The Trench Coat Mafia can be seen as symbolizing the lore that swirled about the Columbine attack in the following weeks. The Trench Coat Mafia, or TCM, was a legitimate clique of students at Columbine High; however, Harris and Klebold were not a part of this peer group. The TCM got its name due to a student who was an outsider being heckled by other more popular students; in response, he wore an outlandish Halloween costume to school, and then kept wearing the long, black duster (a sort of cowboy/Western version of a trench coat) after Halloween was over. Friends followed suit.

In some way, Harris and Klebold being aligned with the TCM has basis, as both did begin wearing the dusters in question before to the Columbine attack; to some, it would seem that aesthetically, they were indeed part of this clique. Further, both boys wore dusters on the day of attack. However, the national press, in an attempt to deduce motive, would wrongly put forth that Harris and Klebold were part of the TCM, and the TCM itself was a virtual gang at the school. This misinformation, Cullen proffers, would remain in American collective consciousness indefinitely.

The tragic