Virginia Tech Report Makes No Mention of Videogames
A 26-page report by the U.S. Federal government on the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre makes no mention at all of videogames being linked to the shootings.
Issued on June 13, the report was a joint effort by Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. The role of videogames in the shooting rampage had been raised with Leavitt at least twice before, during an appearance on Meet the Press in April as well as a joint press conference with Utah Governor John Huntsman, while representatives of the Virginia Tech Review Panel [http://www.larouchepac.com/pages/breaking_news/2007/06/12/lpac_intervenes_in_va_tech_review_panel_hearing.asp].
Fringe anti-game zealot Jack Thompson has also attempted to lay blame for the shootings on videogames, predicting immediately after the killings that the shooter would be a "gamer, obviously," despite having no evidential basis for the claim. The complete lack of any mention of videogames whatsoever in the report would appear to be a pointed rebuke of these claims.
A full copy of the report in PDF format is available here [http://www.hhs.gov/vtreport.pdf].
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Issued on June 13, the report was a joint effort by Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. The role of videogames in the shooting rampage had been raised with Leavitt at least twice before, during an appearance on Meet the Press in April as well as a joint press conference with Utah Governor John Huntsman, while representatives of the Virginia Tech Review Panel [http://www.larouchepac.com/pages/breaking_news/2007/06/12/lpac_intervenes_in_va_tech_review_panel_hearing.asp].
Fringe anti-game zealot Jack Thompson has also attempted to lay blame for the shootings on videogames, predicting immediately after the killings that the shooter would be a "gamer, obviously," despite having no evidential basis for the claim. The complete lack of any mention of videogames whatsoever in the report would appear to be a pointed rebuke of these claims.
A full copy of the report in PDF format is available here [http://www.hhs.gov/vtreport.pdf].
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