ONE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

Wayne Allyn Root is a regular guest on Billy Cunningham's Sunday radio show and has told Billy this story several times: (from his own blog post of 7/21/2010)

I was a witness to that abnormal hatred on the day Reagan was shot by a mentally ill assassin. A student burst through the doors to our Political Science class to breathlessly announce that “Reagan is dead. He’s been assassinated.” The reaction of my class? CELEBRATION. They jumped from their seats to cheer, high five, fist pump, hug each other, and even scream “Yes! Reagan is dead.”

He also told it on Michael Savage's show on 2/4/2009.

Reagan was shot about 2:27 EST on Monday, March 31, 1981 and that establishes the beginning of the timeframe for Root's story.

I used LexisNexis to search U.S. Newpapers and Wires for "Reagan" & "cheering" from 2/30/1981 to 3/30/1981 and only found two reports of children cheering, both of the same event.

1)

The Associated Press
March 31, 1981, Tuesday, AM cycle
Students Cheer Reagan Shooting; Teachers Shocked
SECTION: Domestic News
LENGTH: 219 words
DATELINE: TULSA, Okla.

When the principal announced President Reagan had been shot, some seventh- and eighth-graders at Academy Central School cheered.

Seventh-grade language teacher John Zannini was "dumbfounded."

Eighth-grade teacher Lynn Morris was "stunned, shocked."

Principal Tom Hayes made the announcement just before school was to be dismissed for the day on Monday.

"When I made the announcement, I tried to make it as soft as possible," he said. "I told them the president had been injured, but that he was doing well. I told them that three others had also been shot."

But in Zannini's class, the reactions of 10 of his 16 students weren't as soft.

"I didn't know what to do," Zannini said Tuesday. "Here were these kids cheering that the president had been shot. I didn't know what to say."

Mrs. Morris was out of her classroom when the announcement was made. When she returned, she said, "Three or four were laughing about it. They asked me if he (President Reagan) was dead. When I said no, that he was doing well, they snapped their fingers and said, 'Shucks."'

She said the students picked up on her reaction and made comments such as, "'Oh, she really thinks we're cold-hearted, doesn't she?' They didn't seem to care at all that someone could be dying.

"It was like TV to them. It didn't seem real."

2)

United Press International
April 1, 1981, Wednesday, BC cycle
SECTION: Domestic News
LENGTH: 280 words
DATELINE: TULSA, Okla.

Students who cheered the news that President Reagan had been shot were unable to understand the ''reality of violence,'' their school principal said.

Teachers at the Academy Central School said several students cheered, laughed or made light of the announcement Monday that the president and three other people were wounded by gunfire in Washington.

Principal Tom Hayes said the students' reaction was connected with the violence children see daily on television.

''It was a result of the children not understanding the reality of violence,'' Hayes said.

A teacher, John Zannini, said about 10 of the 16 students in his seventh-grade language arts class cheered the announcement.

''It was like television to them,'' Zannini said. ''Someone shot J.R. and they cheered. Someone shot Reagan and they cheered. That's scary.''

Zannini said he was stunned at the children's reaction.

''I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do,'' he said. ''Here were these kids cheering that the president had been shot. I didn't know what to say.''

Another teacher, Lynn Morris, said she was out of the classroom when the announcement was made and ''three or four'' of her eighth-grade science students were laughing about it when she returned.

''They asked me if he was dead and when I said no, that he was doing well, they snapped their fingers and said, 'Well, shucks,''' Mrs. Morris said. ''I was stunned and shocked.''

Hayes said he made the announcement 6 minutes before the end of the school day.

''I tried to make it as soft as possible,'' Hayes said. ''I told them the president had been injured, but that he was doing well. And I told them three others had been shot.''

When I added "Columbia" as a search term, there was no confirmation of Root's story. I then replaced "Columbia" with "Columbia students" and ran the search from 2/30/1981 to the present but again there was no confirmation of Root's story.

I sent Root an email asking him if he recalled the name of the class and the professor.