Current:Home > MarketsUvalde families sue gunmaker, Instagram, Activision over weapons marketing-LoTradeCoin
Uvalde families sue gunmaker, Instagram, Activision over weapons marketing
View Date:2024-12-23 18:57:06
Many of the family members whose children were killed in the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde two years ago are suing Instagram, the maker of the video game "Call of Duty" and an AR-15 manufacturer, claiming the three played a role in enabling the mass shooter who killed 19 children and two adults in Uvalde in 2022.
The wrongful death suits were filed in Texas and California against Meta, Instagram's parent company; Activision, the video game publisher; and Daniel Defense, a weapons company that manufactured the assault rifle used by the mass shooter in Uvalde. The filings came on the second anniversary of the shooting.
A press release sent on Friday by the law offices of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder PC and Guerra LLP said the lawsuits show that, over the past 15 years, the three companies have partnered in a "scheme that preys upon insecure, adolescent boys."
Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder is the same law firm that reached a $73 million settlement with rifle manufacturer Remington in 2022 on behalf of families of children killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
Meta, Microsoft and Daniel Defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Salvador Ramos, the lone gunman in the Robb Elementary massacre, purchased the assault rifle he used in the shooting minutes after he turned 18, according to the release. Days later, he carried out the second worst mass shooting in the country's history, where hundreds of law enforcement officers waited more than an hour before entering the classroom.
The first lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses Meta’s Instagram of giving gun manufacturers “an unsupervised channel to speak directly to minors, in their homes, at school, even in the middle of the night,” with only token oversight.
The complaint also alleges that Activision’s popular warfare game Call of Duty “creates a vividly realistic and addicting theater of violence in which teenage boys learn to kill with frightening skill and ease,” using real-life weapons as models for the game’s firearms.
Ramos played Call of Duty – which features, among other weapons, an assault-style rifle manufactured by Daniel Defense, according to the lawsuit - and visited Instagram obsessively, where Daniel Defense often advertised.
As a result, the complaint alleges, he became fixated on acquiring the same weapon and using it to commit the killings, even though he had never fired a gun in real life before.
The second lawsuit, filed in Uvalde County District Court, accuses Daniel Defense of deliberately aiming its ads at adolescent boys in an effort to secure lifelong customers.
“There is a direct line between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” Josh Koskoff, one of the families’ lawyers, said in a statement. “This three-headed monster knowingly exposed him to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a tool to solve his problems and trained him to use it.”
Daniel Defense is already facing other lawsuits filed by families of some victims. In a 2022 statement, CEO Marty Daniel called such litigation “frivolous” and “politically motivated.”
Earlier this week, families of the victims announced a separate lawsuit against nearly 100 state police officers who participated in what the U.S. Justice Department has concluded was a botched emergency response. The families also reached a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde.
Several other suits against various public agencies remain pending.
Contributing: Reuters
veryGood! (817)
Related
- Over 1.4 million Honda, Acura vehicles subject of US probe over potential engine failure
- Vanderpump Rules' Raquel Leviss Makes Unexpected Runway Appearance During NYFW
- Iceland volcano at it again with a third eruption in as many months
- Why a State-Led Coalition to Install More Heat Pumps Is a Big Deal for Climate Change
- Lululemon, Disney partner for 34-piece collection and campaign: 'A dream collaboration'
- Police search for shooter after bystander shot inside Times Square store
- Opinion: This Valentine's Day, I'm giving the gift of hearing
- US Sen. Coons and German Chancellor Scholz see double at Washington meeting
- When do new episodes of 'Cobra Kai' Season 6 come out? Release date, cast, where to watch
- Video shows kangaroo hopping around Tampa apartment complex before being captured
Ranking
- Zendaya Shares When She Feels Extra Safe With Boyfriend Tom Holland
- Wealth disparities by race grew during the pandemic, despite income gains, report shows
- Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams' Reunion May Make You Cry Dawson-Style
- San Francisco 49ers Wife Kristin Juszczyk Shares Tips to Rework Your Game Day Wardrobe
- Wildfire map: Thousands of acres burn near New Jersey-New York border; 1 firefighter dead
- Toby Keith wrote all kinds of country songs. His legacy might be post-9/11 American anger
- Lakers let trade deadline pass with no deal. Now LeBron James & Co. are left still average.
- Will $36M Florida Lottery Mega Millions prize go unclaimed? The deadline is ticking.
Recommendation
-
Louisiana asks court to block part of ruling against Ten Commandments in classrooms
-
New Jersey teen sues classmate for allegedly creating, sharing fake AI nudes
-
Manhunt for suspect in fatal shooting of deputy and wounding of another in Tennessee
-
76ers president Daryl Morey 'hopeful' Joel Embiid can return for possible postseason run
-
Don't Miss Cameron Diaz's Return to the Big Screen Alongside Jamie Foxx in Back in Action Trailer
-
National Pizza Day: Domino's, Pizza Hut and more places pizza lovers can get deals
-
3 arrested on drug charges in investigation of killing of woman found in a container on a sandbar
-
This year's NBA trade deadline seemed subdued. Here's why.