SRA (movement)
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The SRA was a mysterious youth movement that first appeared in Highlands Ranch, Colorado (a suburb of Denver) in early January of 1996. The group’s main behavior was the leaving of flyers and toilet-paper wrapped coat hangers on residential doors in the middle of the night.
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[edit] Origins
The SRA first came to public attention when a number of Highlands Ranch residents reported strange occurrences during the night. Residents heard young male voices shouting in the street. Many individuals found flyers taped to their front doors and coat hangers on their doorknobs. The coat hangers were wrapped in white toilet paper. In all cases, SRA slogans were written on the flyers and coat hangers in red felt-tipped pen. These slogan stated such writings as “SRA Forever” and “U have been visited by the SRA.” [sic] Many residents were alarmed by these actions and reported them to the local police. An article in the Highlands Ranch Highlander newspaper reported that, as of January 18th, 1996, over 42 homes had reported SRA “visits” during the night (Highlander, 1-18-96, p. 1). Reports of SRA activity occurred almost every evening for several weeks. According to the Highlander article, police could not discover any pattern to the visits of the SRA. They went to households of different incomes, races, and geographical areas of the community.
[edit] The Manifesto
The SRA soon captured the attention of the police department and local media. In mid-January, a two-page free verse poem was mailed to Denver newspapers and the Douglas County Police Department. This self-labeled “manifesto” described the alleged agenda of the SRA. The poem included allusions to a class struggle in which the poor would rise up against the wealthy, using the SRA as their champion. In the manifest, the SRA verbally chastised the people of Highlands Ranch (a town with a predominantly white and affluent population).
Excerpts of the SRA Manifesto (as quoted by the Denver Post) include:
“You are the aristocracy/living in a bastion of falsehood and prejudice/dwelling in your prisons of lies and superstition”
“You claim to be just, yet you persecute our people/our brothers and sisters.”
“We are those that shall always prevail when the last day arrives/because you are socially numb/flourishing in moral famine” (Denver Post, 1-21-96, p. B1).
The Manifesto created much attention towards the SRA. A series of newspaper articles appeared in the Denver papers, and radio stations featured the movement. The SRA was particularly popular among high school teens who saw the organization as a form of rebellion against adult society. As SRA members continued conducting late-night visits to houses, some Highlands Ranch residents began to hint about resorting to vigilantism.
[edit] The End of the SRA
The SRA disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as it arrived. By the beginning of February, SRA activity seemed to have stopped. The Douglas County Police Department maintains that members of the SRA were never identified or caught in the act. The SRA did spawn a number of copy-cat groups throughout metropolitan Denver. These groups were usually identified by a similar acronym (such as the “SFA”) and were typically centered around public high schools. Unlike the SRA, which seemed to promote a specific social agenda, the copy-cat groups were usually focused on petty pranks and vandalism. Most of these groups were short lived.
[edit] The Mystery of the SRA
The members of the SRA have never come forward, nor were they ever caught by the authorities. It is suspected that they were teenage boys of high school or early college age. This assumption is based upon the shouts heard by Highlands Ranch residents during SRA visits. Another mystery surrounds the meaning of the term “SRA”. Neither the flyers nor the manifesto defined what is meant by this word. It is generally suspected that the SRA is some type of acronym, although there is much speculation as to what these letters could stand for. Some common suggestions include “Student Revolutionary Army” and “Society for Revenge on the Aristocracy”.
[edit] The SRA and Columbine
As a youth movement, the SRA gained widespread public attention after the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School. There are some similarities between both events. Both the SRA and Columbine involve disenfranchised youths. Both involve angst-ridden statements made through media sources (such as the manifesto and the videotapes made by the Columbine shooters). Highlands Ranch borders Littleton and public high schools in both areas draw upon roughly the same population demographics of race and income level. However, whereas the Columbine shooting represented school violence against other teens, the SRA was apparently a non-violent (albeit disruptive) protest against a wider community.
