The families of the victims of the school shooting in Eulalde, Texas, have filed a lawsuit against Meta and Call of Duty developer Activision on charges that they promoted the use of firearms among minors. This was reported by The Verge.
The suit alleges that both companies “knowingly exposed the Shooter to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as the solution to his problems, and trained him to use it.”
The class action lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of 45 family members of the victims. On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire at Robb Elementary School. As a result, 19 children and two teachers were killed, and 17 others were injured but survived.
Before arriving at his alma mater, Ramos shot his grandmother, who lived in the same house with him, the same day. Ramos stayed in the school offices for more than an hour and was shot and killed when he was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit.
The lawsuit states that the shooter played Call of Duty “obsessively, developed skill as a marksman, and obtained rewards that become available only after a substantial time investment.”
The lawsuit also states that the game features an AR-15 weapon, which Ramos used in real life. At the same time, the lawsuit claims that "the shooter was lured through blatant, aggressive marketing" on Instagram, which has "hundreds of images depicting and glorifying the thrill of combat."
In addition to Activision and Meta, the families of the victims also filed a lawsuit against Daniel Defense, the company that manufactured the AR-15 weapon used by Ramos in the shooting. The lawsuit claims that Daniel Defense advertises its weapons to minors on Instagram with posts that "glorify" combat.
“Companies like Instagram and Activision do more than just allow gun companies to reach consumers — they underwrite and mainstream violence to struggling adolescents,” wrote Josh Koskoff, the attorney for the families. “Instagram should stop enabling the marketing of AR-15s to kids by gun companies; and Activision should stop training and habituating kids to kill. It’s that simple.”
This is not the first time Koskoff has been involved in such cases. Earlier, the lawyer won $73 million from the gun manufacturer Remington for the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting.