Lyle and Erik Menendez were charged for murder of their parents in 1990. The case is now coming back up after years of being closed because of the power of social media. Gen Z is trying to reopen the case by posting the trial clips to Tiktok showing they deserved better than what they got. The brothers spoke up during the trials about being sexually abused growing up
and why they killed their parents.

Bringing this case to Tiktok has gotten out of control. “I want people to stop sexualizing them and actually focus on the case, because their looks have nothing to do with it,” said Zoe Patterson, 17. The killing of their parents is not what should be supported, it’s the background story that’s important. It’s too important to leave out the trauma of the Menendez brothers because that is the reason for their actions. After watching the entire trial during lockdown, Jordan Whynn came to the conclusion that “the brothers had an unreasonable but genuine belief that their lives were in danger. When I saw a clip of Erik testifying about the molestation by his father, I was shocked to say the least,” said Whynn. He became “disgusted with the way the media at the time and in subsequent years downplayed the brothers’ abuse.”

The book “The Abuse Excuse” by Alan Dershowitz is about how the lawyer argued that accused criminals use claims of abuse to avoid the punishments from their actions. I have to disagree that it was just an “excuse.” No one should feel as though their emotions weren’t valid enough or that they dealt with the trauma “incorrectly.” At the end of the day they
deserved to be put in jail, but it would’ve been more humane to decrease the sentence and find them professional help.