Slipknot blamed for inspiring school murder

Slipknot have pulled out of this weekend's Reading and Leeds festivals after drummer Joey Jordison broke his ankle. But their troubles don't stop there – in South Africa the band is being blamed for a school murder.
Along with Reading and Leeds, the band have also cancelled gigs at Austrian and German festivals later this month. Jordison has been advised to rest for four to six weeks, according to a statement, but should be back on his feet for a UK tour in December.
Much more dramatic, however, are the recent happenings in Krugersdorp, South Africa, where a sword-wielding schoolboy killed 16-year-old Jacques Pretorius. Another pupil and two gardeners were also treated for stab wounds. As the attacker stalked through Nic Diederichs Technical High School, he was, according to reports, dressed in an outfit recalling Slipknot's Jordison – particularly the drummer's eerie mask.
18-year-old Morne Harmse is now in custody pending a court appearance later this month.
Pierre Eksteen, who directs a South African student support network, was among those holding "satanic music" partially responsible for the attack. "He came here camouflaged as the guy from Slipknot," Eksteen told the Times (in South Africa). "We know the wrong kind of music and drugs have bad effects. Young people need to be informed of the effects of bad Satanic music."
Though the South African media has been hounding Slipknot and their label all week, the band has not released a comment. "We've had no confirmation that it was, in fact, a Slipknot mask," a Roadrunner Records representative told the Times. "The band is not going to respond."
To Slipknot's doubtless relief, the head of Krugersdorp police's investigative psychology unit took a different tack. "Whenever there is a murder, people jump to conclusions, and always God or Satan told the killers to do it," said senior superintendent Gerard Labuschagne. "These notions shouldn't be taken seriously because it is straightforward: someone, of their own free will, can kill another person."