GTA Blamed for Columbine-style Massacre Planning

bippy writes "A Miami attorney claims that a teen accused of plotting a massacre used GTA to prepare for the attack, RedAssedBaboon reports. Attorney Jack Thompson is the same guy who is trying to link the murder of Stefan Pakeerah last year to Manhunt. Pakeerah was beaten to death with a claw hammer by a friend who, Thompson claims, was inspired by Manhunt. The uproar surrounding the case led to the game being pulled from many British store shelves and Prime Minister Tony Blair looking into a link between violence and video games. It looks like Thompson has found himself a niche." Update: 10/10 19:25 GMT by T : Peter Endean writes "It might be worth noting that in fact in the case of the murder linked to Manhunt, it was the victim who owned the game."

Comments

The irony was

[DrSkwid]

It was the victim who owned manhunt, not the murderer!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/04/manhunt_mu rder_claim/

GTA does NOT promote killing cops

[CamelToes]

I've played both GTA games and not ONE of them had a goal in the game to mow down cops in any of the levels. This is just silly. I hate it when these tight-assed lawyers are making ridiculous claims about Rockstar without even playing the game!

Re:GTA does NOT promote killing cops

[clu76]

That's wrong. I just beat Vice City 30 minutes ago. And there is a Malibu Club mission where you have to bust Cam Jones out of a police station. I doubt there is any possible way of beating that mission with out killing, at bare minimum, half a dozen cops.

And for the record, killing real life cops is evil. Support the police. Su-su-suport the police.

Re:GTA does NOT promote killing cops

[hunterx11]

Sure there is--grab the cop uniform so you can sneak in, and then run the hell out. In fact I tried and failed at that mission many times before I realized that blasting your way through is nigh-impossible.

Such bullshit

[Ondo]

There may be a link between violence and games - I don't think so, but it doesn't seem certain. Regardless, this lawyer is lying, and making obvious lies. I don't get it - how the hell does he expect to get away with this? A lot of people have played GTA, and they all know "that the tactic of luring police to a scene and then killing them" is, in fact, NOT "key to succeeding in Grand Theft Auto." What does he get out of telling such obvious lies?

Crank

[Anonymous Coward]

Pakeerah was beaten to death with a claw hammer by a friend who, Thompson claims, was inspired by Manhunt.

Yeah, and everybody seems to overlook one fact: the "damning evidence" that the police found the game in the kid's bedroom was, in fact, found in the victim's bedroom.

That wasn't the first time Thompson has been involved in cases like this; he's a well-known crank who foists himself on the families of victims and convinces them that the games are to blame. In one case, he tried to persue a case against the wishes of the victim's family. He's also harrassed people and had restraining orders taken out against him. He's a crank of the highest order. You want to know why you hear so many stories about "evil games"? It's him and people like him.

wrong

[Nf1nk]

GTA 1 ,the original top down game that started it all, had a misssion to blow up a police staion with a car bomb. Also in GTA 1 when you went on a "KILL FRENZY!" you didn't have to kill specific folks any folks would do incuding cops. GTA 3 had a mission to kill an (oddly animated) undercover cop named Tanner, by lobbing grenades through his window. Vice city has a mission where you lure two cops into a garage to stealthier uniforms, presumably by killing them.
But you are right odds are the lawyers never played the game.

It should be pointed out

[fr0dicus]

That Blair didn't find any fault with anyone in the Manhunt case either, thanks to ELSPA and some common sense.

Civilian and Police Kills not Central to GTA

[homeobocks]

The article shows that Jack Thompson says:

The technique of killing civilians and then first-responders when they get there is the primary scenario to win in all the Grand Theft Auto games[.]

I've played the newer GTA games, and critical to winning the game is to avoid killing civilians or police, as the police will come down harder on you if you do. Mr. Thompson may have a valid point in linking video games to violence, but this outright lie undermines his credibility.

Contact info

[Lord_Dweomer]

I'm sure we all love this guy and are very concerned about violent video games. This is why you should visit his website every chance you get.

Or, if you prefer a more direct approach, he can be reached via phone at: 305-666-4366 or by email at jackpeace@comcast.net.

And finally, if you really feel like you need to meet him and tell him how much you agree with what he preaches, feel free to visit him at his office located at:

1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, FL 33146

Re:ban sticks

[mausmalone]

Actually, the thing I find most frustrating about this is that GTA was pretty low on the list of things he had to plan with. Instead, if you read the article again, you'll notice that it mentions several times that he was going to emulate the Columbine massacre on the anniversary of the massacre. It seems that Columbine is responsible for this Columbine-like behavior, and GTA was just what the guy played when he wanted to fantasize about killing people.