Last spring 19-year-old Alex Ye was arrested after police were informed of a 129-page manifesto that Ye wrote, in which he went into detail about committing a school shooting in this high school and his former elementary school, Lakewood, according to The Washington Post.
During the ensuing trial in December, the timeline of Ye’s actions was provided by the prosecution, according to The Washington Post. Students have expressed concern about the allegations toward Ye. “I never thought a school shooting could ever happen at my school so it was crazy and I read his letter that people sent around and the details were so gruesome,” sophomore Claire Weed said.
Over two years prior to Ye’s arrest in December 2022, a school therapist reported Ye talked about shooting at a high school in Montgomery County. Roughly a year later Ye posted a message online about wanting to “repeat Columbine,” a school shooting that happened in 1999. Less than a year after that message was posted, Ye was arrested. “I think it was very scary that if he hadn’t been stopped all my classmates, friends and teachers could have died,” junior Beliz Kuder said.
A bond hearing was held in June and Ye was denied bond and remained in police custody. The Washington Post covered the story of Ye and his manifesto in an article, Maryland teen threatened to ‘shoot up’ Wootton High School, police say, published on Apr. 18. “ I don’t think it was harsh for him to be denied bond, because finding out what he had written and what he planned to do was definitely scary and I think that it was justified for his actions,” senior Yana Kohli said.
Ye ‘s trial began in early December and he opted to have a bench trial, which means he was tried in front of a judge instead of a jury. Judge Jill Cummins stated in court that Ye had “an unhealthy obsession with school shootings and their shooters” and that “it is clear to the court that Alex was fully aware of the impact of his statements.”
The prosecution’s argument was that Ye’s work was thought out and he had plans to carry through with the actions expressed in the book. “He was clearly planning and making progressions,” Assistant State’s Attorney Karen Mooney said, according to The Washington Post.
Ye’s defense argument was that his work was one of fiction and was protected by his First Amendment Freedom of Speech rights. Ye’s attorney highlighted how in the book, the main character, whose name was James Wang, never ended up shooting up the school and sought help in the end. Despite her argument, the judge ruled that the book was not fiction. “The court finds that the book is not a work of fiction but is an account of Alex’s life and his thoughts,” Cummins said.
At the end of the trial, Cummins found Ye guilty of one count of threat of mass violence. This charge has been classified as a misdemeanor in this case. Ye is facing a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, but he could be sentenced to less. The date for his sentencing is Feb. 28 and will be held in the Montgomery County Circuit Court located in Rockville. “I think he is obviously mentally ill and maybe instead of jail he should go to a mental institution to get help,” Weed said.
