Yeah, hitting numerous people in the head is just a boyish prank.
I don’t see it as a boyish prank. I see it as being very serious. But a 17 year old facing a life sentence for burglary likely goes mad at the prospect. A relatively short term of harsh labor may have straightened him out.
The trial judge who saw the outburst wasn’t opposed to his release 11 years later.
That’s one of the things that galls me most—the lying through omission. It’s made to sound as if Clemmons was merely breaking into vending machines to steal Skittles.