The 2022 mass shooting that took place at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, is one of the most shameful events in the US on many different fronts, but there’s another facet that’s being aggressively called out in a lawsuit filed this past Friday that lays part of the blame on Activision, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, and weapons manufacturer Daniel Defense.
The suit is being filed on behalf of the families affected by the Uvalde shooting as part of an ongoing multi-front quest for justice. The complaint is being spearheaded by attorney Josh Koskoff, who famously won lawsuits on behalf of the families of the Sandy Hook mass shootings against weapons manufacturer Remington Arms and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The lawsuit’s documents allege that all three companies played a part in radicalizing and arming Uvalde shooter Salvador Ramos, claiming that Ramos’ play time in 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare glorified assault weapons; it also asserts that Daniel Defense allegedly marketed its line of assault weapons on Facebook and Instagram with ads that targeted “vulnerable” young men “insecure about their masculinity, often bullied, eager to show strength and assert dominance” through the attainment of firearms. The suit further claims that social media allowed Ramos to easily purchase his murder weapon of choice.
“Over the last 15 years, two of America’s largest technology companies—defendants Activision and Meta—have partnered with the firearms industry in a scheme that makes the Joe Camel campaign look laughably harmless, even quaint,” accuses the lawsuit.
