1997 Directed Report
What is the 1997 directed report?
The Browns didn't report Eric in 1997
For years, the 1997 directed report was said to have been initiated by an anonymous "concerned citizen" who contacted Deputy Mike Burgess while on duty at the Southwest Plaza Mall.
In 2004, the Attorney General's investigation into the 1997 directed report concluded (falsely) that the Browns initiated this report. Even after this report, the Browns adamantly denied reporting Eric in 1997. The conclusions of this report are easily proven false.
(1) The Browns adamantly denied making the report for years. Even after police went to their house to show them the paper trail, they still insisted they have no memory of reporting Eric in 1997. Randy brown didn't start claiming to have made the report until 2006. There's no way Brown would just forget he reported Eric twice.
(2) Brooks and Aaron Brown said they didn't know about Eric's website until 1998. The (false) story goes that they told Randy Brown, their father, about Eric's website in 1997 and Randy reported it to police on his own. If they didn't know about Eric's website until 1998, the story that the Browns reported him in 1997 completely falls apart.
(3) The 1997 directed report allegedly had printed pages of Eric's website attached. The pages the police released with this report were printed in 1998. They were exact copies of the same printouts the Browns gave police with their 1998 report. We know they were printed in 1998 and not 1997 because the "Mission Log" references the fact that Brooks Brown told Eric's parents he had alcohol in his room in retaliation for the "snowball incident," where Eric threw a chunk of ice at Brooks' car and cracked the windshield.
The web page printouts attached to the 1997 report were made in 1998
The snowball incident occurred on March 17, 1998
The following is an excerpt from one of the web page printouts police claim was attached to the 1997 directed report:
This mission was also liquor free as a result of this person named Brooks Brown (phone #) who tried to narc on us. Telling my parents that I had booze and shit in my room. I had to ditch every bottle I had and lie like a fuckin salesman to my parents. All because Brooks Brown thought I put a little nik in his windshield from a snowball.......BS? yes, Anyway, that was mission 4.
This printout absolutely could not have been part of the 1997 directed report.
The Browns provided officials with a receipt for the windshield repair dated March 25, 1998.
The Browns said the printed web pages came from their 1998 report
When we showed them the Web Pages attached by a paperclip to the 1997 Directed Report they both felt that the Web Pages came from there [sic] printer and believed that they were the web pages given to Jefferson County Deputy M. Miller on March 18, 1998.
Source: Attorney General's Report, page 22
Brooks and Aaron Brown didn't know about Eric's website until 1998
I asked each of them if they contacted Dep. Burgess at the mall on 8/7/97. Neither of them remembered doing it and had no recollection of accessing Harris’s website prior to March of 1998.
Brooks said that he frequented the mall but that he was a “skater” and was frequently kicked off the property by security guards for skating and smoking. He thought it unlikely that he would have voluntarily entered the police substation.
Aaron remembered Dep. Burgess from the telemarketer report, but still did not think that he contacted Dep. Burgess at the mall.
Source: Attorney General's Report, page 21 Brooks acknowledges he learned about Eric's website in 1998:
"In march of 1998 I was walking to class when Dylan approached me with a small piece of paper. On it was written the address for a Web site. 'I think you should take a look at this tonight,' Dylan said. I shrugged. 'Okay. Anything special?' I figured at the time that it was the address for some new program Dylan had uncovered. 'It's Eric's Web site,' he said. 'You need to see it. And you can't tell Eric I gave it to you.'"
Source: No Easy Answers by Brooks Brown and Rob Merritt
Timeline of Randy Brown's eventual claim of authorship
For many years, Randy Brown denied making the 1997 report to police until one day, he started claiming he was the anonymous "concerned citizen" who reported Eric after his sons, Brooks and Aaron, told him about Eric's website. However, he didn't come to this conclusion on his own. Brown said the police had to come to his house and show him a paper trail to convince him, and even then he still said he doesn't remember reporting Eric in 1997. His story eventually changed and now he says he remembers making the report.
Also note that Brooks is claiming Dylan handed him the scrap of paper that was later analyzed professionally and found to have been written by Brooks and Aaron, which was also confirmed by their father, Randy.
It appears that the police forcibly convinced the Browns to start taking ownership for this report, which led to Randy Brown changing his story out of nowhere and magically remembering he made that report, and Brooks fabricated a story about Dylan giving him Eric's website address.
The facts don't match the newer version of the stories the Browns tell about this 1997 report.
When the directed report was revealed on October 28, 2003, Brown was just as surprised and disappointed as everyone else that Eric had been reported that early and nothing was done.
Below is a detailed timeline of this progression.
October 29, 2003
The existence of the directed report is revealed
On October 29, 2003, Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink disclosed to a room full of Columbine parents and reporters that they had recently found an internal memo (a "directed report") regarding an anonymous tip given to police about Eric Harris' website. The original directed report can be seen here:
Here is a text version of this directed report:
Directed Report
Date This Report: 08/07/1997
To: Inv. Hicks
From: M. Burgess
Directed Report
On 08/07/1997 I was contacted by a concerned citizen reference Eric Harris, A 15 year old white male living in the 8200 block of S. Reed St. Eric Harris is the author of a web page, see attached copies printed from his web site. He also refers to two of his followers "Vodka", Dillon Klebold and "Kibbz", Zach Heckler. This web page refers to "missions" where possible criminal mischiefs have occurred.
Officer Signature: MG Burgess
Unit 143 Number 0319
Randy Brown reacts to the revelation and does not claim authorship
Randy Brown was present at the meeting that disclosed the existence of this directed report. At this time, he didn't take credit for filing this report. He responded to this revelation like everyone else - seeing it as yet another missed opportunity.
Brown told the Denver Post, "I think everyone in the room cried," Randy Brown said. "Because - again - this is a missed opportunity."
Source: The Denver Post. October 30, 2003
'97 report of Harris' website unheeded
Columbine finding frustrates sheriff
February 18, 2004
Brown eagerly awaits the revelation of the name of the reporting party
As of February 18, 2004, Brown was eagerly awaiting the meeting where police would reveal the name of the person who reported Eric in 1997 report; he still had no idea who reported Eric.
February 25, 2004
A 4-month investigation claims the Browns made the 1997 report
The Colorado state Attorney General's office conducted an investigation into the 1997 directed report and concluded that it was made by the Brown family. The Browns didn't remember making this report at all, and everyone was shocked they didn't remember since they had been on top of every detail.
Randy and Judy deny making the 1997 report
From the Denver Post:
"The source of that report: Columbine parents Randy and Judy Brown, who had said they had no memory of making it.
Investigators from the Colorado attorney general's office reached that conclusion after a four-month probe. They have informed the Browns about the finding."
/
"But Bruce Beck, stepfather of slain student Lauren Townsend, said the Browns forgot they had made an earlier report on Aug. 7, 1997. "They completely forgot they ever made the complaint," he said.
Beck and his wife, Dawn Anna, Lauren's mother, were told of the discovery by the Browns. Beck said that the Browns were convinced, based on the investigative work done, that they made the Aug. 7, 1997, report.
'The investigators came to their house and basically showed them the trail of how they knew it was them,' Beck said.
Beck said he was surprised that the Browns didn't recall making the earlier report. 'They have been so aware, on top of everything, that I didn't believe it at first,' he said."
Source: The Denver Post. February 25, 2004
'97 Columbine report traced
Trail leads to Browns; friend says it might have prevented killings
August 8, 2005
Brown references the 1997 report as anonymous
By August 8, 2005, Brown was still referencing the 1997 report as anonymous.
January 10, 2006
Brown now confidently states he reported Eric in 1997
By January 10, 2006, Brown was confidently stating he was the person who reported Eric's website to the police in 1997.
2020
Brown asserts he reported Eric in 1997 and police covered it up
By 2020, Brown began asserting that not only did he report Eric in 1997, but the police hid that and lied by stating it was an anonymous report. If that were true, why would he not take credit immediately?
He was aggressively vocal about having reported Eric in 1998 despite police claiming they had no such report. Surely he would have taken credit for the 1997 report with equal enthusiasm?
Instead, he denied making the report over and over. His original story was that the police covered up the existence of his 1998 report, but he didn't make the 1997 report. Years later, he started saying he made both reports and both were covered up.
When did Brown become convinced he made the 1997 report? Did someone "convince him" forcibly?Brown has always maintained that the first and only time he reported Eric to police was in 1998, and he did it anonymously because he feared Eric would kill Brooks if he knew. He even said he never told Eric or Dylan's parents about Eric's website for the same reason.
Now he wants us to believe he filed the 1997 report under his own name and the police covered it up by lying to say it was an anonymous report? I don't think so.
2021
Brown claims he reported Eric in 1997 with a phone call
By 2021, Brown claimed he reported Eric in 1997 by calling the police. However, the deputy who created the memo was working the security post at Southwest Plaza Mall the day he was contacted by the "concerned citizen" and the report was made in person by someone at the mall who walked up to the security booth.
