[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 111 (Friday, August 7, 1998)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E1639] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORIES HAVE THEIR VIOLENT COSTS ______ HON. DOUG BEREUTER of nebraska in the house of representatives Friday, August 7, 1998 Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, as demonstrated by the recent tragedy that we witnessed in this building, crazy conspiracy theories can have violent and horrific costs. Accordingly, this Member commends to his colleagues an excellent editorial which appeared in the Omaha World-Herald, on August 5, 1998. Others Fed Gunman's Fantasies A sketchy but disturbing portrait is emerging of Russell E. Weston Jr., the accused gunman in the July 24 U.S. Capitol shootings. He is being described as a mental patient who fell through the cracks, resisted treatment and, somewhere along the way, had his head filled with paranoid claptrap. FBI agents who searched his remote cabin in Montana found guns, ammunition and books about espionage. Family members said Weston maintained an abiding fear of the federal government. He believed that federal agents were spying on him through a neighbor's satellite dish. Authorities were also told that Weston thought the federal government had planted land mines on his property. Documents among his possessions contained references to the Freemen, a group whose members have been involved in confrontations over their insistence that they are not bound by U.S. laws. More than a few people on the fringes of society say they consider the U.S. government evil. Among them are some militia members and radical survivalists whose far-fetched notions can sometimes be heard on late-night talk shows or read on the Internet. At times their ravings seem almost comical. One group, for example, sees sinister implications in the yellow fringe with which some American flags are trimmed. The yellow fringe, if we have it right, is proof that the United States is secretly under martial law. But there's nothing comical when such ideas are pumped into the head of someone whose grasp of reality is less than adequate. Then the result is all too often ugly and violent. Russell Weston spent part of a day in Illinois killing cats. Then he traveled to Washington, where he killed two Capitol police officers in a senseless attack. Certainly the Tim McVeighs of the world--and Russell Weston, if he is found guilty--must be punished for their crimes. But punishing them doesn't excuse the people who concoct and repeat the crazy conspiracy theories that cause the bomb-builders and the shooters to become so agitated. Russell Weston may be a dangerous criminal, or he may be hopelessly ill. Either way, whoever convinced him that the government is the epitome of evil deserves some of the criticism for what happened at the Capitol. ____________________