'Holmies' fans support alleged shooter

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DENVER, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Fans of the alleged Aurora, Colo., theater gunman James Eagan Holmes have created social media fan pages, posting messages of praise for the shootings.

Dozens of Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages have been set up by self-described "Holmies," featuring jokes about the incident and encouragement for the alleged movie theater shooter charged with killing 12 people and injuring 58, The Denver Post reported Friday.

One Facebook fan page has at least 888 "likes," and includes pictures of Holmes' face edited onto avatars. The page also lists the inmate mailing address for Holmes at the Arapahoe County Jail where he is being held without bond, the newspaper reported.

The social media pages supporting Holmes include posts from users asking for the pages to be deleted.

"I believe this page should be deleted for the families who are going through this pain," one user wrote.

Facebook officials said they do not support the Holmes fan pages, but did not say they would delete them.

"While these particular pages are distasteful and unpopular, we are heartened that the vast majority of activity on Facebook surrounding this tragedy has been focused on helping the community cope and beginning the healing process in the wake of these events," a Facebook spokesperson, whose name was not reported, said.

Holmes, 24, faces 142 charges, including 24 first-degree murder counts