Friday8 March 2019

RRP of The Herald in ROI is €1.30THE HERALD Vol. 128 No. 58

THE HERALD FRIDAY 8 MARCH 2019

A DEVASTATED mumhas told how menin-gitis killed her littlegirl “within hours”.Kayla Carey (6), fromCoMeath, died a yearago today after she

fell ill at a birthday party.Mum Ger O’Connor said it was

“terrifying” how quickly the virustook hold. Kayla had earlier sharedan asthma inhaler with her cousin.“Kayla was complaining of a pain

in her tummy, so she slept for anhour or two. When I tried to wakeher, I couldn’t. It wiped her outwithin hours.” SEEPAGES6&7

Catherine Devine

Ger O’Connor with herdaughter Kayla, also inset

FRIDAY 8 MARCH 2019 THE HERALD

6 News

‘MYPOORBABYDIDN’TSTANDACHANCEWHENMENINGITISHIT’–DEVASTATEDMUM

THE heartbroken mother ofa six-year-old girl who passedaway from meningitis has re-vealed how the deadly infectionkilled her daughter “withinhours”.Kayla Carey (6), from Co

Meath, died last March 8 justhours after she became ill at afamily birthday party.Speaking exclusively to the

Herald, on the one-year anni-versary of Kayla’s death, mumGer O’Connor said that it wasterrifying to watch how quicklyher little girl deteriorated.“It’s so crazy how fast it all

happened. It was absolutelyterrifying,” Ger said.“Kayla and her cousin were

at a family birthday party andthey were both in great form.“Her cousin started to get

sick that night, and Kayla saidshe wasn’t feeling great eitherbut they had eaten a lot of cakeso we thought that was causingit. Neither of them had a rashor a high temperature.”Ger, who has three younger

children, Faith (5), Brooklyn(18months) and Charlie (threemonths), said that she put Kaylato bed and the nextmorning shewas still complaining of a painin her tummy.“I told her she could stay in

bed for themorning and I wentdown to get the younger kidstheir breakfast,” she said.“We then all hopped back

into bed together and slept foran hour or two but when I triedto wake Kayla, I couldn’t.”

Ger became alarmedafter noticing bruisesappearing across Kayla’sbody.“I called an ambu-

lance but by the timeshe got to the hospitalshe was black and blue.I knew she was gone. Itwiped her out withinhours,” she said.“Kayla had been un-

well for a few monthspreviously and she wasconstantly in and out ofthe doctors.“She had been losing

weight and she was verypale. She was put onvitamins but I didn’tsee any improvementin her.

PNEUMONIA“She developed pneumo-nia and she was put ona course of steroids for aweek but she seemed tohave got over that well.“In January she

seemed herself again but herimmune systemmust have beenso low that my poor baby justdidn’t stand a chance when themeningitis hit.“Nothing could have saved

her and she died after devel-oping septicaemia.”Kayla’s 10-year-old cousin

was also hospitalised withmen-ingitis butmade a full recovery.“Her cousin was stronger and

that’s why she was able to beatit off,” Ger said.“They say it’s not contagious

– it can only be passed throughthe nose or mouth – but Kaylaand her cousin used the same

inhaler for their asthma atthe birthday party.”A spokesperson for theMen-

ingitis Research Foundationsaid that the bacteria that caus-es meningitis is transmitted

from person to person by closecontact with others.“It can be transmitted by

things such as coughing, sneez-ing or kissing,” the spokesper-son said.“Usually we have to be in

very close or regular contactwith someone for the bacteriato pass between us.“Even when this happens,

most of us will not becomeill because we have naturalimmunity. The bacteria do notnaturally live or survive for longoutside the human body.”On the one-year anniversary

of her daughter’s death, Ger

also revealed how she hasn’tyet been able to visit Kayla’sgrave.“I haven’t been able to

go to her grave yet becauseevery time I go near it I can’tcope for a week afterwards,”she said.“All of Kayla’s friends are

so good. They still come up tome and ask if Kayla really isdead or when is she comingback to play with them.“They’re so young that

they just don’t understandbut it’s lovely how the schooland her friends keep Kayla’smemory alive.”

SPIRITUALGer described Kayla as a“good child, with a heartof gold”.“She loved the outdoors

and she was very spiritualfor such a young age. Sheloved playing with her col-ourful crystals and stones inher room,” she said.“There was something

about Kayla that just alwaysstood out.“When people would ask her

what she wanted to be whenshe grew up, she’d reply thatshe wanted to be small forever.“We tell her brothers and sis-

ter that God just wanted Kaylaback because she was so special.I tell myself that she was justtoo good for this world.”She said that her younger

children are still struggling tocope with the loss of their sister.“Faith is five now and she

looks like Kaylamore andmoreevery day. I see her in Brooklyntoo,” Ger said.

“I’m very lucky I have theother kids to keepme busy andto give me plenty of cuddles.“Faith in particular has been

finding it very difficult becausethey were so close but we’re try-ing to give her asmany supportsas we can.“We got a new puppy called

Minnie and she has broughtsome new energy into thehouse.”The devastatedmumpleaded

with other parents to vaccinatetheir children and to always“trust their instincts”.“Parents just know when

something isn’t right. There canbe no symptomswithmeningi-tis. It’s terrifying how quickly ittook Kayla,” she said.“But it’s also so important to

vaccinate your kids.“Kayla was vaccinated and

was up to date with her vac-cines but it was the meningitisB strain that she caught, whichwasn’t included in the MMRvaccine for Kayla and Faith, butis now being offered to youngerkids. It should be given to allchildren regardless.“Every kid should be vacci-

nated. It’s irresponsible to notvaccinate your kids.“If your child says they have a

pain in their tummy, constantlycheck your child.“It’s just absolutely frighten-

ing how often this happens andI don’t want another family tosuffer like we are.”Anyone with questions or

concerns can call MeningitisResearch Foundation’s freehelpline on 1800 41 33 44 oremail helpline@meningitis.orgor visit meningitis.org.

Catherine Devine

Ger became alarmedafter noticing bruisesappearing across Kayla’s

“I called an ambu-lance but by the timeshe got to the hospitalshe was black and blue.I knew she was gone. Itwiped her out within

“Kayla had been un-well for a few monthspreviously and she wasconstantly in and out of

“She had been losingweight and she was verypale. She was put onvitamins but I didn’tsee any improvement

“She developed pneumo-nia and she was put ona course of steroids for aweek but she seemed to

“In January sheseemed herself again but her

also revealed how she hasn’tyet been able to visit Kayla’sgrave.

go to her grave yet becauseevery time I go near it I can’tcope for a week afterwards,”she said.

so good. They still come up tome and ask if Kayla really isdead or when is she comingback to play with them.

they just don’t understandbut it’s lovely how the schooland her friends keep Kayla’smemory alive.”

SPIRITUALGer described Kayla as a“good child, with a heartof gold”.

and she was very spiritualfor such a young age. Sheloved playing with her col-ourful crystals and stones inher room,” she said.

EXCLUSIVE

‘Everykidshouldbevaccinated... it’sirresponsible tonot vaccinate’

12 Friday, March 8, 2019 IRISH INDEPENDENT

HealthNews

Watt gets off toa bad start withremarks aboutwatchdog ‘mob’

R OBERTWATT found himself inhot water before he even appearedbefore TDs for his grilling onthe massive cost overruns atthe National Children’s Hospital

(NCH). Hewas overheard outside the commit-tee room allegedly saying that the chairman ofthe Dáil’s spendingwatchdog should “controlthe mob”. It came as members of the PublicAccounts Committee (PAC) were hitting out atthe news that Paul Quinn, a senior civil serv-ant who sits on the development board of theNCH, would not be attending the meeting.PACmembers got word of the “mob”comments and theyweren’t happy. Sinn Féin’sDavid Cullinane branded it “outrageous”.Sure enough, it was the first thing the publicexpenditure secretary general was askedabout when he entered the room.MrWatt claimed he didn’t recall the remarksbut if he did say it, he meant it as a “colloquialexpression”. He added: “If I said something tooffend the committee, of course I apologisebut it’s not meant to be an offensive remark”.But theywere offended – Fine Gael’sAlan Farrell claimed the comments were“unbecoming of someone in your office” andIndependent Catherine Connolly brandedthem as “unacceptable”. It was a bad start toseven hours of questions on the NCH costoverruns across two Oireachtas committees.There were several tetchy exchangesduring the PAC session and not much newinformation on the cost overruns at the NCH.

And it was Groundhog DaywhenMrWattappeared at the Finance Committee in theafternoon, only to find hewas again beingaskedwhyMrQuinnwas not present.Mr Quinn, the government’s chiefprocurement officer, sits on the board of theNational Paediatric Hospital DevelopmentBoard (NPHDB). Questions have been raisedabout his involvement in the NCH andwhy he didn’t tell the Department of PublicExpenditure and Reform andMinister PaschalDonohoe about the escalating costs.MrWatt defendedMrQuinn numeroustimes during the day, insisting he’s an“excellent official” who discharged his dutieson the boardwith the chairman raising issueswith the Department of Health.He complained they have both been“criticised unfairly” byTDs but said hewouldn’t make a “big fuss about that”. He saidMrQuinnwould be happy to appear at a futuremeetingwith othermembers of the hospital’sboard. At one point, MrWatt told the financecommittee hewouldn’t get into an argumentwith one of its members because “afterManUnited [won] last night I’m in good form”.Andwhile he did battle with the likes ofLabour’s Alan Kelly and Fianna Fáil’s MarcMacSharry in the morning, the financemeetingwas a muchmore sedate affair.It prompted JohnMcGuinness – thecommittee’s combative chairman – to notewith surprise: “We’ve ended the meetingwithout a row”.

CormacMcQuinn

David Cullinane of SinnFéin branded the ‘mob’remarks as ‘outrageous’

Taxpayers sold apup over spirallinghospital cost: PAC

PUBLIC Expenditure Secre-tary General Robert Watt yes-terday faced claims the publicwas “sold a pup” over “a rightcock-up” of the National Chil-dren’s Hospital (NCH) costs.Amid fears the hospital’s€1.7bn bill will rise further,he spent seven hours beinggrilled by twoDáil committeeswith angry exchanges at timesover the controversy.The day started badly whenthe Dáil’s Public AccountsCommittee (PAC) heard thathe had allegedly describedthem as a “mob”.Members also complainedthat an 18-page statement con-tained no direct references tothe hospital.Fianna Fáil’s MarcMacSharry claimed thiswas “aHarvey Smith to this commit-tee, the two fingers”, a refer-ence to a British show-jumperwho infamously made thegesture to rivals.MrWatt appeared before thePAC to discuss oversight ofcapital spending projects.His statement containeddetails of reforms made onthe back of the NCH debaclewhich has seen constructioncosts for the facility rise by€450m to €1.4bn.With the added cost of fittingit out, that will exceed €1.7bn.Mr Watt said such projectsshould not be announcedbased on cost “guesstimates”and that the Government willno longer pre-commit tomajorbespoke projects until thereis “100pc clarity on tenderedcosts”.Mr MacSharry pointed to a

clause in the NCH construc-tion contract that allows forfurther talks on price if con-struction inflation climbsabove 4pc. He said construc-tion inflation was currently ataround 7pc, so the contractorswere going to be in a positionto renegotiate and the costswere likely to be “significantlymore”.He claimed the public were“being sold a pup” with the€1.7bn price tag “as ridicu-lously high as that sounds”and “likely not to be remotelythat price”.MrWatt later refused to givehis opinion on another majorproject where there are seri-ous concerns over rising costs– the controversial NationalBroadband Plan (NBP).Fianna Fáil’s Bobby Ayl-ward asked about commentsby Taoiseach Leo Varadkarwho suggested the cost couldbe multiples of the originalestimate of €500m.MrWatt said it was up to theGovernment to “talk aboutbroadbandwhen they’re ready

CormacMcQuinnPOLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Public spending chief blasted for rising €1.7bn bill

to talk about broadband” andadded cryptically: “I haveviews, but any commentwouldbe career-changing.” A spokes-person later declined to elabo-rate onMrWatt’s remark.Social Democrat TD Cath-erine Murphy asked whetherthe €500m was a “guessti-mate” and could be “think of anumber andmultiply it by six”.Mr Watt replied that Com-munications Minister RichardBruton would “talk about thisin due course”.At the later Finance Com-mittee, Mr Watt predictedthat people would eventuallysee the costs of the NCH as“money well spent”, given theinadequate conditions of exist-ing children’s hospitals.He said: “Obviously, the costis higher than we would havehoped” and added that inDecember the Governmenthad to make a judgment callto proceed.“Even though it will be veryexpensive, future generationswill say this was money wellspent and it’s providing worldclass facilities,” he said.Committee chairman JohnMcGuinness put it to MrWattthat, despite the layers of over-sight of the NCH, includingGovernment officials’ involve-ment, “a right cock-up” hadbeenmade of the costs.Mr Watt highlighted therole of the Children’s Hospi-tal development board andDepartment of Health inoverseeing the project.He said: “There are a wholevariety of issues which haveclearly been aired in terms ofhow this has turned out.“We need to ensure that itdoesn’t happen again.”

Robert Watt was grilled forseven hours by committees

Six-year-old Kayla ‘wiped out in hours’ bCatherineDevine

THE mother of a young girlwho died of meningitis hasrevealed how the deadlyinfection killed her daughter“within hours”.Six-year-old Kayla Carey,from CoMeath, passed away ayear ago today.Her mother, Ger O’Connor,said it had been “terrifying”to watch how quickly Kayladeteriorated.“Kayla and her cousin wereat a family party, and theywereboth in great form,” she said.“They both felt unwell that

night, but they had eaten a lotof cake sowe thought thatwascausing it. Neither of themhada rash or a high temperature.”Ger, who has three youngerchildren Faith (5), Brooklyn(18 months) and Charlie (threemonths) said Kayla went tobed as normal.However, in themorning shewas still unwell and bruiseshad appeared on her body.“I called an ambulance, butby the time she got to hospital,she was black and blue,” saidGer. “I knew she was gone. Itwiped her out in hours.”Kayla’s cousin of 10 was also

hospitalised with meningitisbut made a full recovery.“Her cousin had a strongerimmune system and that’swhy shewas able to beat it off,”added Ger.“They say it’s not contagious,it can only be passed throughthe nose or mouth, but Kaylaand her cousin used the sameinhaler for their asthma at thebirthday party.”Ger said the familywere stillcoming to terms with Kay-la’s death and that she stillcouldn’t bear to visit her grave.She described her youngdaughter as “having a heart

full of gold” and that she lovedall things magical.“Therewas something aboutKayla that just always stoodout,” she said.“When people would ask herwhat she wanted to be whenshe grewup, she’d say that shewanted to be small forever.Wetell her brothers and sister thatGod just wanted Kayla backbecause shewas so special.”The devastated mumpleaded with other parents tovaccinate their children and toalways “trust their instincts”.“Parents just know whensomething isn’t right,” she

Tribute:KyronO’Gormanand SeanJennings ofIrish CoastGuard at thelaunch ofnew stampsmarkingthe rescueand patrolservice’scontributionto society.The stampsare based onan originalpaintingby the lateCaitrionaLucas (insetabove), wholost herlife whilevolunteeringin 2016.Photo:Maxwells

BusinessECB haltsrate rise aseurozonestutters22

13NIRISH INDEPENDENT Friday, March 8, 2019

Health News

Non-antibioticdrug could haltsepsis spreadEilishO’ReganHEALTH CORRESPONDENT

A DRUG that may be able tostop patients with the poten-tially deadly condition sepsisfrom suffering multiple organfailure is being developed byIrish researchers.The early stage research,which is still at pre-clinicalstage, by the Royal College ofSurgeons in Ireland (RCSI)could lead to the first non-antibiotic treatment for sepsis.Sepsis is a relatively rarebut serious complication ofinfection, which needs a quickresponse to stop multipleorgan failure and death.It kills 3,000 people in Ire-land every year, but if it iscaught early, it can be treatedusing antibiotics.However, in many cases,antibiotics are not effectivedue to drug resistance ordelays in identifying the typeof bacteria that have causedthe infection.It means there is a need fora non-antibiotic therapy thatcan be used at all stages ofinfection against all bacterialcauses of sepsis.The findings relating to thepre-clinical trial of the poten-tila drug, known as Inno-voSep, were presented to atthe college’s annual researchmeeting yesterday.Principal investigator Profes-sor Steve Kerrigan, associateprofessor in pharmacology atRCSI and inventor of Inno-voSep, said: “Sepsis occurswhen an infection gets intothe bloodstream and our ownbody’s defence system spinsout of control trying to fightthe infection, which resultsin multiple organ failure ifuntreated.“There is only a short win-dow of opportunity for treat-ment of sepsis with the early

administration of antibioticsand fluid. However, in manycases antibiotics are not effec-tive due to drug resistance ordelays in identifying the typeof bacteria that has caused theinfection.“Therefore, there is a needfor a non-antibiotic therapythat can be used at all stagesof infection against all bacte-rial causes of sepsis.”Prof Kerrigan said findinga new therapy was critical “ascurrent research from theWorld SepsisAlliance suggeststhat the incidence of sepsis isgrowing annually by 8pc”.He added: “Our research hasshown the InnovoSep candi-date drug can prevent sepsisprogression early or indeed

treat advanced sepsis.“The drug appears to act bypreventing the bacteria fromgetting into the bloodstreamfrom the site of infection bystabilising the blood vessels sothat they cannot leak bacteriaand infect the major organs.“The promising results of theInnovoSep pre-clinical trialgive hope for a new non-anti-biotic treatment of this con-dition that could be effectivein both the early and moreadvanced stages of sepsiswhich results in almost 3,000deaths in Ireland each year.”The signs and symptoms ofsepsis mirror those of flu andinclude high temperature,rapid heart rate, rapid breath-ing, pain, pale or mottled skinand feeling generally very sick.Sepsis symptoms comeon very quickly, whereas fludevelops over days.

Drug inventor:Professor SteveKerrigan of theRCSI

Number of mumps cases soarsby 650pc in the space of a year

ClaireMurphy

CONFIRMED cases of themumps have jumped by650pc in a year.The Health ProtectionSurveillance Centre (HPSC)confirmed that so far thisyear a total of 451 mumpscases had been notified.This compares to 60 forthe same period in 2018.Throughout thewhole of lastyear, a total of 575 cases werenotified.The majority of mumpscases to date in 2019 havebeen in teenagers and young

OUTBREAKS

adults and 20 people werehospitalised.There have been 10mumps outbreaks reportedin community, school,university, private homesand other settings so far thisyear.A number of high-profilesporting events were calledoff recently due to mumpsinfections. Trinity CollegeDublin and UCD havecontacted students andstaff warning of symptoms,which include fever,headache, tiredness andswollen salivary glands.

s’ bymeningitis, says mum

said. “There can be no symp-toms with meningitis, it’sterrifying how quickly it tookKayla, but it’s also so impor-

tant to vaccinate your kids.Kayla was vaccinated and upto date with her vaccines, butit was the meningitis B strainthat she caught, which wasn’tincluded in herMMRvaccine.”A spokesperson for the Men-ingitis Research Foundationsaid the bacteria that causemeningitis are transmitted byclose contact, such as cough-ing, sneezing or kissing butthat the bacteria do not nat-urally live or survive for longoutside the human body.In January 2019 alone, therewere 17 cases of differentforms ofmeningitis in Ireland.

Tragedy:Kayla Careypassed awaya year ago

Arrest overthe theft ofCrusaderskull fromchurch crypt

Ken Foy

A MAN in his 20s was lastnight being questioned bygardaí over the theft of twoskulls – one the head of an800-year-old mummy – andthe desecration of a crypt at aDublin church.The suspect was arrestedaround 6pm yesterday andtaken to a north inner cityGarda station where he wasquestioned.It comes just days after themummified skull of a Cru-sader and another skull, whichhad been taken from the tombat St Michan’s Church nearlytwoweeks ago, were returned.They were discoveredtogether in a bag on thegrounds of the northsidechurch onTuesday after appar-ently being left back at thelocation overnight, and gardaíwere notified.It was this week that a sus-pect in the desecration of thecrypt was caught on CCTVwalking along the quays withthe head of an 800-year-oldmummy and another skull ina shopping bag.

The intruder gained entry tothe crypt by using an iron barto break through a steel doorand a metal gate, and detec-tives believe that he had vis-ited the church in the past.Substantial damage wascaused to the tourist attrac-tion, and the head of an800-year-old mummy calledThe Crusaderwas stolen.The 400-year-old remains ofa nun also suffered damage.A skull which had beenplaced on a coffin in the tombhad also been taken.Gardaí did not release detailsabout the “second head” foroperational reasons because offears that “peoplewith strangetendencies” might come for-ward, claiming that they hadfalse information about TheCrusader’s head.A forensic anthropologisthas been enlisted to determinewhat damage may have beencaused to the skulls.Gardaí have said that expertsfrom the National Museum ofIreland are acting in an advi-sory capacity.Archbishop of Dublin Diar-muid Martin said he was“delighted” that both thehead of The Crusader and theskull taken from St Michan’sChurch has been recovered.

Therewere fears that‘peoplewith strangetendencies’ mightcome forward

Monday11 February 2019

RRP of The Herald in ROI is €1.30THE HERALD Vol. 128 No. 36

THE HERALDMONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2019

Catherine Devine

THE devastated mum of a14-year-old boywho tookhis ownlife haswarned against allowingchildren to be prescribed Prozac.Stephanie McGill-Lynch said her son’s death in

March 2013was “preventable from start to finish”.He had been prescribed Prozac by a psychiatrist.

“If I had known what that drug was, Iwould never have given it to my child,” adistraught Stephanie said. SEE P4-5

Stephanie McGill-Lynchand John Lynchwholost their son Jake

McGill-Lynch (below)when hewas 14

MONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2019 THE HERALD

4 NewsEXCLUSIVE

STEPHANIEMcGill-Lynch saysher life ended on March 19,2013, when she opened her14-year-old son Jake’s bedroomdoor and found him lying mo-tionless under a .22 rifle.Sitting at her kitchen table

in a quiet residential area ofClondalkin, Dublin, Stephaniedescribed the haunting imageof her son that she said willlive with her and her husbandJohn forever.“We were sitting in the liv-

ing room and Jake was in hisbedroom after returning homefrom school,” she said.“John got up to get Jake’s

milk and toast and he wentout to the hall to call him butthere was no reply. John justlooked at me and we both ranup the stairs.“We opened Jake’s bedroom

door, and I’ll always rememberthatmy son had no socks on hisfeet. There was a porcelain lookto them. And then I saw the riflethat we kept in our home lyingon top of him.”In a harrowing interview,

Stephanie criticised the lack ofsupport for teenagers who arestruggling with their mentalhealth and said her son’s deathwas “preventable from startto finish”.Jake was diagnosed with

Asperger’s syndrome, which isan autism spectrum disorder,in 2012. He was intermittentlyseeing a psychologist at theChild and Adolescent MentalHealth Services (CAMHS), butStephanie said that overall Jakewas a happy child.

ANXIETYHis anxiety increased aheadof his Junior Certificate mockexams, and the psychologistat CAMHS referred Jake to aconsultant psychiatrist.On January 31, 2013, John

took Jake to the appointment,where Jake was prescribed theantidepressant Prozac. Thepsychiatrist had not met Jakebefore this consultation.“I have no idea whymy child

was prescribed medication atthat one meeting,” Stephaniesaid.“Jake had generalised anx-

iety, like most kids who wereabout to sit big exams, but hewas not depressed and did notneed medication.“There is so much pressure

on the mental health servicesthat there isn’t enough timeor resources to spend properlytalking with these kids that aresuffering.”According to a Freedom of

Information request to theHSE, in the first half of 2016 al-most 1,500 young people underthe age of 16 were prescribedantidepressants. Of those, 66teenagers were prescribedFluoxetine (Prozac) betweenJanuary and July 2016.Stephanie said that following

the meeting with the psychia-trist, she took the prescriptionto a pharmacy and picked upthe medication.“At the pharmacy I didn’t get

the full package – I got a part ofthe full product. Jake’s Prozacwas liquid and it was given tome inweekly doses, poured intoa small plastic bottle,” she said.“I have no problem with

Prozac, I have no issue withantidepressants, I have an is-

sue with informed consentnot being mandatory andoff-label prescribing.“The drug is used for

under 18s for moderate orsevere depression.My Jakewas not depressed. He hadgeneralised anxiety fromschool. He should neverhave been given Prozac.”Stephanie said a patient

information leaflet was notincluded with the drug.The patient information

leaflet for Prozac, whichcan be found on theHPRAwebsite, andwhich was inplace at the time Jake tookhis own life, carries a warn-ing that “patients under18 have an increased riskof side-effects such as sui-cide attempt, suicidal thoughtsand hostility (predominantlyaggression, oppositional behav-iour and anger) when they takethis class of medicines”.“If I had known what that

drug was, I would never havegiven it tomy child,” Stephaniesaid.The year before, Stephanie

had taken Jake to a dermatol-ogist to see if she could treathis mild acne, but refused toput him on the popular drugRoaccutane, as she was awarethat it could lead to depressionand suicidal ideation.After four days of being on

Prozac, Jake started his mockexams. Two days into his ex-ams, Jake walked out halfway

through his Irish exam, whichwas “unheard of” for the starstudent.“That night, he had his first

meltdown ever in his life andhe cried for about three hours.He said, ‘you don’t know whatit’s like in my head mammy’. Isaid, ‘no son, I don’t. But I’ll tell

you what, put that sciencebook away. It’s only a bloodyexam’. We just presumed itwas from the exams.”The next week, Steph-

anie went back down tothe chemist to collect thesecond week’s supply ofProzac for Jake.She said that Jake had

been left on Prozac unmon-itored for several weeksbefore he received an ap-pointment with the psychi-atrist in mid-February.

AGITATED“I told her I didn’t reallythink that the drug wasworking out for Jake andabout his sleep patterns andmeltdowns,” Stephanie said.“I was told it would all wear

off in four to six weeks. So weleft, and that was the last timehe was ever seen in CAMHS.”Over the next month, Jake

got through his exams butstruggled through the days.“On March 19, Jake went to

school as always but when hecame home that evening he saidhe didn’t feel well,” Stephaniesaid. “John came home fromwork and Jake was upstairs inhis room. He was agitated andI thought maybe he had fallenout with his female friend inIowa, who he often spoke toonline.“John went up to him after

work and had a chat with himand he seemed OK again.”

That night, John and Steph-anie found 14-year-old Jakelying on his bedroom floor withself-inflicted gun wounds.“I will never, ever be able to

move on from that day,” Steph-anie said.Jake had joined a gun club

with his mother a few monthspreviously. He didn’t enjoyother sports, which is not un-common for people with As-perger’s, however he showedan immediate enthusiasm andaptitude for shooting.“Jake and I were both mem-

bers of a gun club.We had a .22rifle in the house and it was keptin the gun safe. I was in chargeof the gun and Jake was incharge of the toolbox with theammunition and the two werenever kept together. So if thegun was taken out of the safe,the toolbox would be removed.“The gun would be taken

down every now and again,because you had to do poseswith it. We allowed him to takethe gun down that night and Iforgot to take the toolbox out ofhis bedroom. I have to live withthat guilt for the rest of my life.”John, who is a paramedic,

started working on his sonand he was rushed to TallaghtHospital.“They couldn’t save Jake and

we made the decision to turnthe life support machine off. Itwas just awful,” he said. “Thefirst thing I did when I camehome was throw the bottle of

Prozac against the wall. Thatwas the only thing that hadchanged inmy son’s life. I didn’thave a depressed, suicidal child.“He doesn’t deserve to be

dead at 14 for his Junior Certor because he had Asperger’s.”In an email written 24 hours

before his death, Jake said hewas feeling “drugged” and de-scribed how he had “panickedto the point of tears before somepretty big exams”.“It’ll be six years on the 20

March this year and nothinghas changed. The black boxwarning is still not on Prozac,”Stephanie said.The US has adopted “black

box” warnings to indicate thatantidepressants may increasethe risk of suicidal thinking andbehaviour in some adolescents.“The support in this country

for families whose loved one hasdied by suicide or a self-inflictedinjury is disgusting,” Stephaniesaid. “Wewere brought into thecoroner’s court 13 times overa 15-month period. We wereleft with a bill of more than€50,000, which our insurancewouldn’t cover because theydon’t cover ‘that kind of death’.”In October 2015, Jake’s in-

quest heard the US black labelwas based on a meta-analysiscarried out in 2003 but subse-quent studies have found noincrease in suicidal ideationin young people with anxietytaking Prozac.The Irish Medicines Board

Catherine Devine ‘IWILLNEVERBEABLETOMOVEON’–MUM’SAGONYATDEATHOFSON(14)WHOWASTAKINGPROZACsue with informed consentnot being mandatory and

“The drug is used forunder 18s for moderate orsevere depression.My Jakewas not depressed. He hadgeneralised anxiety fromschool. He should never

Stephanie said a patientinformation leaflet was not

The patient informationleaflet for Prozac, whichcan be found on theHPRAwebsite, andwhich was inplace at the time Jake tookhis own life, carries a warn-ing that “patients under18 have an increased riskof side-effects such as sui-

you what, put that sciencebook away. It’s only a bloodyexam’. We just presumed itwas from the exams.”

anie went back down tothe chemist to collect thesecond week’s supply ofProzac for Jake.

been left on Prozac unmon-itored for several weeksbefore he received an ap-pointment with the psychi-atrist in mid-February.

AGITATED“I told her I didn’t reallythink that the drug wasworking out for Jake andabout his sleep patterns andmeltdowns,” Stephanie said.

‘I didn’thaveasuicidal child.Hedoesn’tdeserve tobedeadat 14’

THE HERALDMONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2019

IRISH people visit the cinemamore than any other nation-ality in Europe.An average of 3.3 cinema

visits per capita were made inIreland in 2018 – more thantwice the EU average of 1.6.Figures obtained by the

International Union of Cin-emas (UNIC) paint a mixedpicture for cinema attend-ances across Europe, withtotal admissions down onthe previous record-breakingyear of 2017.UNIC has attributed the

dip in attendances in part tothe World Cup and the heat-wave during the summer.However, cinema

sales in Irelandbucked the trend,rocketing to aneight-year peakin 2018.We beat

France to topthe big screen at-tendance per capitacharts – a feat Irelandhas achieved since re-cords began in 1995.Guillaume Branders, senior

industry relations and re-

search manager with UNIC,said Ireland had the “highestscreen density” of the

countries studied.

MAGICWide Eye Mediachief executiveEoin Wrixonsaid: “Althoughwe live in an eraof multi-screen-ing, streaming

and watching on de-mand, the cinema never

loses its power or its magic.”Ireland enjoyed bumper

cinema admissions last year,

with 2018’s €117.3m box officereturn nearly €4mmore thanthe previous year – and thehighest figure since 2010.Industry watchdogs believe

2019 could turn out to be aneven more profitable year.“With The Lion King, The

Hustle, Star Wars: EpisodeIX, Once Upon A Time InHollywood, Toy Story 4, Fro-zen 2, Long Shot, Avengers:Endgame, Joker, DowntonAbbey and Cats all on theirway to our screens this year,we could see admissions percapita spike in 2019,” MrWrixon added.

Moviemagicmakes usEurope’s biggest cinema fansNick Bramhill

News 5

wave during the summer.However, cinema

bucked the trend,

the big screen at-tendance per capitacharts – a feat Irelandhas achieved since re-

screen density” of thecountries studied.

MAGICWide Eye Mediachief executiveEoin Wrixonsaid: “Althoughwe live in an eraof multi-screen-ing, streaming

and watching on de-mand, the cinema never

contacted doctors in 2003 tosay that having studied the classof medications affected, theyrecommended Prozac as beingthe safest in children under 18.The coroner, Dr Brian Farrell,

returned an open verdict.

VERDICTStephanie welcomed this asshe said the ruling ‘death bysuicide’ didn’t reflect her son’sdeath, as she believes it wasdrug-induced. She has sincebeen campaigning for the in-troduction of a new verdict atinquests which could recordsuicides as having been causedby prescribed medication.However, in May 2018, Jus-

tice Minister Charlie Flanaganruled out the proposed bill

after it was defeated inthe Seanad.“It was absolutely

devastating. My son’sdeath wasn’t a suicide. Ifelt like my child didn’tmatter as a citizen ofthis country. Jake was14, he had a right to life,”Stephanie said.“We are not looking

for anyone’s head on aplate. But we are look-ing for some kind of

accountability.”Martin Rogan, chief execu-

tive officer of Mental HealthIreland, said Prozac, like allmedication, has “its benefitsand its side effects”.“Before anymedication goes

on the market, it goes throughsignificant testing. But everymedication will have side ef-fects and won’t always suitevery individual,” he said.In a statement to the Her-

ald, the HSE said it cannotcomment on individual cases,but said medication “may beprescribed in line with bestpractice and clinical evidence”.“Treatment withmedication

is always considered as onlybeing one part of a care plan,”the HSE added.

after it was defeated inthe Seanad.

devastating. My son’sdeath wasn’t a suicide. Ifelt like my child didn’tmatter as a citizen ofthis country. Jake was14, he had a right to life,”Stephanie said.

for anyone’s head on aplate. But we are look-ing for some kind of

Stephanie McGill-Lynchand John Lynch, wholost their son Jake

McGill-Lynch (inset) tosuicide when hewas 14

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this articleplease contact:l Samaritans – 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.iel Aware – 1800 80 48 48l Pieta House – 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.iel Teen-Line Ireland – 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)l Childline – 1800 66 66 66 (for under-18s)

Raiders threatenshopworkerasthey steal phones

STAFF were terrorised whenthree men threatened anemployee and stole dozens ofphones in a shocking daylightrobbery at a Vodafone shop inCoWexford.The incident happened at aVodafone branch in Bunclodyat 3pm on Saturday.CCTV shows how one of themen entered the shop andappears to ask for assistance.

Two other men can then beseen walking in and headingstraight for the back roomwhere a number of valuablephones were stored.They then appear to force theterrified Vodafone employeeinto the storage room andmade him open a number ofsafes.The trio escaped with threelarge bags of phones and somecash. They are understood tohave been seen fleeing thescene in a gold Skoda Octavia.

AVodafonemanager told theIrish Independent that therewas also an attempted rob-bery at a branch in Athy, CoKildare, at around 11am on thesame day.However, in the Athy case,the raiders left empty-handedafter shop staff raised thealarm.“Three guys were in ourshop in Athy and they didn’thave any success as colleaguesspotted something wasn’tright.“Then at 2.50pm in Bunclodythe same thing happened,”said the manager.“There were no guns orweapons used, but they werevery aggressive.“They took every phone andsome money. Nobody washurt, just shocked.”A Garda spokeswomantold the Irish Independentno arrests have been madein relation to the Bunclodyincident.However, Garda investiga-tions are ongoing.“Any witnesses or anyonewho can assist gardaí withinformation is asked to pleasecontact Bunclody garda sta-tion on 053-9377102,” sheadded.

AmyMolloy

“WE OPENED Jake’sbedroom door, and I’ll alwaysremember that my son had nosocks on his feet. There was aporcelain look to them. Andthen I saw the rifle that wekept in our home lying on topof him.”Stephanie McGill-Lynchsays shewill “never, ever beable to move on from thatday” – March 19, 2013 –whenshe and husband John foundtheir son Jake dead from aself-inflicted gunshot woundon the floor of his bedroom.She believes Jake’s deathwas “preventable from startto finish” and he took his ownlife because of Prozac.Jakewas diagnosedwithAsperger syndrome, anautism spectrum disorder, in2012. Hewas intermittentlyseeing a psychologist at theChild andAdolescent MentalHealth Services (CAMHS) butStephanie, from Clondalkin,Dublin, said that overall Jakewas a happy child.His anxiety increased aheadof his Junior Cert mockexams and the psychologistat CAMHS referred Jake to aconsultant psychiatrist.

On January 31, 2013, Johntook Jake to the appointmentwith the psychiatrist whereJakewas prescribed the anti-depressant Prozac.“I have no idea whymy childwas prescribed medicationat that one meeting. Jakehad generalised anxiety likemost kids whowere about tosit big exams, but hewas notdepressed and did not needmedication.“There is so much pressureon the mental health servicesthere isn’t enough time orresources to spend properlytalkingwith these kids thatare suffering,” said Stephanie.In an email written 24 hoursbefore his death, Jake saidhewas feeling “drugged”and described how he had“panicked to the point oftears before some pretty bigexams”.An inquest into his deathrecorded an open verdict.Stephanie said the firstthing she did when she camehome fromTallaght Hospitalafter Jake’s deathwas to“throw the bottle of Prozacagainst the wall”.“That [Prozac] was the onlything that had changed inmy son’s life. I didn’t have adepressed, suicidal child. He

CatherineDevine doesn’t deserve to be deadat 14 for his Junior Cert orbecause he hadAsperger’s.”Stephanie says her familyare “not trying to frightenpeople” but “we believe thatmedication should be the lastresort, not the first one”.“If your child is stressedabout exams or breaking upfrom a relationship – that’snot depression. That’s life.“We can talk about mentalhealth andwe can raiseawareness, but we need tohave supports in place too.There’s no point in havingboards of people sittingaround a table or celebritiesdiscussing teenage mentalhealth when they’re notbacking it upwith actualsupports. Every school shouldhave a psychologist. I don’twant any other child to sufferlike Jake did or how ourfamily is suffering now.”In a statement the HSEsaid it cannot commenton individual cases. But itsaid fluoxetine (Prozac) isprescribed for under-18s “for anumber of clinical conditionswhen indicated, takinginto account the severityof the presenting problemand response to otherpsychological interventions”.

‘I didn’t have a suicidal child’ –mumblames Prozac for deathAnxiety:Jake McGillLynch, whodied bysuicide at age14. Below,his parentsStephanieand JohnfromClondalkinwarn that‘medicationshould be thelast resort,not the firstone.’

‘Therewere no gunsorweapons, but theywere very aggressive’

16 Monday, February 11, 2019 IRISH INDEPENDENT

News

Americauncovered

Irish Independent photographerMarkCondren andreporterCatherine Devine delve into Trump’s America

to reveal contrasting pictures of a divided country

Review17 | 11 | 18 |

In her ownwordsThe former First Lady’smemoir is as warm andrelatable as Brand ObamaBooks p18

JusticewarriorMeet Kathleen Zellner, the US lawyer who stealsthe show in Netflix’sMaking a Murderer 2Culture p12

LongwaitNew hope for Ballymurphy massacre families p10

News,Analysis,Interviews&more

Sonya King, a black Muslim womanwas delivering food inAtlantawhenher first customer of the day, RickPainter (54), grabbed her head cov-ering, pulled her inside his homeand began to choke herwith it.

“That was some real hateful stuff,” King said.“Every time I told that man, ‘I got children,’ hepulled harder.”Prabhjot Singh, a Sikh doctor living in NewYork City, waswalking on a September eveningwhen more than 20 men confronted him. Themen shouted anti-Muslim slurs, calling hima ‘terrorist’ and ‘Osama Bin Laden’ as he wasbadly beaten outside his home.It was the third time he’d been physically

attacked since 9/11. Simran Jeet Singh, a sen-ior religion fellow at the Sikh Coalition in NewYork says that ‘Muslim’ has become a badwordin the US and their community has becomecaught in the crossfire.“It has becomewrong to associate with a par-ticular religious tradition,” he says. “A lot of thishate is rooted in ignorance because people areassuming that I’m Muslim when I’m not, justbecause of their sort of racial understanding ofwho I am based onmy appearance.”In Virginia, Geoffrey Preudhomme, a univer-sity student, spent an hour cowering behind hisbedroom door, while his roommate repeatedlyshouted the n-word, banged on his door andthreatened to slit his throat. He said people

wouldn’t have believed him if he hadn’t filmedthe incident.“In today’s America, you have to be ready tofilm and document it, it’s not just with brutal-ity, but in order to change the system we haveto expose all versions of racism,” Preudhommesaid. “I was threatened for the first time in mylife in a place where I live, where you are sup-posed to feel the safest.”These are just some examples of hate crimesthat I discoveredwhile researching the topic inthe US for the past year.However, my analysis of the federal NationalCrime Victimisation Survey, which interviewstens of thousands of Americans annually,showed that hate crimes in the US are vastly

underreported by victims. My research showedthat more than 2.4 million crimes, whose vic-tims suspect were motivated by hate, werecommitted across the United States between2012 and 2016. In the same five-year period, theFBI counted only 30,000 hate crimes reportedto them by local police. Only 12pc of US policedepartments reported any hate crimes at all tothe FBI.Jack McDevitt, director of Northeastern Uni-versity’s Institute on Race and Justice, said thevictimisation survey data is important in deter-

Choked: Sonya King wasattacked while deliveringfood in Atlanta. Photo by

Megan Ross/news21

Unveiled: Hate crimes in the US

Hate crime against Muslims, non-whites and gay people is vastly underreportedin modern America for reasons including fear of authorities and lack of usableevidence. Catherine Devine reports on her seven-month US research project

into a world of polarised views and expanding white nationalism

Continued on Page 4

mining victims’ perceptions of hate crimes ata time of cultural and political upheaval in theUnited States.“Groups such as black Americans and theLGBTQ community have historically and con-sistently been targeted by hate crimes.However, external events and politics canchange attitudes towards certain groups,”McDevitt said. “Whenever controversial thingshappen, it empowers the haters to go ahead andact out because they believe that people sharetheir bias.”

THETRUMPEFFECTVictims, hate groups, advocates and officialsacross the US said that the cultural and politicaldivisiveness in America today has emboldenedmore people to express intolerance towardsminorities and that the targets often keepsilent.Michael Lieberman, director of the CivilRights Policy Planning Centre at the Anti-Def-amation League, said hate often increases dur-ing elections, and this last presidential electioncycle pushed more people to reveal their intol-erance.“Hate crimes have been pretty consistent forthe past 10 years, but during times of electionsor political events, things can be very polaris-ing,” Lieberman said. “There is no doubt thatthe 2016 election was not a good example ofcomity and civility, and promoting diversity andrespect for others.”Jack McDevitt echoed this sentiment: “Any-time you demonise a group, it sends a messageto the people that might act violently that thisis a group that you can target and people won’tcare,” he says.“Hate crime offenders feel that everyoneelse shares their bias tendencies, but they’retoo afraid to act. They feel like heroes becausethey’re going to act out.“Some members of minority groups feel vul-nerable and unwelcome in America. Betweenthe hateful rhetoric and law enforcement reac-tion and some police-induced violence, they arefeeling under siege inways they haven’t before.”Since President Trump’s election, Latinosand immigrants in the US said they have expe-rienced a newwave of hate-related incidents.While my research found that Latinos andimmigrants don’t report hate crimes becauseof the threat of deportation, targeting doesappears to be on the rise.“We’re told not to draw any unnecessaryattention to ourselves. Even if you get robbedor exploited or you’re in danger, you just don’twant that unnecessary attention,” said PricilaGarcia (20), of Cleburne, Texas, the daughter ofMexican immigrants.LGBTQ people also are hesitant to report hatecrimes because of a chronic distrust betweenthe community and the police. Their cases usu-ally aren’t prosecuted as hate crimeswhen theyare reported, victims said.Brandon Ballone, a drag performer, was avictim of a violent crime during a night out inNewYork in 2016. The 27-year-old was wearinga T-shirt advertising his drag-queen personal-ity when a group of teenagers beat him with aglass bottle, leaving himwith a severed tendonin his hand, a torn ear and damaged jaw.Ballone said shock and his impulse to get tosafety meant he couldn’t recall whether hisattackers used homophobic slurs or called himnames. As a result, police didn’t investigate hiscase as a hate crime.“Anybody who attacks someone in that kindof way, it seems to me that there is a lot of hate

There also has been an increase in hatecrimes and recruitment by white supremacistgroups on college campuses. According to datacollected from 6,506 higher-education institu-tions by the US Department of Education, thenumber of reported campus hate incidents,including harassment and vandalism, increasedfrom 74 in 2006 to 1,300 in 2016.

THERISEOFDIGITALHATEIdentity Evropa, a white nationalist group, isactively recruiting on college campuses. Itsleaders said they see colleges as the “last bat-tleground,” where white people are taught tofeel racial guilt and led to believe that multicul-turalism is a positive thing.The organisation distributes recruitment fly-ers, stickers and posters on college campuses,drawing the attention of local and nationalnews media. That extends the group’s pres-ence beyond the reach of its own social mediachannels.“Generally, the idea is that people see the flyerand then they look us up online—we don’t havelinks on the actual flyer, but people use Googleand find us that way,” said Patrick Casey, exec-utive director of Identity Evropa.Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Pov-erty Law Centre’s Intelligence Project, saidthe youthful new right is a “millennial malephenomenon” that is changing the climate ofhate in the US. The violentmisogyny at the coreof the alt-right’s foundations distinguishes itfrom hate groups of the past, she said, noting

Continued from Page 3

there,” Ballone said. “But apparently, a hatecrime, to (the police), means I would have hadto hear them say theword ‘f****t’.”My research,which included a 7,000-mile roadtrip around the country to assess the state ofhate in America, showed that many victims ofhate crimes are reluctant to report them to thepolice because they don’t have any evidence tosupport their claims.Two-thirds of the victimisation surveyrespondents who suspected theywere targetedbecause of hatewere unable to cite tangible evi-dence, such as hate speech, that could be usedby law enforcement. Authorities could confirmonly 2.5pc of the reported crimes were moti-vated by hate.“It’s important to look at the number of peoplewho suspect theywere a victim of a hate crimeand not just the FBI data. People’s perceptionis their reality,” said attorney Roy Austin, a for-mer deputy assistant attorney general of theUS Department of Justice’s civil rights divi-sion. “A lot of these law enforcement agenciesdon’t believe that they have a problemwith hatecrimes. If they don’t think they have a problem,theywon’t deal with it well.”Hate crime laws are not consistent across theUS. Forty-five states have statutes criminalis-ing various types of bias-motivated violenceor intimidation. Hate crime laws in 14 of thosestates do not include either sexual orientationor gender identity. Arkansas, Georgia, SouthCarolina, Indiana and Wyoming have no hatecrime laws at all.

Americauncovered4

the “female-bashing that is at the core of theinternet,” where young males are becomingradicalised.Hate groups have increasingly used socialmedia to recruit members and target victims,giving rise to a new phenomenon of internethate. Tech giants like Facebook and Twitteroffer billions of people unparalleled access tothe rest of the world.“What social media does, is it allows peopleto find each other and establish digital com-munities and relationships,” said BenjaminLee, senior research associate for the Centrefor Research and Evidence on Security Threatsat Lancaster University in England. “That’s notto say that extreme sentiment is growing or not,but it is a lot more visible.”That visibility reached global attention at theAugust 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottes-ville, Virginia. Several hundred white national-ists andwhite supremacists — protesting plansto remove a Confederate statue— chanted suchslogans as “White lives matter” and “Jews willnot replace us” at a rally at the University of Vir-ginia. The protests ended in violent clasheswithcounter-protesters.“Charlottesville illustrated the fact that peoplecan still come together and do things in a waythat is incredibly public and feel that there is nopunishment for it,” McDevitt said.One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed afterJames Alex Fields Jr of Ohio rammed his carinto a group of demonstrators.“People were screaming, you could hear the

Saturday, November 17, 2018 ReviewSaturday, November 17, 2018 Review

A lot ofthese lawenforcementagenciesdon’t believethat theyhave aproblemwithhate crimes.If theydon’t thinkthey havea problem,they won’tdeal withit well

5

Americanhate crimein numbers

74hate crimes reportedon college campusesin 2006.

1,300hate crimes reportedon college campusesin 2016.

30,000hate crimes reportedto the FBI from 2012-2016.

7,175hate crimes reportedto the FBI in 2017.

12%The proportion ofUS police forces thatreported any instanceof hate crime to theFBI 2012-2016.

2.4mcrimes committedbetween 2012-2016whose victims believewere motivated byhate.

5Number of US states— Arkansas, Georgia,South Carolina,Indiana andWyoming— with no hate crimelaws at all.

14Number of US statesthat hate crime lawsdo not include eithersexual orientation orgender identity.

2016The year that IdentityEvropa, a whitenationalist groupwhich is activelyrecruiting on collegecampuses, wasformed.

sounds of thud, thud, thud, but nobody knewwhat it (the car)was,” saidHeyer’smother SusanBro. “And I have a picture that was taken a splitsecond (earlier) by a photographerwithHeatherlooking right at the guy before he hits her.”Jason Kessler, organiser of the Charlottesvillerally, said he feels white people are not givenfair treatment in the United States.“We are fast becoming aminority in the coun-try we founded, and we’re still not able to havethe same rights of assembly and organisationthat other groups are,” he said.RandyGamble, whoworkswith the LynchingSites Project of Memphis, Tennessee, an organ-isation that advocates for racial-justice healing,said a lot of tensions came to the forefront inCharlottesville, but he remains hopeful for thefuture.“We’re dealing with a lot of things from thepast that came to the surface,” he said. “Peopledon’t just forget aboutwhat happened. Violencehappened and that doesn’t go away. We don’twant to repeat that history all over again. Wewant to change the tapestry of this country in away that frees people from thewounds.”

⬤Hate in America, a 15-part investigationexamining intolerance, racism and hatecrimes, is the 2018 project of the Carnegie-Knight News21 programme, a nationalmultimedia reporting project producedby the nation’s top journalism studentsand graduates and based at Arizona StateUniversity.

Flashpoint: a whitesupremacist militia memberstands in front of counter-protesting clergy duringa Unite the Right rally inCharlottesville last year;

and right, Susan Bro, whosedaughter Heather Heyer diedduring the counter protestsat the rally. Picture by Kianna

Gardner/news21

Ignorance: Simran JeetSingh, a senior religionfellow at the Sikh

Coalition in New York,says many Americansbelieve he is a Muslim.

Picture by ashleyMacKey/news21

Review Saturday, November 17, 2018