Profile of a Sniper

By ROY PETER CLARK
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 29, 2002

You are careful.

You are sloppy.

You want to be caught.

You won't get caught.

You drive a red Capri, a box truck, a white van, a blue Capri.

You're a sharpshooter,

But anyone could have made those shots.

You are white.

You are olive skinned.

You are Hispanic.

You are Mexican.

You are Jamaican.

You are Middle Eastern.

No doubt about it, you are WHITE.

You are NOT black.

You're in your 20s or 30s.

You're conservative.

You're outspoken on politics.

You own guns and endorse the Second Amendment.

You had extensive military training, special forces.

You are a foreign terrorist.

You are homegrown.

You play a lot of violent video games.

You hate the World Series.

You're playing with authority.

You're deadly serious.

You're daring.

You're a coward.

You love Tarot.

You are Death, God, The Red Dragon, Deus Ex.

You're a hunter.

You live

In the suburbs

You kill

Close to home.

You're in control.

You fit the profile.

-- Roy Peter Clark is senior scholar at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg. The institute owns the St. Petersburg Times.

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