I'm not really a fan of when a heinous crime happens and video games get linked by mainstream media. Like the Navy Yard attack, where Fox News insisted that the shooter did what he did because he was obsessed with violent video games.
The latest incident is of an 18-year-old man named Ben Moynihan, who has been found guilty of attempting to stab three women to death. Moynihan, of Knightsone Court, Portsmouth, left two letters for the police, challenging them to find him and taunting them by saying:
You Police men are very pathetic. I was the one who stabbed all 3 women in the last few weeks. 20th June, 29th June and 11th July. Now you arrest someone who is 30, I'm only 17 years old for crying out loud. All women need to die and hopefully next time I can gauge their eyeballs out. Every time I stab someone, I run home and I like to smell the flesh I ripped out. I'm now going to show you a picture of myself and see how good you guys and be, come and arrest me for god sake before I hunt for my 4th victim. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!
In another lett, Moynahan referred to himself as "the unhappy geezer," and asked "When women won't talk to you, it's haeart breaking. Why are they fussy with men now day?" He ended the letter with "I roam these streets hungry for blood and pain. I be greeted as attack, attack, attack, attack, attack, dead, jolly good!" After that, he included a symbol from the game Tomb Raider.
There's also a video of Moynahan that was found on his laptop where he says, "I think every girl is a type of slut, they are fussy with men nowadays, they do not give boys like us a chance." He's also said, "I was planning to murder mainly women as an act of revenge because of the life they gave me, I'm still a virgin at 17."
Obviously, he has serious mental issues. And yet, multiple media outlets are running with the Tomb Raider symbol — an arbitrary inclusion — and including the game that he was a fan of in every report. The Telegragh ran a headline "Tomb Raider fan 'stabbed women in random acts," while the only mention in the article is of the symbol included. Nothing Moynihan has said can be connected to Tomb Raider. He could hate the game for all we know, but like people with Chinese symbol tattoos, he could just really like the symbol. But google 'Ben Moynihan Tomb Raider' and you'll see it mentioned in every freaking article. And then there's this… article, I guess you would call it?
As for the other 6.5 million people that played Tomb Raider, there have been no reported stabbings.
Anyone with half a brain would know that these acts of violence has nothing to do with Tomb Raider and everything to do with mental illness. That said, get ready for the outcry of news outlets that want to ban violent video games again.
