Families of victims of the Uvalde, Texas, shooting sued technology and gun companies on Friday, accusing them of “wrongful death.”
In two separate complaints in California and Texas, the families accused companies such as Meta, Activision – publisher of the Call of Duty video game – and weapons manufacturer Daniel Defense of grooming “a generation of young people who are socially vulnerable, insecure about their his masculinity.” , and eager to show strength and assert dominance” and “indoctrinate a specific demographic: teenagers who are vulnerable to marketing that feeds their sense of suffering and desire for power.”
“To be more precise: Defendants are chewing up alienated teenagers and spitting out mass shooters,” the California complaint says.
“Before the Uvalde school shooter, there was the Parkland school shooter, and before that, the Sandy Hook school shooter,” the complaint continues. “These were the three deadliest middle and high school shootings in American history. In each of them, the shooter was between 18 and 21 years old; in each of them, the shooter was a dedicated game player. Call to action; and in each of them the shooter carried out his attack with tactical equipment, wielding an assault rifle.”
Friday’s two complaints follow the announcement of another lawsuit filed by Uvalde families against more than 90 Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers earlier this week over their response to the deadly shooting two years ago.
“There is a direct line between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” the families’ attorney, Josh Koskoff, said in a news release Friday about the lawsuits against the companies. “Just 23 minutes after midnight on his 18th birthday, the Uvalde shooter purchased an AR-15 made by a company with less than 1% market share.”
In a statement emailed to The Hill, an Activision spokesperson said “the Uvalde shooting was horrific and heartbreaking in every way, and we express our deepest condolences to the families and communities who continue to be affected by this act.” of senseless violence.”
“Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without resorting to horrific acts,” the spokesperson added.
The Hill reached out to Meta and Daniel Defense.
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