Editing Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (section)

===''Hitmen for Hire''===
When an economics class had Harris make an ad for a business, he and Klebold made a video called ''Hitmen for Hire'' on December 8, 1998, which was released in February 2004. It depicts them as part of the [[Trench coat|Trench Coat]] [[Mafia]], a clique in the school who wore black trench coats, extorting money for protecting [[Preppy|preps]] from bullies.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kass|2009|pp=197–199}}</ref> They were apparently not a part of the Trench Coat Mafia, but were friends with some of its members.<ref name=Salon>{{cite web|last=Cullen |first=Dave |url=http://www.salon.com/1999/09/23/columbine_4/ |title=Inside the Columbine High investigation |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |date=September 23, 1999 |access-date=May 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517044320/http://www.salon.com/1999/09/23/columbine_4/ |archive-date=May 17, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|They did not appear in a group photo of the Trench Coat Mafia in the yearbook.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wilgoren|first=Jodi|date=1999-04-25|title=TERROR IN LITTLETON: THE GROUP; Society of Outcasts Began With a $99 Black Coat|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html|access-date=2022-01-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626024728/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/25/us/terror-in-littleton-the-group-society-of-outcasts-began-with-a-99-black-coat.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=BBC News &#124; Americas &#124; Who are the Trenchcoat Mafia?|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/325054.stm|access-date=2022-01-12|website=news.bbc.co.uk|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719200846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/325054.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/1999/04/21/columbine-high-school-trench-coat-mafia/|title=Columbine High School shooting focuses on "Trench Coat Mafia"|first1=Susan|last1=Greene|first2=Bill Briggs &#124; The Denver|last2=Post|date=April 21, 1999|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719200843/https://www.denverpost.com/1999/04/21/columbine-high-school-trench-coat-mafia/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Harris's father stated that his son was "a member of what they call the Trench Coat Mafia" in the 9-1-1 call he made on April 20, 1999.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kass|2009|p=219}}</ref>}} They wore black trench coats on the day of the massacre, and the video seemed a kind of [[dress rehearsal]], showing them walking the halls of the school, and shooting bullies outside with fake guns.<ref name=hithire>{{cite web|url=https://www.columbine-guide.com/columbine-hitmen-for-hire-eric|title=Hitmen For Hire · Eric Harris School Assignment|website=columbine-guide.com|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=October 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016165421/https://www.columbine-guide.com/columbine-hitmen-for-hire-eric|url-status=live}}</ref>

Both also displayed themes of violence in their creative writing projects; of a ''Doom''-based story written by Harris on January 17, 1999, Harris's teacher said: "Yours is a unique approach and your writing works in a gruesome way — good details and mood setting."<ref>{{cite web |author=Shepard, Cyn |title=Eric's writing: Creative writing story |url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/ehcw.gif |publisher=A Columbine Site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183643/http://www.acolumbinesite.com/eric/writing/ehcw.gif |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Cyn|last=Shepard|url=http://www.acolumbinesite.com/event/event.html |title=Gunfire in the halls |publisher=A Columbine Site |access-date=August 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917052743/http://acolumbinesite.com/event/event.html |archive-date=September 17, 2010 }}</ref>