are, I'd say the only intelligent way to interpret it is to wait until a whole lot more questions are answered before interpreting anything. Maybe your analysis will prove to be accurate, but maybe it won't.
My wife once almost got shot when she was in 6th grade because she lived in a bad neighborhood and ended up in the middle of a gang shooting while walking home from school. Things work differently in other parts of the world and judging others' actions in the context of living in a place such as Utah County doesn't work.