monday and he is a very good person and was teased a LOT i hate the ppl who did this 2 him but im not happy wit the ways he delt wit it but im proud he took a stand and he is someone who has changed my life 4ever and im so sorry hes gone to prison 4 life but i dont think he should b there 4 life i think mayb 20-30 years tops he was a good friend and person i will miss him dearly and so will a few more people but he did wat he could he took a stand becuz ppl were bing fucking assholes and no one was there to help him he is truely a good person remember that who eva is telling us that he diserves wat he gets but i do beleive he should be punished but not that bad thnx for reading this whoeva is reading this!!!!!

Hi there Alone4Ever, Yes I have to agree with you, I don't think he should go to jail for life. For one thing he's just a child, and also there's special circumstances like the fact that he was bullied and teased, that he had a hard time at home, that he had a medical condition that went untreated, that he put faith in the authority at his school to help him with this. I just think that he's not the only one responsable for his actions and like you said, he should go to jail for a long time for murdering someone, but not for life. I also think that the police should look into things a little deeper, like for instance if he did go to see other teachers about this problem and if they find out that they did in fact do nothing to help him, then they too should be held responsable for not doing their jobs and failing to protect the children. And this Gym teacher that has gone to the media saying that it was Eric who was the bully, well he really disgusts me. Here we've already read in the media and even on this site some of his friends who have seen with their own eyes that he was picked on alot, and this gym teacher STILL doesn't want to hear that Eric was being bullied! It sounds to me like he's trying to protect some of his star athletes who were actually Eric's tormentors.
If anyone out there still loves Eric then I think he could use our support. Why don't we write him just to let him know that there's still people out there who care for him, even complete strangers like myself. I'm sure he could use the cheering up. Thanks, James

I wonder if the gym teacher was aware of the human bite marks on this boys stomach and if he would be at all concerned about that? Probably not.

Check out this site that has a lot of information about Eric's case.
http://justiceforjuveniles.org/

Please visit http://www.justiceforjuveniles.org and help us, help Eric. He will be tried and convicted as an adult. He will be housed with adult prisoners. He will be another warehoused child only to endure isolation, rape, abuse and neglect.

Society is to blame for what happened to this child. We as American citizens can not let this child be thrown to the wolves. We need to ban together to save Eric; the boy society has turned their back on. It is not to late.

Visit our forum. Go into Erics topics and meet all the wonderful, dedicated people from throughout the country and United Nations who want to help the child forgotten.

Cari Barichello/ Administrator
http://www.justiceforjuveniles.org

reading about eric's life is heartbreaking,no child should ever have to suffer the abuse this boy suffered.Why did no one help him?How many people knew about his abuse and did nothing?Why did a judge hand him back to his abuser?Why didn't anyone in the school notify child services,that is the schools responsbility if they suspect abuse or know of abusue you report it.But then again this school allowed this boy to be bullied and did nothing.Why is bullying tolerated in this school or any other school?What right does any child have to call another child names?This boy had no outlet,no where to go to be safe,not home, not school.What happend to the principle is a tragedy,But it was a preventable tragedy.Trying this boy as an adult sending him to adult prison,is not closure for the community nor is it closure for the victim's family,it is vengence and nothing more.This boy needed help he got none.I will do all I can to make sure he is not thrown away,treated like trash,like he obviously has been his whole life.freedom for eric..Thank you so much for doing this for eric.

Eric Hainstock deserves to rot in the prison cell the jurors send him to. I too have seen the terrors of the system as have millions like me and we do just fine. This boy smoked and had a history of violence and "joked" to his friends about wanting to kill the school principal. Anyone who feels that this boy is a poor soul, doesn't understand that a person who feels they "must" resort to violence to express themselves is a danger to society. Mr. Hainstock was caught smoking the day before. Rising against the school is trivial in this instance. The system sucks, boo-hoo, shooting a principal doesn't change that. The fact that this boy was willing to resort to violence to "fight the violence" means that he deserves to be locked away.

Well Darwin, I'm not sure whether or not you are aware that this site is for supporters of Eric Hainstock. None of us think it was right for to kill; we just think that he should be charged as a minor and not as an adult. He is a 15 year old boy after all, last time I checked that's still a minor.
I'm sorry that you feel like he should "rot in prison" even after reading all these posts i.e. some of his friends wrote in to say how much of a sweet person he is and that he was picked on alot. He is just a child who didn't have all the resources we all had, and that should be taken into consideration. You have a right to your own opinion though. Respect.

Too bad Eric's father was let off the hook on felony child abuse charges or he would have rotted in prison before he had a chance to destroy his own son. But the system didn't work the way it was supposed to and now a school principal is dead and an abused teenager is going to be charged as an adult.

For anyone who wants more info on Eric Hainstock there are two more websites available:
http://www.kidsincourt.net and http://www.whoopassforjustice.org.

Ok i havent been in contact with eric since second grade.... i was one of his best friends in two years of headstart then agian in second grade. bakc then he was picked on terribly and got into fights because he was so fed up with it...and this was in SECOND grade. his dad abused him terribly... his dad even threatned to kill me if i didnt merry him...while in second grade. that shows u how fucked up his father was. yes wut eric did was wrong but his dad needs to be punished ..in my opinion worse then eric.. our school called the cops and social services on his dad..the saem ppl that said his dad was a better parent then is mother...BULLSHIT...he fucked him up so bad...tormenteted him for years..and all the idiodic kids at school who picked on him daily...its amazing he lasted this long. and yes he snapped but i can just imagine wut his dad said or did to him wen he got in trouble with tobaccoo and shit at school. I HATE HIM SO MUCH but i dont hate eric..i could never hate eric... some ppl say "its impossible to hate someone if u know their story" well i know a small part of the story and my heart goes out to eric...and even though wut he did was horrible ( he should have got his dad) i dont htink he deserves life in prison...he wouldnt last...he needs therapy and someone to love him ....i just wish i could have stayed in his life...but thats his dads doing... and if anyone finds his mailing adress plz email it to me at froggygirl3233 [at] hotmail.com or if i find it i will repost and let u know..... and plz KEEP ERIC IN OUR THOUGHTS
Written by Jen strubel

ok unless u knew him u have no idea wut he was goin through ..hell osme of his " closest friends" didnt even know so go on some bash eric website this isnt for uand everyone else who thinks we are all wrong in the way we think and feel... FUCK U. yes hes gunna be punished but doesnt deserve life..im thinking 25 tops and manditory therapy...but very few ppl knew wut he went through befor all the storys in the papers came out. and u cant believe them cuz they said he was the instagator and he was never picked on or anything thats bullshit.

First of all, I would like to say that the first message posted by Youth Liberation Front is one of the greatest pieces of escrete I have ever read in my life. Complete trash that is helpful in no way what-so ever.

Secondly, I would like to thank everybody, especially Jen Strubel for their USEFUL comments. We need to bring light into this case to help others who might face this in the future, rather then saying, "Yay! Free Eric because anarchy is wonderful!"

The life sentence seems crule. To be imprisoned for life is as bad as death. Life sentence, no. Freedom? I have to say no on that as well. Anybody who grows up with that kind of thing in their lives becomes just as dangerous, if not worse as the previous person. With that father of his, he would need serious, SERIOUS therepy. It would take years, possibly decades to reveres the damage inflicted in his fifteen year lifespan. I would like to believe theres hope for this young man. I would like to think there's hope for everybody. But, the deed's been done and recompense still has to be paid. No matter what the situation, he still did wrong, and there has to be a price.

Whatever the outcome, I think our energy should be focused on preventing this sad and far too familiar story from occuring again. I know that's easier said then done, but it would be a worth while endevour. And while were at it, we need to get people who will do their jobs right. From the Coach, to the Principal, to the Police who simply don't care enough. Once again, easier said the done.

I'm sorry about this predicament, but if it inspires change in all the systems, then not all of it's a waste. I wish I could say more, but not being closly related to the situations presented here, I can only draw conclusions from these comments.

No one needs a gun to inspire change.

i couldn't find it on dictionary.com or wiktionary.com

I'll have to agree with you there. The intro to this page is way too extreme and is most likely more a turn-off to people visiting this forum. I've switched over to justiceforjuveniles.org but am still checking this page frequently. It probably gets more hits because when you're going through search results, "Free Eric Hainstock!" definitely jumps out at you. I'm sure that nobody here thinks it's cool that Eric murdered somebody, besides whoever started this who doesn't answer emails and seems to have abandoned this site.

Excrete (The correct spelling) means to emit, ooze or leak. Discharged waste matter. Crap, basicly. Sorry about the misspell there. I was never quite savy with that particular subject.

R.I.P. Mr. Klang Weston shooting
Even though id never met u, i know he were a great person...to give up his life to save those of ur fellow staff and students....i just wish eric would have had someone to talk to...sure he had me until 2nd grade when his dad tore him away.... then it all went down hill...running away ,anger ,violence...NOW THIS....i wish i could have been there to stick up for him when people were picking on him like when we were younger...sure everyone hates him now...but if u just knew him b3 that....ur heart might give a little for him....don’t get me wrong what he did is UNEXSCUSIBLE and no one should ever be pushed that far....so next time ur calling someone a fag or spreading rumors... i hope u think of this exsprience...or next time one of ur friends picks on someone that u stand up for that person...even if u don’t like them....BE KIND... u never know wut that person is going through at home...and in there head how they plan to deal or deal with that stuff...if someone would have just been nice... stuck up for him, ate lunch with him... maybe he wouldn’t have gone so far....so plz just think about it net time before u pick on someone or spread a rumor.....just remember what can happen and then we can all learn something from this horrible exspirience


My heart and soul goes out to EVERYONE ,students everywhere...those who knew Eric And Mr. Klang.....
written by jen strubel. sept 29th. 10:48 pm

Well i know eric had a pre-trial hearing on friday the 13th and he was ordered back oct 24th...but i cant seem to find anyinfo on how its goin..if i do i will most likely post it but plz let me know if anyone finds any updates.. TYVM

What so many people fail to understand is this, Eric by every other factor of society is a child and the only reason to try him as an adult is to have a slam dunk conviction and a prosecutors win. Kids are the easiest people to convict because first they are the most emotional and reactive in a crisis, so he was not even aware of the conseqences of his act. As a child he could stay in custody as an accused person for as long as 3 years before he has his so-called fair trial (what a joke that is). As a child he will naturally grow while waiting for a chance to prove himself innocent, because by law he is supposed to be considered innocent until PROVEN guilty and again that is not being done with our kids in this society. The idea that people believe he should be sent away for life is cruel and inhumane treatment of a child because I can tell you right up front he will NOT be helped , he will be abused until he has to fight back again except he has a better chance of death while defending himself in prison. This type of treatment of our kids is going on all over the United States and it is an embarrassment. So, if you are under the age of 18 or you have a child or family member under the age of 18 you can rest assured that they will recieve the same shabby treatment as this child if they are accused of a felony or even if they were with friends whan a felony is committed.

Get on the bandwagon to treat him and every kid as a kid by fixing what is wrong with the juvenile system because believe me a life without parole sentence is the slowest and most cruel type of aggrevating death behind those cold prison walls and NO KID deserves to have that thrown on them because a kid with no hope is the most mentally abused person in our broken system. Check out our sites to change the laws to protect every kid and it just might help save someone that you love.................Bill King

Congrats to you Jen. You are the only young person I've seen since Sept. 29th who has learned the ultimate lesson; that bullying cannot be tolerated in our public schools or anywhere else for that matter.
I understand that Eric's parents are partly to blame for what happened, but remember that he took 2 guns to school on that fateful day, not to his fathers bedroom. What was troubling him was his situation at school.
A victim of bullying myself, the times that other kids stepped in to defend me (or adults for that matter) were few and far between. I cannot begin to stress the importance of sticking up for victims of bullying, but at the same time it's important not to put your own life in danger. If you see someone being called names or beaten up, talk to your teachers. Talk to your parents. And make sure that something is done about it. All kids deserve the right to concentrate on their education without having to worry about how they are going to avoid getting beaten up by Billy Bob after school.
Kudos to you Jen, and to all others who are able to get something positive out of this heartbreaking story.

Original poster here. I only recently checked this article again, and saw all the comments. The posts of people who were Eric's friends truly touched me, made me care for him and you on a far more personal level. I still haven't found his mailing address, so I have no way to communicate with him either.

A quick response to those inevitable pissed-off idiots: yes, "millions of people" have been oppressed by the system, Eric was one of the few people who lashed out. I support him. You don't. Big surprise, you shit-licking lapdogs.

Also somewhat inevitably, the whole thread seems to have been hijacked by fucking liberal reformists. "Too extreme" Complaining about how he's going to be tried as an adult, teasing within schools, blah blah blah. Has it ever occured to you that the entire school and justice systems are fucking oppressive in and of themselves? That there might be more to learn from this story than "bullying is bad, snitch on bullies?" You're sympathetic to Eric, but you don't support what he did. Such a half-assed typically leftist position. Anyways, I'm not here to convince you of anything, only to challenge your ideologies, raise disturbing questions, and perhaps inspire some people to live their lives passionately and well.

A little more food for thought: the only reason I'm not instigating everyone to gun down their principals is that it doesn't work TACTICALLY, and there are far better ways to attack the system (sabotage, anyone?). Morally, I have no objection to someone killing their oppresser. I don't think that Eric should be jailed AT ALL. When I wrote "Free Eric Hainstock," I meant it; I know that it will never happen unless a prison riot or jailbreak or industrial collapse happens, but I believe that he (and all other living beings) should be free. Justice is the cold gauntleted hand of a judge striking down those who direct their gunfire up the hierarchy, while supporting those who massacre and oppress those beneath them. There is no justice, it is just us. Who is anyone to decide what he "deserves," and force him to do that? Better that you act from your own heart, without invoking any morality, viagra for those too cowardly to act otherwise. Every action has it's consequences to be sure. But even a bunch of vendettas and blood feuds is better than the vengeance of the state, though not much better. We need to abolish the fucking system--civilization--that breeds heinous atrocities such as mandatory education, wage slavery, abusive personal relationships, courts of "justice," police, and all other institutions of domination.

Free Eric Hainstock! Long Live Anarchy! DESTROY the System, don't waste your time trying to reform it.

Hey everyone there is a better site that has actually helped other kids in erics situation and there are over 22 pages just on eric. if u would like to check it out go to http://justiceforjuveniles.org/ and on the left side of the page go under module to forums and go to eric hainstock. theres people telling their stories about eric and others that have ben through the system ENJOY

First off, Sorry Jen. If I made an incorrect comment on someone like the principal, I appoligize. The point of my letter was mearly perpose an idea, not to speed rumors. Sorry once again.

Now for you, YLF. What the heck is the matter with you?!? "Long Live Anarchy"!?!? Are you insane?! A society cannot exist if everyone is doing what ever they want! If such an oportunity opened, we would blow each other to bits! If we had been living in total anarchy through out history, I doubt we could even be having this disscusion. (Take that last bit the way you like, it has many meanings.) Unbelivable! You think that having "ultimate freedom" is the way to a glorious future? Let me tell you something, anarchy does not give freedom, it takes it a way. People would start killing each other off, because everyone is concerned with what-ever desire he or she has in mind. If anyone got in the way of that the desire, all they would have to do is kill him and continue what their doing. By killing a person, they have taken away their right to live, which is a freedom everyone should have.
Also once you desolove government, everything else desolves. Economics, education, science, education, ect. It would send the human race into a dark age. Once again I ask, how can you support such a thoughtless and STUPID ideal? So there may be some gray stuff involved and there may be some who'd want to live in peace, but there wouldn't be enough. The odds are that they would be the fist ones to be shot in an anarchy.

Eric's Principal had a right to live. The ideal you support would force us to become animals, and I think that everyone, even YOU, are better then that.

Role that around in your mind.

For those who are still concerned about the fate of Eric Hainstock please do not hesitate to sign this important petition:

http://www.petitionsdirect.com/showpetition.php?id=justiceforjuveniles.org

well i dont attend weston and i didnt know eric h. and i didnt no mr klang either. from what i heard your principle was a great man and a very kind one, and from other things i have heard that eric was also a great friend but had a troubled life. and so if it is true that eric went to mr klang wanted help with bullies and nothing was done than he became upset with mr klang, that makes sense. but not enough to kill i no. so if he was bullied by fellow students and if he was abused by his father , then his life was pretty shitty. and i can only compare to the bullying not the abuse and i bet that more than 75% of you posting comments can not compare to his life in any way. i think that trying him as adult is bullsh*t because he isnt even close to 18 isnt he only like 15 im not sure. but still. that is no reason to try his as an adult. the only reason it seems to be like this is because i think favorites are being taken toward mr klang because he was liked more than eric. and sure i might have no reason posting this cuz i go to reedsburg but h*ll this is all messed up sh*t. so tell me if im wrong but i think matters need to be checked and all things need to be found. so did mr klang refuse to help eric or not? they need to find this sh*t out.

Well fellow reedsburg student i go to reedsburg to but i did know eric and yes he had a f**ked up life. and to ur last questiong i heard the principal and other teachers told him to ignore it or use his words to make it stop. they had no intrest in even hearing him out or helping him. and i see that in some of the classes at teh highschool. but some of the teachers are taking steps to stop harrasment and roughhousing between the guys in class. because i know of a very nice guy that his " friends" are always picking on him and hitting him and using him but hes too shy or wutever to stick up for himself. but i see that u agree with us that he should be tried as a minor and it would be much appreciated if you would sign our petition you can find it at http://www.petitionsdirect.com/showpetition.php?id=justiceforjuveniles.org and ty for ur post
i am goin to try to put a pic of eric up on this site.

I have posted the site for the petition on my myspace and in a myspace shool forum thing. i have also emialed it to everyone on all my emailing lists. and if its not too much to ask woudl everyone plz send this to everyone you have internet contact with. it would help out alot. and remember keep eric in your thoughts

It appears that Eric's rage was probably directed toward his abusive father and his absentee mother, but was unleashed on the high school principal. It is misplaced anger and rage. He completely snapped over something as trivial as tabacco and a minor suspension. Compared to the abuse and abandonment he endured for a lifetime by his parents, this was nothing, but it was the straw that broke the camels back. Most likely his father should have been the victim. Sadly, Mr. Klang and Eric are the victims. I should think the bullies (jocks) should be feeling the appropriate amount of guilt for their unacceptable behaviour and bad character in the attempted destruction of their classmate. But probably not. I would hope that the school officials would be feeling the approprite amount of guilt for acting like ninnys and instructing this boy to "use the appropriate words" to defend himself for infractions that were way beyond that sort of solution. I would hope the judge, police and courts are feeling the appropriate amount of guilt for allowing the menace, Mr. Hainstock, to continue abusing and torturing his own son and to keep firearms in his home. I would hope Eric's so called mother would be feeling the appropriate amount of guilt for abandoning her son. She should be feeling the most guilt of all. I know, I am a mom. But, Eric has been handed all of the blame and is supposed to be an adult now and able to handle all of it. Yes, our society is screwed up.

i agree yes sum rage was taken out on mr klang but still. i hate stuck up jocks wit a passion i mean they think they are better then the rest so they make others lives a living hell! i hate that f*ck all jocks they the ones at weston need to realize some blame can be put on them..

I agree on some levels, but A) that doesn't justify shooting anybody B) who knows the true extent of the bullying, they said much of the similar things about the Columbine High School massacre, turns out most of the implied bullying and stratification of Harris and Klebold was just media fabrication C) in a sense guilt should be felt by society in general for making so violence to Americans as 42 is to geeks. Mostly its the media's dreary fault, in my opinion.

I don't believe the media fabricated any of the bullying of the shooters at Columbine. In fact, they probably down played it.

The jocks were defended by their coach and gym teacher.and why? What they were doing to this boy is indefensible. But Jocks have been bullying kids for many years. Even when I was in high school 30 years ago, jocks thought they were better than everyone else. Who ever defended Eric???

A lot of comments here about sending Eric away for L/WO/P. I know a lot of kids now in that situtation. All of you speak tough! Let me be the first to tell you ,you aint!
Someone else here called you Lap dogs> Thats a fair description. You can sound so tough now talkin about a kid that cant fight back. So to use the language that is bein used her all over Where the fuck were any of you when yo could have made a differance. You could have reported the abuse You could have stood next to him an supported him when he desperately need help from some one.
Already in this cas a judge has screwed up monumentally. That placed on the top of you people who knew an did nothin is what should also be on trial here not eric
An if you want to cll me a liberal scum , all I can say is comon over. I'll let you try to take away My Purple Heart,BSM,Combat medics Badge an the arcom with V.
Its easy for jerks like you to just jump on a bandwagon and spew lies that you hear that in many cases are not true. I also would like to see how you react If I walked up to you every day an slapped you across your foul mouth. Followed you around all day callin YOU a Faggott,Punchin YOUin the back of the head. All of that done by real brave punks that chose to hide in a crowd.
The ones who should be on trial here are all the ones like you! Not Eric
You people up there live in a dream world. Go back to sleep! JIM >

A lot of comments here about sending Eric away for L/WO/P. I know a lot of kids now in that situtation. All of you speak tough! Let me be the first to tell you ,you aint!
Someone else here called you Lap dogs> Thats a fair description. You can sound so tough now talkin about a kid that cant fight back. So to use the language that is bein used her all over Where the fuck were any of you when yo could have made a differance. You could have reported the abuse You could have stood next to him an supported him when he desperately need help from some one.
Already in this cas a judge has screwed up monumentally. That placed on the top of you people who knew an did nothin is what should also be on trial here not eric
An if you want to cll me a liberal scum , all I can say is comon over. I'll let you try to take away My Purple Heart,BSM,Combat medics Badge an the arcom with V.
Its easy for jerks like you to just jump on a bandwagon and spew lies that you hear that in many cases are not true. I also would like to see how you react If I walked up to you every day an slapped you across your foul mouth. Followed you around all day callin YOU a Faggott,Punchin YOUin the back of the head. All of that done by real brave punks that chose to hide in a crowd.
The ones who should be on trial here are all the ones like you! Not Eric
You people up there live in a dream world. Go back to sleep! JIM >

Please read and consider signing Eric's petition. Pass on to everyone you know. Thanks!!

http://www.PetitionsDirect.com/showpetition.php?id=justiceforjuveniles.org

You talk as if you know Eric personally, I was bullied through out my childhood like Eric with few people to turn to because of my introversion, but not only do all these posters give me a picture that Eric had plenty of friends. He didn't have to move 4 times between 7th to 12th grade and I never shot my principal. Though life would be an incorrect sentence to a fifteen year old but a murder deserves to be locked away for a long time, bullied or not. I said once that Eric shot his principal because he was pissed, it could have been someone else in some other situation that pissed him off that he shot, because I know many people who have had childhoods like Eric's and they don't shoot people who piss them off.

ITs sad that Eric was a victim. He was a victim of his family and their cruelty. He was a victim of bullies at school, apparently. However, what he did was wrong and sadly its a done deal and there is no way out now. Has anyone said that the principal was a bad guy? Was he to blame? Did he deserve to die? Eric caused his death. Eric does not deserve life in prison and he does not deserve to be in the adult system, he is a kid. But, as tragic as his life is, he cannot simply be let go. He will have to be under lock and key and receive therapy and rehab for many years. That is the best one can hope for at this point. He did the wrong thing and he will not have his freedom for a long time. Hopefully though, he will not be thrown away to rot in an adult prison---that would not bring back the dead man and would accomplish nothing. The thinking of the public and the justice system needs some re-adjustment for Eric not to get life without parole in an adult prison----most people go for the revenge and the lock-up, this kid needs therapy and rehab in a secure juvenile setting.

hey fellow reedsburg student i also go to RAHS and the preps and jocks are SOO fucking annoynig. i swear this whole higschool cliuqe thing is so gay. if u like some people that ur " friends" dont like u shouldnt have to be tortureed to choose one or the other. WHO cares how much your clothes cost. or how many pairs of pants u own. if u really care about all that stuff more then being a good person UR A SHALLOW MORON and deserve to be put in a building with all the other shallow ppl and live a shallow unhappy life

TJ, your are right. He did the wrong thing by bringing weopons to school and by shooting the principal. But I believe his rage was really directed at his father but was ultimately unleashed on the principal. Mr. Klang was the unfortunate victim of Eric's misdirected rage. Eric possibly may have been suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from living in an embattled environment most of his life and having been abandoned by his mother at at very young age and having no one on a daily basis to turn to or to soften the blow. By the time Eric was 15, his baggage was overfloweth. A stronger person may have had the strength to carry that load, but not everyone is the same. What is an overwhelmingly heavy load for one may not be for another. Either way, it is agreed that Eric had more than his fair share to deal with. A loathsome and cruel father, uncaring mother, negligent court system, social agencies and school authorities, which ultimately contributed to the killing of the principal. It is easy to find a simple answer and blame in on the one person who pulled the trigger. One embattled, ragged, bullied and abused 15 year old cannot shoulder the blame for all of that.

Ginger, I agree. Had he taken his anger out on his father this whole situation would look different; sadly he did mis-direct that anger and Mr Klang died as a result. He was abused and bullied and that is tragic. It is also tragic that not one person was around to step in and intervene to help Eric. Yes, he could very well suffer from PTSD, no doubt. The only problem I have is that if everyone who is abused and bullied brings a gun to school or to the work place, and fires and then innocent people die---are we not going to hold the one pulling that trigger responsible? Ultimately in our society we do not put the society on trial when there is a killing---we hold the one who commited the killing responsible. Eric was tormented and he snapped, yes that is what happened. However a man died as a result and that man was not his father and he was not the bully. He was not Eric's enemy. I do think Eric deserves compassion and should not be cast away to life in an adult prison. He should be in a juvenile mental health facility with therapy and rehabilitation and one day he should be given a chance in society. However, he will need to be closely watched while this is going on and consequently will lose his freedom for some time. I don't know how else to put it. AND I know it may sound as if I am taking both sides here, but really I am supportive of Eric, but not of the choice he made that day. I hope that the system will be compassionate, I hope the system will see this case for what it is, and I hope that the system will do the right thing for Eric. Somehow, however, I doubt that will happen, sorry to say, because most people will be unable to get beyond the simple fact that an innocent man died----that is the reality as I see it. I do understand Eric's plight; I am just being realistic.

TJ, I think your view is representative of most people. It is a very sensible outlook on the situation. You are right we cannot put society on trial everytime someone is killed. But we can and should hold society responsible for making it much harder for unstable people like Shawn Hainstock to own firearms. Especially with an unstable and dysfunctional son living with him. Also, someone did try to help Eric. That was when the father was charged with felony child abuse for kicking the crap out of his 10 year old son and wrestling him to ground to pour hot sauce down his throat (all of that from a fully disabled person). The courts let Eric down when they gave him back to his abuser and did not follow up or attach court supervision to the dropping of the charges. There should have been very stringing supervision of this man with the idea if he screwed up even once, his son was gone. In fact the courts should have given custody of Eric to his grandparents or his Aunt and Uncle at that time. But Shawn Hainstock got another chance and he did exactly the same thing he was not held accountable for the first time. Now Eric will face the same Judge who handed him back to his abusive father and step-mother, no questions asked. This is where society comes in and we all need to demand changes and accountability from our elected officials. They need to follow the rules set out for them and the laws on the books, one being a felon cannot own a firearm in the State of Wisconsin which would have been Mr. Hainstock if the charges wouldn't have been dropped. This wasn't his first violent offense either. He showed up at Eric's elementary school wielding a gun and threatening a classmate and had to be escorted off the gounds. He should have lost his priveledge to own a gun then. You see, how society has let this boy down? It has let Mr. Klang down and so we need to think about that. Eric simply fell through the cracks again and again and again because folks weren't doing their job. TJ, you do have the right idea. Eric needs alot of help, and that is what we are trying to get for him. If he proves that he is amenable to treatment and can prove that to a judge, he may get a second chance, which every child deserves. He needs support and encouragement from family, friends and the community who can see beyond sheer vengence and court some compassion for Eric. That may be a better legacy to Mr. Klang, an educator, than a child rotting in prison for the rest of his life. Maybe he would rather see Eric become a healed, productive member of society in his name, rather than a symbol of vengence.

Ginger, I agree with everything you are saying. The "system" did let this boy down. You are right. My hope is that now he can get the help he didnt get before and he will NOT rot in jail forever.

If you haven't already done so, please be sure to sign the Eric Hainstock petition.

http://www.petitionsdirect.com/showpetition.php?id=justiceforjuveniles.org

http://www.petitionsdirect.com/showpetition.php?id=justiceforjuveniles.org

http://www.petitionsdirect.com/showpetition.php?id=justiceforjuveniles.org

This petition IS NOT for him to be "Freed" and released. What he did was WRONG,we all can agree on that. But he MUST be tried as a juvenile and transferred to a juvenile detention center. He is only 15 years old. Thank you.

Hopefully he will rot in jail for life because he killed a man with a family. How do you think his family feels? He was old enough to make a decision and he should pay for it the rest of his life.

We are starting to see clear evidence that Eric did not INTENTIONALLY gun down Mr. Klang. Eric wrongly and intentionally took weopons to school to use as a threat so someone would listen to him in regards to the bullying he was getting from other students and a few teachers (including a gym teacher who made fun of him for being a special needs student in front of the class. There is evidence of the bullying by students and apparently a few teachers. ) Mr. Klang allegedly ambused Eric from behind in an attempt to stop him and during a struggle for the gun it fired 3 times killing Mr. Klang. So here you have a bullied student, an ambush, a loaded gun and panic and this results in death.

Obviously, 1st Degree Intentional Homicide is not the correct charge in this case. Neither is charging Eric as an adult. He was a Special Needs student, working at an 8th grade level and was unmercifuly bullied by classmates. His only friends were in a youth group at a Quaker Church he attended. They did not go to his school. But they did care about him and have raised money for his account. They saw the bite marks on his stomach from his obviously vicious step-mother and took pictures of the wounds. They witnessed the tirade of Shawn Hainstock when he came to get Eric and threatened him. There is much more to this case then has been reported in the newspapers. Eric needs support from the community if this sort of thing is ever going to stop. Exaggerated news stories and vengence by the District Attorneys officeand Eric rotting in prison, is not going to bring back Mr. Klang. Trying to find out what really happened and why will be the best solution. Maybe starting a fund for Mr. Klang's children would be a good idea. I don't think vengence is the answer.

Ginger, You have the most sensible perspective of any of the posters on this board. There should be more people in the world like you.

Why thank you TJ. Most people are sensible and reasonable (always a few extremests in every crowd) and want to get to the truth. That is what we need to do in this case. Get to the truth of what happened and why and how it can be prevented in the future. It seems that a person would have to be blind not to see this catastrophy coming. There were even reports that went back as far as preschool. The warning signs were flashing in neon by the time this happened, yet all signs went unheeded. I feel horribly for Mr. Klang and his family. It is a gutwrenching tragedy but I also feel bad for Eric who basically was an outcast who could do nothing right. He is also a victim.

Well I understand compleatly that you think that eric should be in jail for the rest of his life but just because something bad happended to you dodent mean that you can baddger and critasize anyone that dosent side with you so you just need to accept and move on!!!

(quote)He knew it was wrong. He knew the difference between "right and wrong(unquote)

No one knows the mental state of this child, prior, during this incident. "ONLY", a medical physician expert in the field of anatomy, physiology/psychology of the "growing child" can determine this child's mental state. To "assume" is not facts in evidence.

anyone here who feels that Eric should be charged and tried as a juvenile, should write to District Attorney Barrett and let their feelings be known. Eric does not deserve the vengence that the DA is going to go after. We should not be demonstrating an eye for an eye mentality against a 15 year old boy who was abused and bullied and abandoned most of his life. It will cost the taxpayers $1 million dollars to keep Eric in prison for life but is will cost a small fraction of that to rehabilitate and treat a boy like Eric. He can become a productive member of society at the fraction of the cost and that is a better legacy to the school principal than vengence and retailiation. At http://www.justiceforjuveniles I have posted media links to local newspapers if anyone cares to write a letter to the editor on Eric's behalf. Eric's Public Defender's address is also listed in Eric's forum as is the District Attorney. For convenience, here is DA Barretts address:

Patricia A. Barrett ........ District Attorney SAUK COUNTY COURTHOUSE
515 Oak St.
Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913
(608) 355-3280 Victim Witness Unit (608) 355-3281
FAX: (608) 355-3282
http://www.co.sauk.wi.us/contact.htm

It seems our world is lacking in empathy and the death of Mr. Klang may possibly be the unintentional result of just that. The uncivilized and mean-spirited bullying of Eric may be at the root of what happened and has happened in other school shootings. Let's clean up our act folks. Show some compassion, and also try to heal by not going after vengence, Charging Eric as a juvenile and getting him the help he needs but also setting up an account for Mr. Klang's children, will go along way healing and forgiving. What would the Amish do? They would forgive. If anyone has any ideas on a fund for the Klang children, please let me know.

A 15 year old knows it is wrong to take a gun to school, unless he is mentally handicapped to the point his IQ is 40 to 50. Mr. Klang was the victim here, not Eric. Eric may have had a hard time at home, but many teenagers have a hard time at home and do not commit violent crimes. My daughter is 8, and even she knows that it would be wrong to take a gun to school or to shoot someone.

Rodney, uh huh, and do you wrestle her to the ground and force hot sauce down her throat? Did your wife take a chunk out of her stomach? Do you beat her with a belt? Does she basically raise herself? Do you leave her home alone on the weekends to see if the sump pump turns on? Do you weigh 400 lbs but make your little girl starve? Does she get a snack after school? Do you punish her with standing in prolonged positions like they did to the Iraq prisoners which has been deemed torture? Do you forget to pick her up from after school activities until 8:00pm? Do you slap her on the head and call her a moron in public? Does she go to school dirty? Does she get to have new clothes when she goes to school? Has she been sexually molested by anyone? ?Would you be angry if she was? Would you want to kill someone if they molested your little girl? Would you know that it is wrong? Would you report it to the authorities? Have you been charged with felony child abuse for kicking the crap out of your cute little 8 year old daughter? Do they call her a whore in school and rub up against her? Would you be mad if the school let it happen day after day? Would you personally want to kick the crap out of the kid who called your little girl a whore in school? Or more to the point a lesbian? Hmmmm. I wonder.

o PLEASE ppl. u guys DID NOT LOOSE UR PRINCIPAL. if u think eric should be free.......u r soooooo fricken immature. i cannot believe it. how could u be on his side? do u know how HARD IT IS GOING TO SCHOOL W/O MR. KLANG? huh? well, maybe some of u should be in OUR shoes. how would u feel? i am crying rite now. do u know how much i have cried in the last past months? enough tears to use up prolly 10 or more kleenex boxes. our teachers DO pay attention to bullying and things. ya no, he BULLYED PPL TOO! HOW CAN U NOT UNDERSTAND THAT? he was not God's perfect angel. He was Hells perfect devil. i no that is mean, but it is the truth. SCREW U ALL.

Foreverchanged, you are. I can't help but wonder if Eric is hells devil, then who would Hitler be? Are there different tiers of Hell? A hierarchy? Hitler systematically killed about 6 million innocent people. How can a 15 year old boy who accidentally killed his principal in a struggle, be equal to the devil? I guess it is all in the perspective.

All I am saying is that Eric should be charged and tried as the juvenile he is. He should get rehabilitation and counseling in the juvenile system, not the adult system. Vengence is not justice. The fact still remains that Eric was abused, bullied and abandoned. Those facts cannot be denied, covered up or swept away. There are two sides to every story, and what you are reading here at this website created FOR Eric, is the other side. Eric's side. You may not agree or even care, but nonetheless, those facts remain. There is alot more to this tragedy than the press is reporting and the officials are revealing. Please keep an open mind. Eric deserves and is guaranteed a fair trial and a vigorous defense that is based on truth and fact. The job of the prosecution is the get to the truth, not to go after revenge and retribution in a lynch-mob mentality on a 15 year old troubled boy.

BTW, is "prolly" a word? I had no idea that high school aged kids thought prolly was a word. I think your school could at least use a new spelling and grammer teacher. Are you a special needs student by any chance? Is that supposed to be "probably"? I'm hoping your post was typos and not spelling errors. Holy cow, something is off. What grade are you in?

If you knew eric from the heart like I did, you would think different. It was wrong for him to kill but there is no excuse for what all the kids and the teachers did to him. It makes me sick to think about how bad he was treated, I was harrased also but as I think of it never that bad.You people that think he's stupid or f***** up need to think that there are no heroes here, if there were he would not be sitting all alone, by himself. Us family from here love eric, we are behind him all the way. Oh! and also don't you think that all the people and kids and teachers that were invalved with this should get time to just like eric? I mean come on there just as guilty!!!

Ok about the gym teacher.... that is assault... he shoudl get somethign for it but i agree we shoudl keep the focus on eric....and his well being. i was actually in the court house today ( not because of eric) but i was one button away from being on the floor with all the defenders and such. u have no idea how bad i wanted to go in there. but that would have been to no use. and ppl should stop bullying. screw the teachers that say " oh its boys being boys" and wutnot well if "boys being boys" can lead to this y let it continue....even teachers in my school bully the kids. if they are labeled " trouble" kids they dont help them at all. one kid in my gym class gets picked on all the time and when he goes to the gym teacher for help the teachers yells at him for not participating and such when in actuality he wants to but isnt allowed to by the " jocks/preps" and the teacher is a coach so he doesnt disipline the ppl who should be the bullys.... its crap... so whenever we pick teams i ask the people who are hardly ever picked to be on my team. or if im in another class ill ask the quite ones to be my partner because no one else bothers to but thats highschool and even a cop friend of my fathers agrees... teachers do that and dont try to stop it...its crap

the above comment actually was not posted by me, but by an anonymous guest who posted it at http://www.justiceforjuveniles.org and I decided to post it here. Sorry for the confusion.

Eric's black eye came from the gym teacher. According to Eric's aunt, Eric was down and cuffed and the gym teacher was still slamming his face into the floor every time he tried to move his head, breaking his glasses. The gym teacher was the one that said Eric did the bullying not the bullies. He also was the one who humiliated Eric in front of the gym class asking him if he was the one from the Special Needs class. Sounds like he already had something in for Eric before all of this happened. The cops had to drag the gym teacher off of Eric.

Hey mara im glad to hear that u stand behind eric. im here supporting him also. im not his cousin or related to him in any way but we used to be close awhile ago. until that dumbass shawn threatned to kill me and i wasnt allowed anywhere near him and shawn moved him away. i would love it if we could get in touch sometime. plz email me at froggygirl3233 [at] hotmail.com
i keep this picture on my ipod and i look at it everyday. he is always in my thoughts

Jen, why did Shawn Hainstock threaten to kill you? Was there a police report filed on that incident? If you don't want to say here, pm me from j4j or send me an e-mail or go to my Myspace. It is good that both of you girls are supporting Eric. It is so important that he is tried in juvenile court so that he can finally get the help he needs. He is a first time offender, nonviolent history, and no prior criminal history. He belongs in juvenile court.

I think you people are crazy. Eric may have been teased but he also was the teaser. I have a high schooler at Weston, Eric was no dam angel. Our school system at Weston is a good one. Get your head out of your ass, you have to be a informed and an involved parent. He shot and killed someone oh and by the way if you don't think this is serious why not spend a night at my house where my two little children still have nightmares at least twice a week and they are in grade school and will have to go to this school for the rest of their lives. You people need to get more involved with your own children. And yes I understand disabilities, my own son has ADD, so to all you people who want to support him and get him out of jail and riase money for his release here's a little quote from Eric that he apparently said to the judge "let me out of jail so I can go finish the Job". If that is the case and you all want to support him and help him take him to your fucken town and to your school with your children and then he can finish the job somewhere else. A very upset parent

Hey Mom! Why don't you get your facts straight before coming here and spewing all your lies. If Eric really said that to the judge it would have been all over the news, don't you think?
YOU are the one who needs to get involved with your own children, and pull your own head out of your ass!
Kids who are bullied at school start to get into trouble because they no longer want to be perceived as a "fag" and want to put on a tough image, anything so other kids will stop picking on them. If you're a responsable parent you should have done some research on school shootings and bullying before going online last night and writing all that hateful crap.
And so what if your children have to live in fear for a few months? Did you ever stop and wonder what it must have been like for Eric who had to live in fear every single day of his life? Did you even read the comments on this page? Close friends of his say that the bullying at school was "real bad" and abuse from his father even worse. Are you saying that these girls are liars?
Yes I do feel bad for your children "Mom" not because they have nightmares but because they are obviously being raised by an ignorant bigot like yourself. I wonder what kind of adults they will turn out to be knowing that their Mom goes online to attack a 15 year old boy when he's down, wishing him to spend the rest of his life in an adult prison.

Mom of children at Weston

Would you be so irate, if this had been YOUR son or daughter? I do not think so, Has your girls READ this posting of yours? Am sure they would be ashamed to let anyone know their MOM wrote such negative, nasty things here. It is only nature for all of us to be angry, but the anger is taken out on the wrong person, Eric is where he is today, because of the "adults" and other children in his world. He did NOT get there ALL BY HIMSELF. The "underlying factors" in this case, drove this child to do what he is alledged of doing. Anger, bitterness, vengful words and acts are NOT the solution. Tho many children DO get into trouble, they are still "children", and should NEVER be charged with ADULT SANCTIONS, but as a CHILD, he is. Where was his father? Where was his mother? The judge is a contributing factor in this case, as he is the very one that gave custody to the father, even AFTER abuse charges against the father, THEY WERE DISMISSED!! Perhaps if the judge had helped this child THEN, this incident would never have happened. Now this same judge is the one that has Eric under a 3/4 million dollar bond!!HELLOOOO!!!! The judge back then, should have placed this child in a structured enviornment THEN, so he could have gotten some help, he so desperately needed. Who is there for this child?
The emotional trauma is staggering for many to include ERIC. This incident could have been avoided, for he was desperately in need of help, and it is so obvious, NO ONE LISTENED!!!
Not saying at all, he is without fault somewhere here, but to "destroy" this child, is barbaric!!
Has society and the officials of America become so cold, so callous, so non caring for there "fellow man", that they are willing to yet "destroy" another life??? That is "state sanctioned murder".

Eric is a great guy i understand people are ticked at him but ive known him a long time and it ticks me off that
people say bad things about him hes awesome the people that talk smack about him dont know the real eric
i dont care who hates me for posting this but i feel the same way about people who say hes nothing but an idiot
i fell like smacking them so before u type somthing about eric think of how many people u r hurting!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i miss eric a lot and i hate people for saying hes nothing but an a**hole hes awesome so
next time whatch what u type!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The solution is get rid of him. Our society has no need for someone willing to murder another. Bullied or not there is no excuse for murdering another person. If you think that the law is wrong than you should change it. Violence shouldn't be rewarded with sympathy. When you don't fix a problem you make it bigger.