But he wasn't an experienced handler. He'd only had it for about 4 months, and his showing it off to the neighbor kids was just reckless (all things considered), rather than a sign that he knew what he was doing.

One of the board members here lived nearby and saw the guy carrying it around on his shoulders before. So he just didn't know not to put the snake around his neck.

There's no conspiracy here, just people who didn't bother to do their research or learn about the animal they had beforehand, and had no idea what to do in an emergency. Panic makes people dumb, and they lose their lives.