Should "The Basement Tapes" be released?

[Moonshroom]

The Basement Tapes are perhaps the most sought-after piece of evidence in the history of true crime (or, at least, of school shootings). They are Eric and Dylan's final will and manifesto, recorded both in the weeks leading to and in the morning of their attack on Columbine High School.

The tapes' very existence was initially denied, then begrudgingly confirmed after they were entered as evidence on the trial of the gun suppliers and later quoted by a Time Magazine article, causing an uproar among the relatives of the victims.

While officially destroyed, it is really very hard to imagine that such an important piece of evidence would be just erased without having any copies available, and people have been dying to see them ever-since they were first discovered.

NOW... law-enforcement say that they won't ever show these tapes because they might encourage copycats, but the general consensus among the public is that that boat has long sailed, tapes or not. And I fully agree, believing that there's more harm done by keeping them under wraps, considering that testimony among those few who were able to see them states that both shooters were drowning on their own forced bravado and that they were acting way too hard to be cool. If that's true, then I think that keeping the tapes away from the public might help idolizing them in a way that showing them might not. If they really looked that foolish while recording their diatribe, then that could defuse the situation once and for all by forcing those who look up to them to view them as try-hards and losers.

But, of course, this is playing with fire regardless of the outcome... maybe releasing these tapes would encourage even more copycats, which is certainly a possibility, and I can at least see why the cops would be hesitant to release them if that's the case. There's also the fact that at least a couple of the tapes include instructions on bomb-making and hiding places for arsenals, which should never reach the public. It's a complicated case, is what I'm saying.

Thoughts?

[Velocity Girl]

As much as I want to see it, like an itch I cannot scratch, I think it's better for it to not have it shown to the public. Yes, I'm worried about the whole copycat thing. The transcript suffices. I think I even got to hear a very short clip of it...

But sometimes I do wonder if a release with restrictions would be fine? Like controlled access for legitimate researchers, educators, something like that

Spoiler

Although I do wish I was one of the chosen ones to see it

[slooroo]

I think at this point they should be released and while it makes me sound like a conspiracy theorist a part of me wonders if it has nothing to do with the fear of copycats and everything to do with what Eric & Dylan might've said on the tapes that REALLY sheds a new light on certain things, potentially even related to the police or something. That said they keep claiming the originals are destroyed. That's possible but I personally refuse to believe the FBI didn't make copies.

[Moonshroom]

Soooo... It's come to my attention that the tapes recorded by the murderers on the May Cassie Jo Stoddard case were fully, officially released after the trial:



On these recordings we can see the full planning of the murders, the way they list off other potential victims, and even how they purposefully tape the victim on her last day on Earth just to mock the fact that she has no idea what's gonna happen to her.

I'm sorry, but this DESTROYS every reason not to release the Basement Tapes. If anything, those are tamer because Eric and Dylan didn't walk up to and purposefully recorded their victims.

It's just weird that we can have one and not the other, man.