Ivy League Law Grad Torches 9/11 Chapel

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Memorial Park
Acting on a dare, a drunk Harvard Law School grad allegedly set fire to a chapel yesterday that houses the remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The perp — identified as 26-year-old Brian Schroeder — broke into Memorial Park near the corner of First Avenue and East 30th Street and set the blaze at around 9 am. The fire did not get to the remains, which are kept in climate-controlled containers awaiting advances in DNA technology that might allow them to be identified, but notes, photos, flowers, and other mementos inside the white-tented sanctuary were either stolen or burned. Schroeder turned himself in to police last night.

The facility is typically closed to everyone except for the families of 9/11 victims, so it's unclear exactly how the suspect even got into the shrine. One of Schroeder's relatives said the suspect — who moved to New York to pursue a job with a law firm — didn't set the blaze because of political motives. "With all my experiences with [him], he didn't have any radical agenda. Nothing but a good person," the source told the Post. "It's clearly out of his character and I'm sure he feels for the victims' families."

The bodies will eventually be moved to the World Trade Center Memorial, which is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 11, 2011 — that is, if it isn't delayed again.

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He might want to reconsider his relationship with the person who dared him to break into a chapel and then commit arson...

He might want to reconsider his relationship with sanity.

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Or reconsider The Volstead Act.

It's probably safe to say that his position with a law firm is, um, "being reconsidered" as we speak. Or to use Trumpspeak: You're fired.

That's ok- Lynne Stewart's firm always has room for a fellow traveller!

Based on info elsewhere, it sounds as if he just graduated recently, and thus hasn't been admitted to the bar yet (so good luck with that, too ...)

Funny how the elitist media works.
The NYpost article mentions he is a HLS grad, as well as undergrad from Duke, but the NY Times makes No mention of Hahvard. This is just one way they try to keep the prestige of their school so high.

Or possibly the NYT just didn't find it particularly relevant to the story. Exactly how is the fact that he is a Harvard grad important here? Do you expect media outlets to provide you with the full educational background of all alleged criminals that they report on or only those who have graduated from Ivy League institutions?

i think it's relevant... both because one expects more of a well-educated person and it also speaks to a smug sense of entitlement.

The Times regularly drops into articles if someone is a Harvard grad when it isn't especially relevant. It's similar to how when you first meet a Harvard grad they manage to work it into the conversation within five minutes.

I would agree if we were talking about Yale or UPenn or whatever. But if you've ever met a Harvard grad, you'll know it in the first five minutes of meeting them. Because they'll tell you to your face. Or try to subtly "hint" at it to get you to ask them where they went to school. Though now that I've learned that trick, I never ask anyone where they went to school.

What exactly, is your opinion based on? Several encounters with said individuals or some dude you met at a cocktail party that went to the extension school? Sounds like a totally baseless remark to me.

What is relevant here is not whether he is a Harvard Law graduate, but his use of alcohol. The use of (excessive quantities of) alcohol among presumably responsible people is epidemic. To the twenty- and thirty-somethings who read this and who are lawyers, doctors, investment bankers, in management or whatever, ask yourselves how often you have had enough alcohol to lose control of your faculties. Then, there but for the grace of god (or whomever) go you. The difference between this fool and you is, perhaps, a very thin line.

It is relevant, not because he should know better or be immune to such things, but because guys like him have the most to lose. This story is completely different if the suspect is some random high school stoner or a Creedmoor outpatient.

I def agree. He just flushed his life down and his parents money down the shitter. This also leads me to believe he has done dumb shit while he was drunk before. Also he might want to reconsider the people he considers friends. What asshole has friends that dare someone to set fire to a memorial or ANYTHING for that fact. And sure alcohol causes people to do stupid things but this is beyond stupid and bad judgement. I'm sorry just because he is a Harvard Law Grad and he got drunk I think he still should be punished and so should his friends.

Wrong. If you drink until you lose control, you are not a responsible person. If, once drunk, you commit crimes, you are not a responsible person. You are, in fact, a shitty person who deserves to be in jail. Alcohol is not responsible for the actions of its users; they are. I've gotten shitfaced on many an occasion and I've never committed vandalism. Just about every friend I've ever had has gotten shitfaced on many an occasion, and none of them has ever done anything more serious than pissing on a wall or getting into a fight. Breaking into a memorial and setting fire to it - that's a whole new level of shittiness. I can guarantee you Mr Firebug was a shithead before he got wasted. His friends and family are doing something we NEVER see on Gothamist - lying about a scumbag!

Brian Schroeder is all tattooed and ready to go Fri at 6:31pm
That's Mr. Schroeder's last Facebook status update from Friday night, which is safe to say what led to the torching Saturday morning.

What a moron. He just tossed away his reputation, a crapload of expensive education, his livelihood, and likely his freedom for a set amount of time, and for what? Regardless of whether he was dared to do this, this was a stupid act to commit. I can't think of anybody I know who would do something like this, regardless of how much alcohol they had. If you'd do this drunk, you'd probably not need too much prodding to do it sober.

He even posted pics of his tattoos at 4:51pm yesterday afternoon--over a day AFTER torching a 9/11 memorial. I wish I could write on this douche's wall...

Plus, who is that drunk at 9 in the morning??

I guess he had to capture the tats before they were to be washed off when he turned himself in 2 hours later. As young Woody Allen said in Annie Hall, "What an asshole."

This scumbag's facebook profile is viewable. Last wall post: "I totally just read this article that someone with your name and age set a fire...just a coincidence huh?!"

The post about drinking is total bs. Too much alcohol doesn't drive most people to TORCH 9/11 MEMORIALS, for god's sake. That's a sickness rooted deep in this guy.

For a HLS grad, he's none too bright - first, for torching the chapel. Second, for leaving his FB profile open.

Both actions, however, may also speak to this prick's overinflated ego.

Duke undergrad. Sounds about right...

I really can't wrap my head around this one. It's a pretty non-descript building, and doesn't look like a memorial -- but so what? Who burns down...anything? If he broke in first, and saw that it was a memorial, that's even worse.

But it seems so very odd -- particularly if you look at his facebook page. There's no "burn it down, fire, fire, fire!" stuff -- it's all about show tunes. (Which, ok, would make me want to burn things, but nonetheless.) I'm not saying I'd have a beer with the guy -- I bet he annoys the hell out of his friends -- I'm just saying that he doesn't seem like what I'd think would be the type to burn down a building, regardless of how drunk he was. Just odd.

When I get to Paul Allen's place, I use the keys I took from his pocket. There is a moment of sheer panic when I realize that Paul's apartment overlooks the park and is obviously more expensive than mine. I calm myself and move into the bedroom, where I find his suitcase and start to pack.

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let's torch him too. see how he likes it.

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the guy might want to consider moving back out of new york city because he is no longer welcomed here .I hope the guys who he is locked up with give him a swift kick in the pants.i don't know if it is true but one article wrote thta the guy is one of these truthers.
i hope thta is not true because this makes this crime even worse.and how did he find out about this place it is in a very remote location and you need a special pass to get in there . mostly family memebers and people in the medial examiners office have access to that place

this is why we need a death penalty. 9 in the morning; good thing there were no people there, but you could figure there should/might have been at that hour.

a death penalty would be stupid in this case--he neither killed nor physically harmed anybody. what he did was extremely fucked up & wrong, but giving this idiot the death penalty would make no sense.

"schroeder"? sounds like a you know what. if so indeed, no surprise there.

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