(19 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles – 18 July 2025
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1. SOUNDBITE (English) Josh Koskoff, attorney representing victims’ families:
"Tell me again it’s a coincidence that the advent of mass shootings has occurred with the advent of ‘Call of Duty,’ because those two things are going in parallel. Nobody is saying that ‘Call of Duty’ is the only responsible party here. But we live in a world, folks, with guns. In Texas, you can get an assault rifle when you’re 18, that’s the law. Guess what? People in Texas know it. You know who else knows it? Activision knows it. Activision knows it. So why would you promote to minors and adolescents the concept that you can avenge your adolescent grievances in a lone gun minstrel assault by a ‘Call of Duty’ branded weapon."
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Josh Koskoff, attorney representing victims’ families:
"If Activision stops pushing weapons on minors, it’s not going to completely eliminate all gun crimes but it severely reduces them. And shouldn’t that be the least that they can do?"
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Kimberly Rubio, mother of Lexi, Uvalde school shooting victim:
"And we traveled all this way seeking answers. And it’s our hope that this case will move forward so we can get those answers. We appreciate that it’s a complicated issue, so we’re also thankful to the judge for hearing our case."
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Kimberly Rubio, mother of Lexi, Uvalde school shooting victim:
"There have been so many factors and every time we try to look more into those, we know a door gets shut. And we still don’t have the answers we need, so we’re hoping that in this case we can learn more about what role they played."
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STORYLINE:
A lawyer for the maker of the video game "Call of Duty" argued Friday that a judge should dismiss a lawsuit brought by families of the victims of the Robb Elementary School attack in Uvalde, Texas, saying the contents of the war game are protected by the First Amendment.
The families sued "Call of Duty" maker Activision and Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram, saying that the companies bear responsibility for promoting products used by the teen gunman.
Activision lawyer Bethany Kristovich told Superior Court Judge William Highberger that the “First Amendment bars their claims, period, full stop.”
She argued that the case has little chance of prevailing if it continues, because courts have repeatedly held that “creators of artistic works, whether they be books, music, movies, TV or video games, cannot be held legally liable for the acts of their audience.”
An attorney for the families argued during the hearing that "Call of Duty" exceeds its First Amendment protections by moving into marketing.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers showed contracts and correspondence between executives at Activision and gunmakers whose products, they said, are clearly and exactly depicted in the game despite brand names not appearing.
Kristovich said there is no evidence that the kind of product placement and marketing the plaintiffs are talking about happened in any of the editions of the game the shooter played.
The families have also filed a lawsuit against Daniel Defense, which manufactured the AR-style rifle used in the May 24, 2022, shooting. Josh Koskoff, the families’ Connecticut-based lead attorney, argued that a replica of the rifle clearly appears on a splash page for "Call of Duty."
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