Having been a journalist for 34 years now, I’ve seen a lot in my professional lifetime.
While I have covered many events and been a part of countless things that made me proud, there have been some other things that I do not relish having witnessed or been present for in some capacity.
The murders last November of four University of Idaho students at an off-campus home in Moscow has been riveting, mind-boggling, and most of all sad. The case has garnered attention not only in this country but a number of others as seen by the social media interest.
When it comes to the social media interest, I have seen the good and bad that social networking has brought to the case.
One of the bad things it has done is opened up a door for bullying.
Yes, there are some out there who have turned a blind eye to online bullying as it relates to this tragic case.
A group calling itself University of Idaho Murders – Case Discussion has what it says is more than 222,000 members in its ranks. Honestly, I’d be surprised if it is in the several thousands. Whenever I would check in on the group I’d see pretty much the same several dozen or so individuals posting again and again and again.
As a member of this group for a number of months, I found myself giving my two cents on these tragic deaths and what I think happened, how the case may turn out and so on. Trust me, with more than three decades in the news business, I have as thick a coat of skin as pretty much anyone out there. I can handle the jabs, barbs and more. I’ve been told to get a life, that in fact I was not a journalist, that I was a Bryan Kohberger fan boy and more.
In recent weeks, there had been a notable uptick in bullying, sarcasm, the inability to act like adults, have common decency for one another and more.
Just this week, someone posted this drawing (below) of what a female killer supposedly looked like. The inference among other things was that there were some crazy women in this particular FB group. Sorry, but I do not find this funny in the least. Four students are dead, their families will never be the same and more. You think this kind of commenting/depiction is somehow humorous? Yet, the administrator (Alina Smith) let it fly. Thankfully, FB has since taken the comment down. There have been countless other comments and images that did not come down that were crude to say the least and yet Ms. Smith let them stay up. Why might you ask? At the end of the day, anything that painted an individual seeking a fair trial for the defendant was ridiculed and more. If it supported convicting and even sending Kohberger to death, it got a warm round of applause. This is not even to mention the administration getting donations for coffee etc. from a number of its members. While the thought may have come with good intentions, no one should be here to profit off this tragedy. 
Thankfully, I have decided to move on from this particular group.
I’m far from perfect and have not always made the best choices in life.
A few choices I did get right in recent times was joining some other Idaho 4 groups.
Groups such as Justice for Bryan Kohberger and Idaho 4 All Respect No Hate Discussion welcomed me in with open arms. I’d like to think with more than three decades of covering news that I can bring some valuable insight to these groups as we discuss this tragedy. On the flip side of the coin, I’ve met online some amazing people to date in both of these groups. We may not all always see entirely eye to eye on the case, but there is no bullying, intimidation, sarcastic laugh emojis when you try and give your viewpoint and more.
Moving forward, I hope Facebook looks at the University of Idaho Murders – Case Discussion and says enough is enough.
At the end of the day, no one should be left to feel bullied, harassed, intimidated and more because they want to give an opinion on a case that has impacted all of us in some form or another.
With that in mind, hopefully we all can have respectful conversations moving forward. I will also do better on my end to understand where some people are coming from with opinions etc. I may not necessarily agree with. We all want justice for Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
I know at least in the groups I’m in now that respect is and will continue to be the law of the land.
DavidAlanThomas 
Very well said! That page of bullying has made a mockery of the killings and have lost all meaning of what the page was originated for.. alot of family on that page having to witness such childish bs on a daily.. I don’t suspect fb to do much, they seem to cater to such..