TheTerminator2004 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law 1172 S. Dixie Hwy., Suite 111 Coral Gables, Florida 33146 February 16, 2008 John G. Peters, President Northern Illinois University 1425 W. Lincoln Hwy. DeKalb, IL 60115-2825 Via Fax to 815-753-8686 Re: Part of the Explanation for this Awful Disaster Dear President Peters: First of all, my condolences for this terrible loss. I have had the disturbing privilege of representing a number of families devastated by these types of incidents. I represented all six parents of the three girls killed by a 14-year-old video gamer in the Paducah, Kentucky, school massacre. I currently represent the families of three policemen in Alabama who were slain by a teen who trained to kill them on the cop-killing simulation video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. This case was featured on 60 Minutes. See [here]. The day after the NIU tragedy this week, I was on the Fox News Channel predicting that the killer on your campus would be someone who was immersed in violent video games, as this is a common thread in almost all of these incidents. I mentioned in the interview the mass murder simulation game, Counter-Strike. It was the game of choice by the killers in the two worst school shootings in history—Virginia Tech and Erfurt, Germany. Sure enough, the New York Post reports today the accuracy of that prediction. I attach herewith the Post article. Governor Blagojevich was on Fox hours later echoing my specific concern about the linkage between violent video games and school killings. I have addressed roughly 200 college campuses about this problem. I am more than willing to come to your campus, free of charge of course, to explain to the students and faculty and surrounding community why these games, played by students, pose a public safety hazard. Brain scan science recently coming out of Harvard explains it well. There are multiple reasons why these evil events happen. Immersion of young males in murder simulation as a form of entertainment is one of the more powerful reasons. Blessings, Jack Thompson Am I the only one who's absolutely disgusted by this? And not just because he's trying to blame games again... the deaths clearly mean no more to him than an opportunity to further his own campaign against games... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninja_lord666 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 the deaths clearly mean no more to him than an opportunity to further his own campaign against games...You expected any less? He's a lawyer. There are so many evil lawyer jokes for a reason: they're all heartless bastards who care of nothing but themselves. I could sense while reading this a superiority complex the way he was talking about how he was right that the killer played video games. I feel ashamed to share scarcely similar DNA with him, like the gene for brown hair. it disgusts me that he cares so little for the lives lost, but instead focuses on the killer. The only reason he pays any heed to the killer's victims is because they are just that. I'm also repulsed that he described games as "cop-killing simulation" and "mass murder simulation." Does he know nothing about those games? If he actually played them instead of repeating what he heard from others who in turn heard it from someone else who heard someone talking about how (s)he overheard someone else mention it, he'd realise he's completely wrong. There is more to those games that killing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malchik Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 But that is true of every 'evangelist' and I am not using the term in any religious sense. Being in the UK I do not have the delights of Fox News to bring on a stroke every day. I think people should be pleased there are video games to use up youthful frustration. Otherwise the lure of armed fundamentalist groups would be much greater. Perhaps one should look at the number of teenage killers internationally in relation to availablity of computer games. I have a sneaking feeling that the more games there are the fewer killers. But that is a guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duskrider Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 The guy's a well-known lunatic and attention-angel. The only really interesting part of this article is that he's moved to Florida, after having his law license revoked in several other states. I was wondering how long it would take him to move to one of the states matching his single-digit IQ. I could pick apart his laughably poor argument point by point, but honestly, that would be giving him too much respect. I think a wise old man had a much better plan.... first, kill all the lawyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninja_lord666 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Perhaps one should look at the number of teenage killers internationally in relation to availablity of computer games. I have a sneaking feeling that the more games there are the fewer killers. But that is a guess.One doesn't even need to look outside the country. One can looks instead at a single city. Take Milwaukee for example. Every day people are shot in Milwaukee, every single day. Where and by whom? In the ghetto by poor gangsters who can barely afford the clothes on their backs. Do you think those people play games? No. If you look at the middle class families, there is almost no violent crime. Who buys the most video games? Middle class families. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duskrider Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Really, all you need to do to see the flaws in his "argument" is to remember a rule from Statistics 101: correlation is not causation. Currently, video games are so widespread in society, especially among younger men, that saying someone plays video games tells you essentially nothing about them. Even if there was absolutely no causal link between video games and violent crime, and violent criminals were just a completely random sample of the population, you would still get a strong correlation between crime and video games, just because such a high percentage of that random sample would be gamers. Our friend Mr. Thompson doesn't even bother to look at the statistics or think about this, really. After the Virginia Tech shooting a while back, he immediately rushed to blame video games. Unfortunately for him, it turns out the shooter never played them. Sucks to be you, Thompson. If Thompson's idea of correlation = blame is legitimate, let's apply it to a different correlation. Violent criminals tend to be male more often than female. Plotting violent crime rates vs. maleness would give you a pretty strong correlation, at least as strong as the video game link (and for the same reasons, it would be wrong). By his reasoning, we should take this to be a causal link, not just coincidence. So clearly the even better solution is to ban men! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungfubellydancer Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Perhaps one should look at the number of teenage killers internationally in relation to availablity of computer games. I have a sneaking feeling that the more games there are the fewer killers. But that is a guess.One doesn't even need to look outside the country. One can looks instead at a single city. Take Milwaukee for example. Every day people are shot in Milwaukee, every single day. Where and by whom? In the ghetto by poor gangsters who can barely afford the clothes on their backs. Do you think those people play games? No. If you look at the middle class families, there is almost no violent crime. Who buys the most video games? Middle class families. This is exactly one of my points on why gaming is not the cause of killing. Even if a few people are inspired to kill because of a game, how many other people kill because of other reasons? Gaming is hardly main reason for killing. I don't know the true statistics but would it be safe to say that 1 out of every 500 murders in the US were somehow connected with video games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoogieMonster Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Sorry Terminator, but I had to stop reading after I saw who it was about. That man ( I only call him a man because he has kids, which means that at some point in his life, his anatomy included a set of nuts) infuriates and offends me in ways that even therapy and heavy medication can not compensate for. Ironically, in the game he hates most, Grand Theft Auto, there is a radio commercial that describes his entire career perfectly: "The great thing about our legal system is that you can sue anybody for anything and you'll probably win, or at least get a settlement..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecalMirror Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 I don't know that mentioned lawyer that much I could say anything about him. However, I tell something about my self. I've been playing whole my life, and very violent games since I went to school. Still, I have NEVER started a single fight not to mention killed someone. :) What I think, is that games can to make one use violence. However, he must be mentally ill. In every way healthy person won't just go trigger-happy and start killing no matter how much violence he has seen in media. Besides, talking about violence. Today's news broadcasts include much more shocking pictures than any video game. I've seen close ups from dead bloody bodies and guns firing in morning news. Why these are not mentioned and blamed about increasing violence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batlham Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Wow..this guy flew under my radar. I never heard of him before. :blink: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attorney) Ohhh man..its guys like him that give Republicans bad names. >:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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