Six months after James Holmes massacred 12 people during the midnight showing of “The Dark Night Rises,” Cinemark, the company that owns the theater where tragedy took place, invited the families of the victims to the reopening of the theater, but they aren’t happy. In fact, they’re disgusted.
Century 16 is the theater in Aurora, Colo. where James Holmes massacred 12 people during the midnight showing of “The Dark Knight.”
The victims of the families say that since the shooting, the owner of the theater hasn’t offered condolences and refused to meet with them without lawyers and that the invitation is a “disgusting offer,” especially since it came so close to their first holiday without their loved ones. The letter asks them to attend an “evening of remembrance,” followed by by a movie when the theater reopens on Jan. 17.
Relatives of eight of the victims signed an angry letter in response to the invitation.
During the holiday we didn’t think anyone or anything could make our grief worse but you, Cinemark, have managed to do just that by sending us an invitation two days after Christmas inviting us to attend the re-opening of your theater in Aurora where our loved ones were massacred.Thanks for making what is a very difficult holiday season that much more difficult. Timing is everything and yours is awful…
You (Cinemark) refused our repeated invitations to speak parent to parent with no lawyers involved. Instead, we get invited to attend a “special evening of remembrance” at the very theater where our loved ones lay dead on the floor for over 15 hours. We would give anything to wipe the carnage of that night out of our minds’ eye. Thank you for reminding us how your quest for profits has blinded your leadership and made you so callous as to be oblivious to our mental anguish.
Read the full letter here.
Cinemark has yet to make a statement to the letter.
The recent news comes as one of the biggest hearings in murder case against Aurora movie theater massacre suspect James Holmes nears. On Monday at 9 a.m., both sides will go forward with the preliminary hearing in the case. For the first time, prosecutors will outline the evidence against Holmes in detail and the event is expected to fill a weeks worth of all-day courtroom sessions.