The graphic novel V for Vendetta was gunned down in a parking lot at Steve Austin Middle School in Granbury, Texas. Police say the 1982 book depicting the overthrow of a dystopian fascist state was shot while attempting to evade arrest.
Officers at the scene of the shooting state V for Vendetta refused to be taken into custody. The book that became widely known by the popular 2005 movie of the same name told the police, “Knowledge, like air, is vital to life. Like air, no one should be denied it.“
The words fell on deaf ears.
The official report states the police on the scene informed V that they were simply following orders and that he would be in good company in prison. The police department, school committee, and the city government have not said what actions by V prompted the shooting. That section of the report has been censored to “ensure public safety.”
Granbury’s Police Commissioner Andrew Canard did go on record and say there isn’t any body cam recordings of the incident since all ten body cams were malfunctioning at the time. He also stated it was “absolutely necessary” to shoot V in the back seven times.”
V was only one of 130 school library books targeted by the school district. The round-up of suspicious titles is for the good of the greater community sources in the district say. Many parents who never opened a book in their life breathed a collective sigh of relief.
However, not everyone was happy. Some parents raised doubts that censorship is, in fact, a good thing. Those concerned with government overreach were told not to worry because only dangerous and/or inappropriate tomes were chosen, “they [the books removed] are pervasively vulgar or based solely upon the educational suitability of the resource in question.”
Students are not taking this horrific turn of events lying down. The shooting is energizing and organizing them. Organizers of a fledgling resistance movement are handing out Guy Fawkes masks to pupils ranging in age from kindergarteners to high schoolers. They have a rallying cry taken from the dead book, Love your rage, not your cage.
In related news, Texas plans to give handguns to the homeless.