Solved Martin Bryant and Port Arthur

Port Arthur is trending on twitter slamming the film before it's even done, the outrage machine claiming it shouldn't be made.

I couldn't get through Snowtown but never had a thought the film should not have been made. The researchers did a lot of work in getting suppression orders overturned so as close to the truth could be told and those crimes didn't have the historical significance and impact Port Arthur did.
 
Tasmania likes to keep secrets.

Tasmania, indeed most of the nation, responded to the horror of Port Arthur by burying it and shutting it down. Martin Bryant pleaded guilty and so was never tried. It was unlike Norway, which placed Anders Behring Breivik, killer of 77 young people in 2016, in the dock in a court to be seen and heard by the nation. Bryant was sentenced to many lifetimes in prison and Australia chose never to forgive but did its very best to forget.

Martin Bryant’s crime was at the time the world's worst killing spree by a lone, civilian gunman. It horrified and changed Australia – and its gun laws – forever. And yet legal records of the crime were sealed and remain under lock and key after the Tasmanian government passed legislation to block the dissemination of information about Bryant. And year after year, as American schools and colleges were ravaged by guns fired by angry, lonely, disturbed young men, the inevitable media discussion of Australia’s pioneering reform of firearms legislation was rolled out but a detailed discussion of why it had occurred was glossed over.

During our research, we discovered that Bryant had been flagged for health intervention as a very young child after exhibiting dangerous cruelty and tell-tale behaviours for many years but falling through the cracks of adolescent services at exactly the time that his family most needed help.


 
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Tasmania likes to keep secrets.

Tasmania, indeed most of the nation, responded to the horror of Port Arthur by burying it and shutting it down. Martin Bryant pleaded guilty and so was never tried. It was unlike Norway, which placed Anders Behring Breivik, killer of 77 young people in 2016, in the dock in a court to be seen and heard by the nation. Bryant was sentenced to many lifetimes in prison and Australia chose never to forgive but did its very best to forget.

Martin Bryant’s crime was at the time the world's worst killing spree by a lone, civilian gunman. It horrified and changed Australia – and its gun laws – forever. And yet legal records of the crime were sealed and remain under lock and key after the Tasmanian government passed legislation to block the dissemination of information about Bryant. And year after year, as American schools and colleges were ravaged by guns fired by angry, lonely, disturbed young men, the inevitable media discussion of Australia’s pioneering reform of firearms legislation was rolled out but a detailed discussion of why it had occurred was glossed over.

During our research, we discovered that Bryant had been flagged for health intervention as a very young child after exhibiting dangerous cruelty and tell-tale behaviours for many years but falling through the cracks of adolescent services at exactly the time that his family most needed help.

An argument could be made that not talking about Bryant doesnt glorify him and copycats are kept at bay

I seem to recall stories of his mental issues were around at the time
 
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except guns are a lot harder to get than drugs.

I´ve seen so many loose units snap in the heat of the moment over the years It´s just lucky there were no guns lying around.

If guns were as easy as going into Kmart and buying one as they re in the states u can get your bottom dollar homicides and suicides would be at a a new level.
I have to agree with this. So many shootings be going on for mine if we had access to guns at the local store.
 
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Im a community legal centre lawyer.

Based on interactions with my client group, Im forever happy we don't have easy access to firearms in Australia.
When people snap and all it takes is a pull of a trigger. I’d say Australians be getting shot up worse then the percentages in America.

Maybe not as bad as El Salvador though.
 

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RE making a movie about killers, I'll never be fully comfortable with the idea, and I can certainly understand why families of the victims may be less than appreciative.

However, movies regarding this sort of subject matter are somewhat interesting, not just as a reminder of how low the depths of human depravity can sink, but also to shed light on why killers behave in such a deviant manner, and also how and why they managed to perpetrate their crimes so we do not allow the same tragedy to play itself out in the future.

RE Martin Bryant himself, I've looked deeply into this case - firstly because of a school assignment regarding gun laws, but also because I wanted to understand how such deviants tick (the 'why'), because like every other law-abiding citizen I just couldn't wrap my head around it. What could possibly compel someone to murder children in cold blood?

After doing so, I've had to conclude that people's choices and perspectives are influenced by their genetics, experiences, culture and environment.

Martin Bryant's genetics were unfavourable - it seems that he not only suffered from low-functioning autism (the schizophrenia diagnosis was revised), but also displayed notable antisocial tendencies (zoosadism and pyromania). This not only led him to act out in disturbing ways from childhood, but also to him getting bullied. Victims of bullying are more likely to become victimisers themselves, and Bryant's pre-existing antisocial tendencies (not his autism) would have made this scenario more likely. Furthermore, his best friend passed in a car crash and his father committed suicide some years before the massacre, which basically sent Bryant into a downward spiral. Add a history of firearm use and easy access to firearms, and you get the horrific tragedy that occurred at Port Arthur.

I can understand his mother being in denial - if I was his mother, I would also find it difficult to come to terms with the enormity of the crime that my son had committed. However, the people peddling the conspiracy theories surrounding this incident have no such excuse, and Pauline Hanson's involvement with that whole mess just cemented my view of her as an opportunistic snake. The conspiracy theories surrounding this are not only tactless and unethical, but also a violation of Occam's Razor. Let's see - you have a young man with antisocial tendencies and a history of violence, who had previously used firearms and was familiar with the firearms in question, and who was firing semi-automatic weapons into a crowded area - well gee, he must be innocent, right? Morons.

RIP to the victims and commiserations to their families.
 
Add in Bryant was under suspicion for a few murders before Port Arthur


The Case file podcast is a good recap for anyone who wants more detail on Bryants history and the day in question as well
 

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Add in Bryant was under suspicion for a few murders before Port Arthur


The Case file podcast is a good recap for anyone who wants more detail on Bryants history and the day in question as well

I had to re-read Bryant's file after this, because I honestly hadn't been aware of this.

Are you suggesting that he was investigated for the deaths of his best friend and father?
 
I had to re-read Bryant's file after this, because I honestly hadn't been aware of this.

Are you suggesting that he was investigated for the deaths of his best friend and father?

Correct, from my understanding he was considered a suspect at various times of those investigations.

For the car death of his friend, he was known to grab the steering of wheel of people when they were in traffic and he was injured in the car in that same crash.

The circumstances of his dad's death seem very suspect as well (the note saying call the police, Martin's diving belt found around his neck).

There wasn't enough to pin anything on him, but there was still some concern about his potential involvement
 

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Correct, from my understanding he was considered a suspect at various times of those investigations.

For the car death of his friend, he was known to grab the steering of wheel of people when they were in traffic and he was injured in the car in that same crash.

For a regular, everyday person, the fact that he was sent to inherit her (substantial) fortune would be considered a bit suss.

However, given the context, I'd say that was just Bryant being the impulsive idiot that he had always been.

The circumstances of his dad's death seem very suspect as well (the note saying call the police, Martin's diving belt found around his neck).

There wasn't enough to pin anything on him, but there was still some concern about his potential involvement

This one is more suspect, especially given Bryant's lack of obvious concern and his proven ability to premeditate his crimes.

That said, his father was clearly very depressed, and in fact had been on antidepressants prior to his death. Occam's Razor suggests that he probably did commit suicide.
 

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For a regular, everyday person, the fact that he was sent to inherit her (substantial) fortune would be considered a bit suss.

However, given the context, I'd say that was just Bryant being the impulsive idiot that he had always been.



This one is more suspect, especially given Bryant's lack of obvious concern and his proven ability to premeditate his crimes.

That said, his father was clearly very depressed, and in fact had been on antidepressants prior to his death. Occam's Razor suggests that he probably did commit suicide.
Depression/mental illness can run in families. I wonder if his father also had some of Martin's issues?

I see Wikileaks is sceptical that Bryant committed the crimes LOL.

"Read the following transcript and then decide for yourself if you think this slow moving and slow thinking individual was the same one who acted like a combat assassin to execute an operation as efficient as the Port Arthur massacre. ..."

 

DaRick

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Depression/mental illness can run in families. I wonder if his father also had some of Martin's issues?

I see Wikileaks is sceptical that Bryant committed the crimes LOL.

"Read the following transcript and then decide for yourself if you think this slow moving and slow thinking individual was the same one who acted like a combat assassin to execute an operation as efficient as the Port Arthur massacre. ..."


Martin Bryant was a complex case - IMO he suffered from both a crippling neurological condition (low-functioning ASD) and a personality disorder (ASPD).

Suffice to say that such conditions aren't merely inherited from the mother or father, but rather that both parents have a role to play, based on various factors (age, maternal health, fertility issues, pregnancy difficulties, family history).

While Martin Bryant's father suffered from depression and not ASPD or ASD, it is very possible that he was genetically predisposed to mental illness, and that (to some degree) he passed that tendency down to his son.

Mind, I have absolutely no idea what his mother's family history was like, but there wasn't any evidence of a difficult gestation process.
 

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For Stan. I'll be checking in for this.


Under the working title Nitram (Martin spelt backwards), it has been shooting for three weeks. It is understood the producers opted to shoot in Victoria rather than Tasmania for fear the subject matter would still prove too sensitive for the state where Bryant went on his murderous rampage at the age of 29.

Though details are still under wraps, this masthead understands the film does not depict any of the murders, but rather focuses on the events leading up to the day in a bid to understand the factors that led to the development of a mass killer.



Yep, not filming in Tasmania out of respect for victims and their families so we'll shoot in Geelong where there are also survivors that I know, I bet they're thrilled.
 
My two cents re. the film. As a massive fan of true crime- both documentaries and dramatizations, I am all for it. I honestly think 25 years is plenty of time to do something like this. And its not even going to depict the shooting. (which fwiw, i think you could do in a respectful way, The film "Elephant" shows a school shooting, iirc was not that graphic. Am i not wrong?)


If you want to see a completely insensitive way/approach to making a movie based on a horrific crime just google the murder of "Leigh Leigh" and the film Blackrock.
 
Tasmania likes to keep secrets.

Tasmania, indeed most of the nation, responded to the horror of Port Arthur by burying it and shutting it down. Martin Bryant pleaded guilty and so was never tried. It was unlike Norway, which placed Anders Behring Breivik, killer of 77 young people in 2016, in the dock in a court to be seen and heard by the nation. Bryant was sentenced to many lifetimes in prison and Australia chose never to forgive but did its very best to forget.

Pete Ford went on a TV talk show in Tasmania to discuss the upcoming film. He was reminded of the fact he could not speak Bryants name on camera. Apparently they do not say it, or report it in the paper, ever.
 
RE making a movie about killers, I'll never be fully comfortable with the idea, and I can certainly understand why families of the victims may be less than appreciative.

However, movies regarding this sort of subject matter are somewhat interesting, not just as a reminder of how low the depths of human depravity can sink, but also to shed light on why killers behave in such a deviant manner, and also how and why they managed to perpetrate their crimes so we do not allow the same tragedy to play itself out in the future.

RE Martin Bryant himself, I've looked deeply into this case - firstly because of a school assignment regarding gun laws, but also because I wanted to understand how such deviants tick (the 'why'), because like every other law-abiding citizen I just couldn't wrap my head around it. What could possibly compel someone to murder children in cold blood?

After doing so, I've had to conclude that people's choices and perspectives are influenced by their genetics, experiences, culture and environment.

Martin Bryant's genetics were unfavourable - it seems that he not only suffered from low-functioning autism (the schizophrenia diagnosis was revised), but also displayed notable antisocial tendencies (zoosadism and pyromania). This not only led him to act out in disturbing ways from childhood, but also to him getting bullied. Victims of bullying are more likely to become victimisers themselves, and Bryant's pre-existing antisocial tendencies (not his autism) would have made this scenario more likely. Furthermore, his best friend passed in a car crash and his father committed suicide some years before the massacre, which basically sent Bryant into a downward spiral. Add a history of firearm use and easy access to firearms, and you get the horrific tragedy that occurred at Port Arthur.

I can understand his mother being in denial - if I was his mother, I would also find it difficult to come to terms with the enormity of the crime that my son had committed. However, the people peddling the conspiracy theories surrounding this incident have no such excuse, and Pauline Hanson's involvement with that whole mess just cemented my view of her as an opportunistic snake. The conspiracy theories surrounding this are not only tactless and unethical, but also a violation of Occam's Razor. Let's see - you have a young man with antisocial tendencies and a history of violence, who had previously used firearms and was familiar with the firearms in question, and who was firing semi-automatic weapons into a crowded area - well gee, he must be innocent, right? Morons.

RIP to the victims and commiserations to their families.

Great post. Agree with everything you've said, 100%
 
My two cents re. the film. As a massive fan of true crime- both documentaries and dramatizations, I am all for it. I honestly think 25 years is plenty of time to do something like this. And its not even going to depict the shooting. (which fwiw, i think you could do in a respectful way, The film "Elephant" shows a school shooting, iirc was not that graphic. Am i not wrong?)


If you want to see a completely insensitive way/approach to making a movie based on a horrific crime just google the murder of "Leigh Leigh" and the film Blackrock.

That Blackrock movie scarred me for ages growing up - especially the scene where she gets raped on the beach.
 
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