Lt. Governor Has Claimed That Video Games Played a Role in Today’s Shooting
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has accused video games as one of the reasons for today’s mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. Partick took to Fox News to address what is currently being called an instance of domestic terrorism. The Governor quickly condemned the attack calling it evil. But then pivoted to blaming the actions of the shooter on overexposure to violent video games.
“How long are we going to let, for example, and ignore at the federal level particularly, where they can do something about the video game industry?”
Partick did not name any games in particular.
The reason for Patrick focusing on video games is because of the manifesto that the shooter released. In the manifesto, the shooter references Call of Duty by mentioning a “super-soldier COD fantasy.” The Governor then stated that the United States “has always had guns, has always had evil.” But then went on to condemn the rapid growth of the video game industry. As well as how they have engrained themselves within youth culture. Patrick said that violent video games and the gaming industry as a whole, “teaches young people to kill.” Lieutenant Governor Patrick also said that social media was a fault as well as a lack of prayer at school.
These accusations are not new. Violent video games were blamed for inspiring the infamous Columbine High School massacre in 1999. From that point onwards, it is not uncommon for someone to shun video games in the wake of an attack. Despite the fact that there has been no concrete evidence that would suggest that video games lead to violence.
Everyone at COGconnected would like to offer our condolences to those affected by this senseless act of violence.