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The families of some of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting have announced new legal action against three companies they say effectively helped to “train” the gunman to carry out the attack.

Legal action against Instagram parent company Meta Platforms, the maker of the video game series Call Of Duty and the company that made the gun used in the May 2022 shooting was announced on the two-year anniversary of the attack in Texas in the US.

Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on 24 May 2022.

The new legal cases accuse the companies of partnering to promote and create content designed to glorify combat, gun violence and killing.

Memorial crosses stand in front of Robb Elementary School, as U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announces the results of a review into the law enforcement response to a 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, U.S., January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee Beal
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Pic: Reuters

Josh Koskoff, a lawyer for the families, called the companies a “three-headed monster” that “knowingly exposed [the gunman] to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a tool to solve his problems and trained him to use it”.

“There is a direct line between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” Mr Koskoff said.

According to the lawsuits, Ramos had played versions of Call Of Duty since he was 15, including one that allowed him to effectively practise with the version of the rifle he used at the school.

It claimed the company created a “hyperrealistic” game where “although the killing is virtual, the weapons are authentic – they are designed to perfectly imitate their real-life counterparts in look, feel, recoil and accuracy”.

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‘Failures’ in Uvalde school shooting

The legal action claims Instagram does little to enforce rules that ban marketing firearms and harmful content to children.

It also accuses gunmakers Daniel Defense of using the social media platform to help “extol the illegal, murderous use of its weapons”.

Some of the same families also filed a $500m (£392m) lawsuit against Texas state police officials and officers who responded to the shooting but waited more than an hour to confront Ramos inside the classroom as students and teachers lay dead, dying or wounded.

‘Baseless accusations’

Call Of Duty makers, Activision, called the shooting “horrendous and heartbreaking in every way”.

The company added its “deepest sympathies” for the “families and communities who remain impacted by this senseless act of violence”.

But it added: “Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts.”

Activision's Call Of Duty on sale at Best Buy in Mountain View, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011. Video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. said Wednesday that its second-quarter net income grew, boosted by strong demand for digital offerings such as downloadable content for its popular "Call of Duty" games. Activision earned $335 million, or 29 cents per share, in the April-June period. That's up 53 percent from $219 million, or 17 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
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Activision called the shooting ‘horrendous and heartbreaking in every way’. Pic: AP

The Entertainment Software Association – a video game industry trade group – also said it was “outraged by senseless acts of violence” but pushed back on blaming games for violence, arguing research has found no link.

“We discourage baseless accusations linking these tragedies to video gameplay, which detract from efforts to focus on the root issues in question and safeguard against future tragedies,” the group said.

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Robb Elementary shooting survivors Amy Franco, left, Arnulfo "Arnie" Reyes, center, stand with other survivors and community members at the town square on Friday morning, May 24, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The former Robb Elementary School educators waved orange flags signifying gun violence awareness to commemorate the 21 victims of the shooting ... 19 fourth-graders and two teachers ... who died two years ago Friday. (Sam Owens/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
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Survivors and community members at Uvalde town square on Friday morning. Pic: AP

Daniel Defense and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

This is not the first legal action to be brought over the shooting.

In December 2022, a group of different plaintiffs filed a separate lawsuit against local and state police, the city, and other school and law enforcement, which seeks at least $27bn (£21bn) and class-action status for survivors.

At least two other lawsuits have also been filed against Daniel Defense.

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To mark the two-year anniversary of the shooting, community members in Uvalde planned a vigil for those killed.

In a letter, President Joe Biden said: “As we mark this solemn day, may we pray for those we lost, their loved ones, and all those who were wounded.”

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Donald Trump sending ‘top of the line’ weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

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Donald Trump sending 'top of the line' weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.

Speaking with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.

“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

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Donald Trump and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte in the White House. Pic: Reuters
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Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.

Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.

Later on Monday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mr Trump and said he was “grateful” for the US president’s “readiness to help protect our people’s lives”.

Analysis: Will Trump’s shift in tone make a difference?

As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump’s announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant.

His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge.

Read Mark’s analysis here.

After criticising Vladimir Putin’s “desire to drag it out”, he said he appreciated “preparing a new decision on Patriots for Ukraine” – and added Kyiv is “working on major defence agreements with America”.

It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump over Mr Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.

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Trump threatens Russia with ‘severe’ tariffs’

During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call”, but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Mr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.

After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”

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Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.

He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.

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Trump is clearly fed up with Putin – but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?

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Trump is clearly fed up with Putin - but will his shift in tone force Russia to the negotiating table?

As ever, there is confusion and key questions are left unanswered, but Donald Trump’s announcement on Ukraine and Russia today remains hugely significant.

His shift in tone and policy on Ukraine is stark. And his shift in tone (and perhaps policy) on Russia is huge.

Ever since Mr Trump returned to the White House he has flatly refused to side with Ukraine over the Russian invasion.

He has variously blamed Ukraine for the invasion and blamed Joe Biden for the invasion, but has never been willing to accept that Russia is the aggressor and that Ukraine has a legitimate right to defend itself.

Today, all that changed. In a clear signal that he is fed up with Vladimir Putin and now fully recognises the need to help Ukraine defend itself, he announced the US will dramatically increase weapons supplies to Kyiv.

Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the White House. Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

But, in keeping with his transactional nature and in a reflection of the need to keep his isolationist “America-First” base on side, he has framed this policy shift as a multi-billion dollar “deal” in which America gains financially.

American weapons are to be “sold” to NATO partners in Europe who will then either transfer them to Ukraine or use them to bolster their own stockpiles as they transfer their own existing stocks to Kyiv.

“We’ve made a deal today,” the president said in the Oval Office. “We are going to be sending them weapons, and they are paying for them. We are manufacturing, they are going to be paying for it. Our meeting last month was very successful… these are wealthy nations.”

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What will Trump’s weapons deal mean for Ukraine?

This appears to be a clever framing of the “deal”. Firstly, America has always benefited financially by supplying weapons to Ukraine because much of the investment has been in American factories, American jobs and American supply chains.

While the details are not entirely clear, the difference now appears to be that the weapons would be bought by the Europeans or by NATO as an alliance.

The Americans are the biggest contributor to NATO, and so if the alliance is buying the weapons, America too will be paying, in part, for the weapons it is selling.

However, if the weapons are being bought by individual NATO members to replenish their own stocks, then it may be the case that the US is not paying.

NATO officials referred all questions on this issue to the White House, which has not yet provided clarity to Sky News.

It is also not yet clear what type of weapons will be made available and whether it will include offensive, as well defensive, munitions.

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Will Trump’s deal make a difference?

A key element of the package will likely be Patriot missile batteries, 10 to 15 of which are believed to be currently in Europe.

Under this deal, it is understood that some of them will be added to the six or so batteries believed to be presently in Ukraine. New ones would then be purchased from US manufacturers to backfill European stocks. A similar arrangement may be used for other weapons.

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The president also issued the Russian leader with an ultimatum, saying that Putin had 50 days to make a peace deal or else face 100% “secondary tariffs”. It’s thought this refers to a plan to tariff, or sanction, third countries that supply Russia with weapons and buy Russian oil.

This, the Americans hope, will force those countries to apply pressure on Russia.

But the 50-day kicking of the can down the road also gives Russia space to prevaricate. So, a few words of caution: first, the Russians are masters of prevarication. Second, Trump tends to let deadlines slip. And third, we all know Trump can flip-flop on his position repeatedly.

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‘Trump sides with the Ukrainian cause’

Maybe the most revealing aspect of all this came when a reporter asked Mr Trump: “How far are you willing to go if Putin sends more bombs in the coming days?”

“Don’t ask me questions like that…”

Mr Trump doesn’t really know what to do if Mr Putin continues to take him for a ride.

Mr Biden, before him, supplied Ukraine with the weapons to continue fighting.

If Mr Trump wants to end this, he may need to provide Ukraine with enough weapons to win.

But that would prolong, or even escalate, a war he wants to end now.

There’s the predicament.

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‘Disgusting’ antisemitic and racist messages posted on Elmo’s X page by hacker

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'Disgusting' antisemitic and racist messages posted on Elmo's X page by hacker

An X account for the Sesame Street character Elmo has been targeted by an unknown hacker who posted antisemitic and racist messages.

The profile is followed by more than 650,000 users on the social network – and usually posts upbeat and motivational updates.

Sunday’s messages, which have since been deleted, called for violence against Jews, insulted Donald Trump, and referred to alleged files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement, Sesame Workshop said the X account has now been secured – and described the posts uploaded to Elmo’s page as “disgusting”.

This is the latest controversy to befall Elon Musk’s platform in recent days.

Last week, X’s AI chatbot Grok also produced content with antisemitic tropes, which were later removed and denounced as “inappropriate”.

Musk purchased the website, formerly known as Twitter, back in 2022 – with extremist content increasing against a backdrop of less moderation.

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The Anti-Defamation League, a US organisation that fights antisemitism, said: “It’s appalling that Elmo’s official account, known for spreading kindness, was hacked solely to spread violent antisemitism.”

“Antisemitism on social media fosters the normalisation of anti-Jewish hate online and offline – and contributes to an increasingly threatening environment for Jewish people everywhere.”

Elmo’s account has not posted since the hack.

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