Families of people killed during the shooting in Uvalde, in the US state of Texas, and surviving victims took Meta to court on Friday, May 24, as well as the video game publisher Activision and the manufacturer of the The murder weapon, Daniel Defense, accused of having contributed to the killer’s act.
Two years ago today, on May 24, 2022, a former student of Robb Elementary School, Salvador Ramos (18 years old at the time), entered the premises, armed with a rifle AR-15 assault rifle, before firing. He caused the death of nineteen children as well as two teachers and left seventeen injured before being shot dead.
âThere is a direct link between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shootingâ, said in a press release lawyer Josh Koskoff, who represents the relatives and survivors who have decided to take legal action. After the Sandy Hook school massacre in 2012, Mr. Koskoff made himself known by obtaining, in 2022, the payment of 73 million dollars (67 million euros) from the American arms manufacturer Remington. damage to the families of nine victims.
âA three-headed monsterâ
For him, in the Uvalde affair, Meta, Activision and Daniel Defense form âa three-headed monsterâwho has âexposed, knowinglyâSalvador Ramos âwith the weapon, made him see it as a way to solve his problems, and trained him to use itâ. He pointed out the responsibility of Instagram, a subsidiary of Meta, which ” allow “ according to him âarms manufacturers to come into contact with consumersâincluding from a young age.
As for Activision, the publisher âshould stop training and accustoming children to killâ, insisted the lawyer. The Activision Blizzard studio was bought in fall 2023 by Microsoft. He is notably the publisher of the shooting game Call of Dutywhich features a character forced to kill his opponents with firearms or knives to fulfill his mission or defend himself.
The subpoena against Meta and Activision was filed in a Los Angeles court and the one against Daniel Defense in Uvalde.
Nearly a hundred police officers also brought to justice
âThe Uvalde shooting was horrific and tragic and we express our support for the families and individuals who remain affected by this senseless act of violenceâ, reacted an Activision spokesperson to Agence France-Presse (AFP). She added that âmillions of people play video games around the world without subsequently committing horrible actsâ.
The same families and survivors sued nearly a hundred Texas State Police officers on Wednesday, accusing them of making mistakes during the shooting. A report from the Ministry of Justice, published in January, pointed to a âchess cascadeâ in the reaction of law enforcement.
Relatives of the victims also announced on Wednesday that they had reached an amicable agreement with the town hall of Uvalde, which provides for the payment of 2 million dollars (approximately 1.84 million euros) in compensation.