February 15, 2008 -
Anti-video game violence activist Jack Thompson appeared on (where else?) Fox News this morning and once again tried to draw a link between violent video games and a deadly school shooting. In this case, Thompson related games to yesterday's rampage at Northern Illinois University.Although we didn't catch the segment, Thompson e-mailed his comments to GamePolitics, attaching a screen shot from the Fox interview:
I was on the Fox News Channel this morning because of the possible violent video game connection to this latest massacre at Northern Illinois University.
In the e-mail, the embattled attorney related his violent video game crusade to his ongoing struggle with the Florida Bar:
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, these types of events.
GP: The facts are not yet in on the NIU rampage, of course, but that has never stopped Thompson from rushing to blame video games in the past. GamePolitics readers will certainly recall Thompson blaming the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre on games even while police were still securing the campus.
Among the few details known so far is that the shooter, Stephen Kazmierczak, had a stellar academic record. Press reports describe him as a 27-year-old graduate student, so he was well past the age where any type of video game content restriction would come into play.
UPDATE: Fox is now reporting that Kazmierczak was not taking his medication for an unspecified condition and acting erratically in recent weeks. So, once again, a disturbed person goes on a rampage with a gun, not a video game.
UPDATE 2: GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen has pointed us to a video of Thompson's Fox appearance (below). Thompson rambles a bit, loses his train of thought midway through and even makes reference to a chapter that didn't make it into his not so highly-regarded 2005 book, as if to say, "look, I predicted this!"
Comments
He's been saying such games shouldn't be sold to adults either, otherwise he wouldn't be shooting for outright bans. Actions speak louder than that rectum he calls a mouth.
Jack Thompson, never late for a train wreck car crash or school shooting to make a buck.
And I think he slipped on this one. For Vtech he was on the new before the day was over
He has just lost ALL the respect points he had gotten for seeing the Mass Effect had no porn.
Also, count the times he says "Um..." He has no clue what's going on and instantly goes into his book spiel.
BTW, whatever has become of the Florida bar case against him?
Also, I tried watching the clip, but literally couldn't make it through it. As soon as he mentioned Virginia Tech, I had to close the window.
If he thought that, he wouldn't be there.
OMFG he said "possible" this time! Could he it be that he doesn't want to be made to look like an idiot the same way as during VTech?
No, he's just gunning (pun intended) for the first amendment. I don't think I've ever heard him say anything bad about the right to bear arms. Nevermind that it's enforcement of the second amendment that's largely responsible for the VTech shooting (Cho was mentally unstable, and should not have been allowed to have a gun.)
Blah. Jack being such a disgusting human being doesn't even evoke feelings of anger in me anymore. It's just the same typical BS.
Secondly, Thompson is just absolutely batshit crazy, and people like him and Prokofy Neva simply couldn't live without this kind of fear-mongering and one-message-to-the-exclusion-of-facts outright lying. It is absolutely astounding to me that people give him airtime *at all*.
My point exactly. He loves getting air time.
http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2008/02/14/northern-illinois-school-shoo...
And here he goes, foaming at the mouth already.
And when I herad that the first thing to pop in my brain was "And yet still its going to be blamed on violent video games."
Sadly.....I was right. :(
I don't know how this relates to Jack's self-claims of being like Paul Revere, but I thought it was interesting to note.
I really can't help but laugh at the pathetic nature of his massacre chasing though. This just reeks of desperation. An old man trying to cling to his old beliefs no matter what in direct contrast to reality.
I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't such a douchebag.
I wonder if he thought "good" when he heard about the gay teenager who was shot by someone in his class purely because he was gay?
-Bracketed portion renders this statement irrelevant
(Cooper Lawrence syndrome)
Since Jack's career in law seems to be hanging in the twilight, I believe that we should begin referring to Mr. Thompson as a Miami-Dade psychic. He how has two major references on his psychic resume (Virginia Tech, and now Northern Illinois). This obviously makes him an expert.
Unfortunately for Jack, he seems unable to comprehend that people will be questioning his expertise and asking him "hey didn't you say you were a lawyer last month" after the Florida Bar revokes his bar license.
@Jon Kanders
Yes, you could probably set your watch to it.
Works out great for everyone else, because it means he's devoting less time to actually trying to defend his legal career. Not that it actually matters, but he continues to pile **** on a mountain of ****.
Fun Fact: Paul Revere did almost jack squat for his country. He only rode about 20 miles or so, while another guy rode over 300 miles. The only reason the poet used his name is because it sounded better.
For one, they thought that too much was being allowed in the name of the first amendment. I asked where the parents were. They said I was doging the question, since parents can't control their children 24/7. I asked where the HiDef TV and video game console were. They went and said that some parents were bad parents, so the children could still get a hold of these violent games. I countered with asking how much free speech they thought the government should censor in order to remove the choice from both bad parents and good parents so that society would be safe. About this point, the other people in my group felt that work needed to get done again.
I skipped a lot of the arguments and counter arguments, but I brought up parenting, first amendment, the ratings system, theapudic release visavis a punching bag. It helps that I was a suitable counter to a lot of their points. I have seen pornography when I was young, but have only ever had one partner (who I am married to), and that I was the one always getting picked on and beaten up, and even though I had access to a gun, and was proficient with a bow and arrow, sling shot and throwing knives (I grew up in the country) I only ever got in one fight, in which I was cornered.
They wanted to argue that you couldn't believe statistics and facts because they differ from what they see in the ghettos of the city I live in and what Faux News tells them.
I never noticed before, but I'm in an office of sheep. They feel the government should raise their children and that the first amendment should be weakend. I have never felt more alone.
"larouche is acting stupid as well"
It's a pleonasm :D
Police found 48 shell casings and six shotgun shells at the scene. He killed 6, including himself, and injured 16 more.
If he was a video game-trained killer, then by Jack's logic, 54 people should be dead, all shot in the face...
I also should have known better than to think he’d have the sense to stay quiet when his license is in order. But to compare himself to Paul Revere is extremely galling. It really does speak to his martyrdom complex, doesn’t it?
Hopefully Judge Tunis will take this into consideration when she makes her final ruling.
You shouldn't be surprised, Faux Noise'll give any idiot with functioning vocal cords airtime, whether they know jack s*** about anything or not (usually leaning toward 'not')
@Mazinger-Z:
It probably hasn't happened yet (and can't come soon enough, apparently.)
@mogbert:
What do you think? When has he ever gone after "not videogames"?
I love how Fox News brings Thompson on their network just weeks after the Mass Effect incident.
Be sure to drive slow, so he stays interested in the chase, but not so slow that he can catch you. If he begins to show signs of fatigue, stick your head out the window and yell; "THE 12 YEAR OLD BOY IN THE BACK WAS INJURED WHILE PURCHASING GRAND THEFT AUTO FROM BEST BUY WITHOUT HIS PARENTS' CONSENT!!!". That will perk him right up. Hell, I bet the man could five marathons with that sort of incentive.
Wise decision. They don't exist.
Andrew Eisen
Hell, Doom keeps coming up as a prime example for game censorship.
The train is late because it derailed
And I believe Chris Titus said it best.
"Be normal, and the crowd will accept you. Be deranged, and they will make you their leader." And he certainly was made a leader in his own mind.
I've said ti befor,e self importance isn't the same as actually being important.
Bull-fucking-shit! The only thing Jack loves more than the spotlight is linking real life tragedy to fictional video game violence. It gets him hard as a rock.
But why should we bother complaining at this point. Look, he's STILL saying Cho trained on Counter-Strike despite the overwhelming PROOF to the contrary. Some people are just lost causes, and Jack is one of them.
The nads on this guy.
Is there anyone with more misplaced arrogance than the world's premiere massacre chaser Jack Thompson?
So is Fox really that stupid, or do they care so much about ratings that they willingly bring on someone that Fox knows will misinform Fox viewers. Just because .....I'm guessing for controversy that will raise ratings.
Why bring on Jack Thompson then. Why not bring on Paris Hilton, or anyone who whose voiced opinion on a serious matter would make headlines.
Didn't you know? If he waits for the facts, he has to at least pretend to go by them. If he makes up the facts first, then anything contradicting him is part of the game industry experience. Note how he still claims that Cho played Counterstrike, and there were all those times he yelled at the police because they couldn't find the video games he "knew" where there.
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Papa Midnight