Tag Archives: Stephen Kazmierczak

Jack Thompson has written to North Illinois University threatening a lawsuit if the institution doesn’t hand over any documents related to killer Steven Kazmierczak’s experience with videogames.

“Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request production of copies of all documents that reveal Steven Kazmierczak’s play of violent video games, including but not limited to the use of his computer to play Counter-Strike, which he apparently, according to the New York Post, used to rehearse for his Valentine’s Day Massacre at NIU,” said Thompson in the letter faxed to the University today. “The killers in the two worst school massacres in history — in Erfurt, Germanay, and at Virginia Tech University—similarly trained on Counter-Strike to rehearse for their killing sprees. If I am not provided with this information, I shall bring a civil action to secure these documents.”

The editor of GamePolitics.com got in touch with Thompson, asking him if had really sent the letter. Thompson replied:

“Of course I sent it to them, you idiot. The NIU investigators have already responded, professionally, and told me they will get me this information in due time. This is how you do this, which you wouldn’t know.”

Us? Stunned.

Anti-games campaigner Jack Thompson has written to the president of North Illinois University – site of this week’s shootings by former student Stephen Kazmierczak to again link the crime to “mass murder simulation game, Counter-Strike”.

Following the shooting, Thompson appeared on Fox News to immediately associate the killings with gaming. Yesterday, the New York Post “revealed” that Kazmierczak used to play Counter-Strike while enrolled at the campus.

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

To be honest, Jack, it rankles that we have to give you air-time. Maybe you should be looking into the fact that any kid can buy a gun on a US street for about 50p instead of taking issue with creative entertainment.

The Murdoch-owned New York Post has linked the fact that Stephen Kazmierczak – the guy that shot five people dead at North Illinois University earlier this week – played Counter-Strike four years ago to the other fact: he was sick as a sack of hats.

“He played a lot of video games, especially Counter-Strike, really loud,” dorm mate Ben Woloszyn, 24, told the paper.

In a story headlined, “COLLEGE KILLER CRAZY FOR VIOLENT VID GAME”, the Post describes Counter-Strike as “ultra-violent”, adding, “In the game, players use imaginary money to buy shotguns, pistols and other equipment they need to move around an imaginary world in which they’re constantly under threat of being killed by roving terrorists.

“In real life, Kazmierczak – who had become ‘erratic’ recently after shunning medication for an undisclosed illness – purchased weapons like those used in Counter-Strike, including a Glock handgun and a pump-action Remington shotgun, which he bought legally on Feb. 9.”

Sensible, responsible journalism. Half the internet’s already kicking the shit out of Jack Thompson for this astonishing Fox News interview on the subject of the shooting, so it should come as no real surprise that other areas of Fox are jumping in. Note the word “Fox”. Starting to see a pattern?

This is pretty shocking. As you can see from the video below, US attorney Jack Thompson made more than a passing reference to games on Fox News yesterday in relation to the llinois University shooting this week.

The first thing Thompson said in the report, in response to a question about what can be drawn from the fact Stephen Kazmierczak was 27 years old and had already graduated from the university, was , “Well, we find from brain scan studies out of Harvard that if you get started, for example, playing violent videogames you can, ah, more likely to copycat the behaviours in the games. And the disturbing thing that keeps popping up in many of these, as in Virginia Tech, Columbian, [something else which we can't make out] where I represented the parents of the three girls shot and killed, is that you can rehearse these types of massacres on simulators which are called videogames, and can therefore be made more proficient in doing this.”

We would say something. But we’re speechless. Watch for yourself. So far there has been no evidence at all that Stephen Kazmierczak played videogames.

According to this, anti-games campaigner Jack Thompson appeared on Fox News this morning to blame yesterday’s Illinois University shooting on games such as Counter-Strike.

As far as we’re aware, no evidence has linked anything that happened during the shooting with gaming in any way.

Stephen Kazmierczak opened fire on a class at the university yesterday, killing five and injuring 15 before killing himself.