Who Needs Facts? Jack Thompson Blames Video Games for NIU Campus Shootings
by John Kershaw on February 16, 2008
Our good friend Mr. Thompson has been fairly quiet recently, only raising a quiet murmur last month with the announcement of the GTA IV release date. With the recent shootings at Northern Illinois University, all that has changed.
JT secured himself a nice little interview with (who else?) but Fox News as a “campus shooting expert”. Mr. Thompson ignored the interviewer’s questions and spent the better part of two minuets claiming that, due to the “person’s attire”, he most likely was trained on a “murder simulator”, or video game to you and me.
Watch the full speech below, but be aware that we are not responsible for your feelings of rage.
Just to make sure he was noticed, in an email sent to GamePolitics, Mr. T says
I am certain that the past and future survivors of these incidents will not fully understand why The Florida Bar is seeking to destroy a latter-day Paul Revere… for his telling the truth about companies and lawyers that are spawning, for money, at these types of events.
Giving a response echoed by gamers across the world, Hal Halpin, president of the Entertainment Consumers Association had this to say
…we are disgusted, but no longer shocked, to find that anti-game activists are again rushing to conclusions about what drove Stephen Kazmierczak, the clearly disturbed 27-year-old who police say was responsible for this tragedy, to commit such an act.
Blaming video games for the behaviour of the mentally-challenged is vile on many levels. And, as Generations X and Y mature, it is extremely likely that just about all of us have played at least one video game at some point in our lives.
If you feel the need to have a rant about this, get your facepalm.jpg at the ready and head to the new (and very shiny) Ripten Forum
Source: GamePolitics
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on February 16, 2008 11:58 am
Honestly, we really need to just stop reporting on this guy. Ignore everything he says and does.
on February 16, 2008 1:55 pm
JT is a tool.
on February 16, 2008 6:54 pm
Very easy to open his mouth and find something (or may be in the future someone) as a scapegoat. And he call himself an EXPERT??? I really doubt it.
on February 17, 2008 9:07 am
quite happy with the response from the entertainment consumer association :)