Hollister Tryon is a former Glastonbury High School student who was arrested after police allege he put a quote from Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in a Connecticut yearbook and attributed it to George Floyd, who died under the knee of convicted ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020. Glastonbury Police also said he snuck a reference to the Boston marathon bomber into the yearbook.
Tryon, 18, was arrested on a warrant Friday, July 9, and charged with two counts of third-degree computer crime, according to the Glastonbury Police Department’s daily arrest log. Tryon is accused of changing two students’ entries by illegally accessing a database that students used to submit their yearbook quotes, police wrote in their report.
School officials made the discovery after distribution of the 2020-2021 yearbooks had already begun in May, according to the Hartford Courant. School administrators issued a recall on the yearbooks and notified police, the newspaper said.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. References to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev & the Hitler Quote Were in Yearbooks Issued to Seniors Before Officials Discovered the Tampering
Seniors were receiving their yearbooks in May when administration noticed changes were made, and an investigation was launched into the bogus quotes, the Hartford Courant reported.
The newspaper said the quote from the Nazi dictator that appeared in the paper was, “It is a quite special secret pleasure how the people around us fail to realize what is really happening to them.” Hitler’s quote was falsely attributed to Floyd.
Police also alleged in their report Tryon inserted a quote referencing drugs and convicted Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The exact quote was not reported.
Another quote “glorifying war” was also inserted into the yearbook, but was not a basis for charges, according to the Journal Inquirer.
2. Tryon Was Prohibited From Attending the Graduation Ceremony But Received His Diploma
A student at Glastonbury High School in Connecticut is accused of changing another student’s yearbook quotes to an Adolf Hitler quote, which was incorrectly attributed to George Floyd. t.co/CjnFCJ9Kf3
Tryon was barred from attending his graduation ceremony, school administrators told the Hartford Courant. Instead, Tryon’s mom picked up his diploma at the school, the newspaper reported.
The Courant reported on the state’s definition of a computer crime, which includes “unauthorized access to a computer system.”
A third-degree computer crime involves “the damage to or the value of the property or computer services exceeds one thousand dollars; or the person recklessly engages in conduct which creates a risk of serious physical injury to another person,” the Courant reported.
3. Glastonbury Police Launched an Investigation After the School Made a Report & Conducted Their Own Internal Investigation
JUST IN: #Glastonbury Police have arrested 18-year-old Hollister Tryon who is accused of accessing a computer database to attribute a Hitler quote to George Floyd t.co/QNp5kBQ9za
Glastonbury Police launched an investigation into the computer crimes allegations after Glastonbury High School officials made a report to police. The school also conducted its own internal investigation, the Glastonbury police report said.
The police report said:
In May 2021 Glastonbury High School administrators reported the discovery of an Adolf Hitler quote, which was incorrectly attributed to George Floyd, printed under the picture of a GHS student in the school’s yearbook. Another student’s quote referenced drugs and the name “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev”, the Boston Marathon bomber. After conducting an internal administrative review, the case was referred to the police department for a criminal investigation. As a result of both investigations, 18 year old Tryon Hollister (a GHS student himself), was arrested by warrant on two counts of Computer Crimes 3rd Degree. He is accused of unlawfully accessing a computer database students used to submit their yearbook quotes, and changing the two students’ quotes prior to publication of the yearbook in October 2020.
The school issued a statement at the time, reported by the Hartford Courant.
“We deeply regret not having caught the act of bigotry and vandalism before the yearbook was printed,” school administrators said in a prepared statement when the yearbooks were recalled, according to the Courant. “We are examining and will revise our yearbook procedures for collecting and reviewing future student submissions.”
4. The Mother of One of the Victims Commended Police for Taking the Case Seriously
Today President Biden and Vice President Harris met with Black civil rights leaders to discuss the state of voting rights across the nation, their plans to address gun violence, and the status of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
Mary LaChance, the mother of one of the students victimized in the yearbook falsification, told the Journal Inquirer she was grateful the police took the case seriously and commended them for their quick work in filing charges. LaChance is also a member of Town Council, the newspaper reported.
LaChance made a statement to the newspaper by email. It said:
I’m glad that the school and police took this matter seriously. This was not just a high school prank. This was an act of bullying that affected all students at the high school. I am impressed with how quickly they found the responsible person and brought charges.
School administrators sent an email to the school community five days after the falsification was discovered and said that they had identified the student responsible, according to the Journal Inquirer.
5. A Town Councilman Described the Act as ‘The Stupidity of Youth’
The Supreme Court set a date for the Boston Marathon bomber case—here’s why his death penalty verdict overturned: t.co/Gk2jpZJpsS
Town Council Chairman Thomas P. Gullotta referred to the act as “the stupidity of youth,” according to the Journal Inquirer.
Gullotta said it is something the student will “reflect back on this and think, ‘How could I be so dumb?’”
Tryon was released on a $5,000 bond, of which he had to post 10% in cash, his arrest record shows. He is scheduled to appear in Manchester Superior Court on his charges August 6, the arrest log indicates.