Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has attributed the recent El Paso, Texas mass shooting to video games and violent media in a statement made on Fox News. Immediately after condemning the shooting as "evil," Patrick shifts and says, "How long are we going to let, for example, and ignore at the federal level particularly, where they can do something about the video game industry?" The Lt. Governor doesn't provide any specific examples of change that he'd like to see.
According to Patrick, the reason why he's specifically focused on the video game industry is due to a single quotation from the El Paso shooter's reported manifesto. The cited quotation references a "super soldier COD fantasy," with "COD" implied to reference Call of Duty. He goes on to say that while the country "has always had guns, has always had evil," the video game industry has rapidly grown in recent years. Patrick that bluntly states that the video game industry, "teaches young people to kill."
Patrick goes on to describe many further reasons why he believes the United States is in the place is in, including how people bully each other on social media and that "we no longer let our kids pray in schools." He continues to say that it's not a time to "politicize" the recent shootings.
This was the second time in recent hours that Fox News played host to the idea that video games are responsible for the increase in mass shootings in the United States. Former FBI agent Maureen O'Connell was a guest on Fox News Sunday morning, where she said regarding the El Paso shooter, "If I were a betting man, I'd say that he probably logs 6-8 hours a day playing one of those, you know, Fortnite, or one of those video games. O'Connell and the Fox Host both would go on to say that video games dehumanize victims or desensitize players to violence.
Patrick and O'Connell's comments echo an increase in Republican criticism of video games following mass shootings in the United States. President Donald Trump himself said in early 2018 that "the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people's thoughts." So far such comments haven't resulted in any meaningful legislation. They also stand in stark contrast to robust research showing that video games do not lead to violence or increased aggression.
Source: Rod Breslau