Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Attorneys representing a number of families of the victims and survivors of the Tops mass shooting announced on Wednesday the filing of an extensive civil lawsuit on behalf of the family members.
As detailed in the 171-page complaint, the lawsuit is going after a number of different entities, including social media companies, gun manufacturers, the parents of gunman Payton Gendron and others.
Related
"Essentially the lawsuit is a vehicle to hold all of those accountable who played some role in connection with this horrible, horrible massacre," said Buffalo-based Attorney Terry Connors, who represents nine of the 13 families affected by the Tops mass shooting. "We looked through the gun industry, we looked through the manufacturers of the body armor - why would an 18-year-old kid have this kind of body armor? - we looked at the high caliber magazines that were provided to him - illegal in the State of New York - and we looked through the online digital platforms to see who's pushing it, who's encouraging him, who's enabling him, who's teaching him how to do it? It's a very comprehensive lawsuit."
When it comes to naming all the entities as part of the civil suit, it was several months of extensive research to ensure lawyers could build the best case possible for the victims' families.
"What our research has revealed is we have a lot of things that happened which made the shooting entirely preventable," said Attorney Amy Keller from DiCello Levitt LLP based out of Chicago. "First of all, you have social media companies which enabled the shooter to become radicalized, because he became addicted to them. Once he was radicalized, then you have the entities that gave him the weapons of war to commit these killings. It was going through the facts really to see, how did this happen? Who was involved? What did the shooter's diary online say? There was a lot of stuff in the diary that told us who he spoke with when, who encouraged him to carry out this act. And then the platforms that enabled him to get that information."
LISTEN LIVE TO WBEN:
"You realize it's a year and two months afterwards, and we've been working on it constantly, but I think the work we have expanded shows the detailed research, the detailed narrative, and the facts in the complaint that support these theories," Connors added. "The way we do it, you have to do what lawyers do best. You dig down and you get into areas that you probably don't know much about. But now we do."
While the complaint was just filed on Wednesday by attorneys, this case is expected to take quite a long while before a resolution is decided on. Along the way, it is expected for lawyers to be faced with several challenges that could complicate matters with the lawsuit.
One of the main obstacles that was avoided on Wednesday was the decision by attorneys to not include Remington as part of the lawsuit. That's because the manufacturer of the AR-15 used in the racially motivated shooting is proceeding through some bankruptcy issues. According to Connors, if they had decided to go after Remington in the lawsuit, it only would have slowed down the litigation process.
Going forward, Connors expects the defense to come out of the gate trying to obtain some type of a procedural dismissal.
"We'll challenge the allegations that are contained in the complaint, we're prepared for that," he said. "That's a pretty standard procedure. And once that happens and we overcome those obstacles, we will try to push this case into a jury posture as soon as we possibly can."
Another important factor for Connors and the other attorneys with this case is for it to be heard in Erie County, because it is where multiple Plaintiffs reside and where a significant portion of the events underlying the shooting occurred. Connors is also hoping for this civil suit to come before a jury trial.
"There's no question that the need for local jurists to hear this case is imperative. The need for our families, who all reside in this community, to have a jury of their peers, sitting and listening, and making a decision as to what happened, who was at fault, and who should be held accountable," Connors said. "That's the essence of what we do as lawyers, and that's what we're going to do in this case."
As for Keller, who does a lot of work in privacy and data security, she knows one of the first arguments attorneys will encounter is social media companies attempting to raise Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act as a shield to prevent them from being liable.
"It's really funny, the Communications Decency Act kind of allows people online to be completely indecent, and say the most hateful and vile things. It was created so that companies where this information is reposted can't be sued for libel or defamation. That's not what our lawsuit is about," Keller said. "I think it's really important that people understand we're talking about the design of the products themselves being defective and dangerous, and enabling this kind of thing to happen. So you're gonna see the companies rail against us and say we're bringing this lawsuit because of content, but that's not what we're bringing this about. It's about the design, that defective design that enables the danger to our communities."
When it comes to the objective of this lawsuit, attorneys have stated it's about serving justice for the families directly affected by the Tops mass shooting on May 14, 2022. However, there will be a chance for the families to likely receive some sort of financial compensation from these companies.
While these kinds of lawsuits can never bring back the people who were senselessly killed, Keller says in today's justice system, part of that justice is the financial compensation.
"In civil lawsuits, we can't throw people in jail unless they're found in contempt of court," she said. "Our hope is we do get these families financial compensation to help them, at least, rebuild their lives. And then in so doing, these companies can take a really long hard look at their business practices and start to effectuate change for our communities."
"One of the interesting things about these families, who have become very close friends and special people to us, is not one time did they ever ask us, did they ever sit down with Ben [Crump] and myself and say, 'What can you do for us from a financial standpoint?' They never said that once. They only said we need to have the answers, we need to see who can be held accountable," Connors added. "Now, compensation is an element of it, no question about it, and there's no way you could adequately compensate them for their losses. But our law does allow for certain compensation to be awarded, if the jury agrees."
Related
