In southeastern Wisconsin, local media have been reporting on the Jeffrey Dahmer walking tour since Tuesday.
Video, from FOX 6:
The story is gaining traction nationally.
For example:
CBS News: Walking tour of Jeffrey Dahmer's neighborhood spurs controversy
Washington Post: Walking tour of Jeffrey Dahmer’s hunting grounds causes backlash in Milwaukee
FOX News: Dahmer hunting grounds tour stirs backlash in Wis.
Huffington Post: Jeffrey Dahmer Walking Tour: New Tourist Attraction In Milwaukee Upsets Residents
From FOX 6:
A new tour in the city of Milwaukee plans to tell the story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, and his many victims, and some are not happy about this tour, saying it’s in bad taste. Tour organizers say they’re just responding to the curiosity surrounding Dahmer.
The tour kicks off on South Second Street this weekend.
The story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is a dark page in Milwaukee’s history, a page many would like to erase. Now, Dahmer and his 17 victims are the focus of a $30 one-mile walking tour that will launch Saturday on South Second Street. The tour begins at the former Club 219. “We are actually looking at different areas on the tour, where he has actually picked up seven of his 17 victims,” Amanda Morden with BAM Marketing and Media said.
Milwaukee-based BAM Marketing and Media is organizing the tour, and a ticket deal on Groupon has already sold out. However, the firm says they’ve experienced a strong backlash against this plan. “There is outcry as to whether we’re handling this sensitively or not. The material itself is obviously gruesome by nature, but we do not sensationalize or condone the acts that took place,” Morden said.
The doctor who examined Dahmer and testified at his trial says the tour is “in poor taste,” and could cause post-traumatic stress for the victims’ families. “This could bring about the terrible memories and the traumatic experiences. I don’t think it’s good for the families,” Dr. George Palermo said.
VISIT Milwaukee has no plans to promote the tour.
Yeah, I think it's a good idea that VISIT Milwaukee doesn't plan to promote the tour.
Better to promote the Calatrava, even the Bronze Fonz, than to push for tourist traffic for the Dahmer tour.
I'm familiar with Dahmer's neighborhood. His apartment building, of course, was razed 20 years ago, but obviously not every building and street Dahmer frequented in Milwaukee could be wiped off the map.
It's a sick thing.
I would NEVER consider taking the tour. I wouldn't go if I had free tickets.
I feel bad for the survivors of Dahmer's victims and the burden they carry every day of their lives. They not only deal with the loss of their loved one; they also must put up with reminders of the crime via pop culture stuff, like Dahmer jokes. I'm sure it's painful when they get blindsided with that.
Dr. George Palermo is right when he says this could cause post-traumatic stress for the families.
However, I don't think that's reason to prevent the tour from going forward.
Ghoulish tours are nothing new. There are dead celebrity tours, graveyard visits, and murder tours. Charles Manson and O.J. Simpson are tourist attractions.
They're creepy, but I don't think they should be banned.
There's a fascination with this stuff, sick as it is.
If people want to take the tour, if there's a market out there, I don't see how it can be stopped.
Dahmer's acts are public record. The tour stops are public places.
Is it in bad taste? I think so.
Is the thought of people profiting indirectly from Dahmer's crimes, meaning exploiting his victims, offensive? Yes.
Is it painful for the families of the victims? I'm sure it is.
Many of us suffer post-traumatic stress throughout our lives, for a million different reasons.
It really can't be avoided. Pain and terror return. It's part of life, memory.
1 comment:
Hi,
I was in Milwaukee for the weekend and went on the tour. I've been on dozens of paranormal and other "oddities" tours, so it didn't strike me as unusual that someone was offering a tour of this neighborhood under that premise.
The tour was unobtrusive. We didn't enter any but one of the bars that he used to frequent, as they are almost all closed down. The guide stuck to the facts - there was no ghoulish embellishment (as if he needed to embellish), Tim Burton style theatrics as I've seen on similar tours or any "ghost story" angles here - just talking about the victims Dahmer had picked up at the gay dance clubs on that street, and a brief history of his childhood, etc.
What struck me most was that the young guy who worked for the tour was literally tremulous with fear and looked almost ill. He stuttered his way through cue cards, all the while nervously looking around. When a few bystanders (and two local news crews) walked briskly up to the tour, he seemed as if he was preparing to get assaulted. A cabbie who picked us up afterward told us the people organizing it had been "getting death threats all week".
I can't understand what these boy's families have been through for the last 20 years, obviously. I think the local reaction to what is, in reality, a very tame recounting of Dahmer's crimes, could be viewed as excessive by an outsider like me.
I found irony in the fact that two different random people (around the city, not on the tour), when I told them why I was in Milwaukee that weekend, relished in recounting their own personal encounters with Dahmer and/or the crime scenes from years ago. People love to tell stories the boogie man, and their brushes with the boogie man. Jeff Dahmer was the boogie man if there ever was one.
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