Attorneys representing parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary said gun manufacturer Remington Arms sent up to 30,000 memes, cartoons, and irrelevant pictures as part of a cache of pre-trial discovery documents a judge forced it to produce.
“There is no possible reasonable explanation for this conduct,” attorneys argued in the complaint filed in a Connecticut court this week, adding the firearms maker had promised the court it was devoting extensive resources to compiling the documents. “Remington has instead made the plaintiffs wait years to receive cartoon images, gender reveal videos, and duplicate copies of catalogues.”
The unrelated images included pictures of Santa Claus, a bowl of ice cream, go-kart racing, and off-road dirt-biking. Less than one-third of the 46,000 supposed corporate emails and marketing documents Remington turned over are related to the case, attorneys said, adding, “Remington has treated discovery as a game.”
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In a response, Remington lead attorney James Vogts told the Connecticut Post when the company responds to the complaint in the coming weeks, it will point out what it called “incorrect representations” and “numerous half-truths.”
Attorneys for the families embroiled in the seven-year lawsuit said Remington’s irrelevant submissions speak to its intent.
“Remington’s … effort to lard its document production with cartoons and duplicate catalogs sends a strong message about the real motive here,” wrote the families’ attorneys. “Remington is desperate to avoid a true review of the internal and external communications detailing its abusive marketing practices.”
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Parents of children killed in the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary want to hold the maker of the AR-15 style rifle accountable. In 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Remington could be sued for how it marketed the Bushmaster rifle that killed 20 children and six staff members.
Remington, which filed bankruptcy last summer for the second time in two years, has denied any wrongdoing and insisted there is no standing for it to be sued in court.
Jury selection for the trial begins in September.
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