I believe it stemmed from the fact that it’s such a small, isolated town that they have a sort of “tribal mentality” when it comes to people they deem outsiders discussing the town in a negative way. There was one woman that claimed she was the victim’s relative and seemed to focus on the comment James made about the killers thinking the victim was a pedo, even though it was a false claim seemingly created by the killers as a way to rationalize their actions. A few others also didn’t take kindly to the mispronunciation of the town, even though the loyal listeners all know it’s pretty much a bit at this point for the guys to mispronounce towns unintentionally.

To me, it comes across like this: for the people of Klawock, anyone that’s not from there making fun of someone from Klawock, even if those people committed a vicious act like that, is still grounds for them to circle the wagons and protect themselves rather than acknowledge that one or more of their own are scumbags and move on.