The gun-maker Smith & Wesson illegally targeted young men at risk of violence with ads for firearms — including the 22-year-old gunman accused of opening fire on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago and killing seven people, according to several lawsuits filed Wednesday in Illinois.
The lawsuits filed by people wounded while attending the Highland Park parade and the estates of several victims are the latest bid by victims of mass shootings to hold gun manufacturers accountable, despite broad protections for the industry in federal law.
Liz Turnipseed is among those filing lawsuits in Lake County on Wednesday against the gun manufacturer, the accused shooter and his father, along with and two gun retailers.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Turnipseed said she had recently arrived at the parade with her husband and 3-year-old daughter, pointing out to the girl instruments in the high school band. She fell to the ground after being shot in the pelvis and remembers seeing her daughter's stroller on its side and asking her husband to get their daughter to safety.
Turnipseed said she required weeks of intense wound care, expects to need a cane for some time and is in therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. She also was forced to delay an embryo transfer scheduled for July 12; her doctors now fear it's dangerous for her to become pregnant.
Despite her physical and emotional burdens, the Highland Park resident said she became determined to speak for those who did not survive mass shootings in the U.S., particularly the 19 children and two teachers killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in late May.
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“I had a unique opportunity to help put a real face on what these guns do to people and ... give it a first-person perspective,” Turnipseed said. “Because there aren’t that many of us that survive. Because they’re that deadly.”
Turnipseed's lawsuit largely focused on Smith & Wesson, the gun manufacturer that produced the Military and Police 15 semiautomatic rifle that authorities identified as the gunman's weapon.
In the suit, Turnipseed alleges that Smith & Wesson ads mimic the shooter's-eye view popularized by video games, use imagery of apparent military or law enforcement personnel and emphasize the M&P 15's combat features.
Smith & Wesson officials should have known that its advertising campaigns would appeal to a dangerous group of customers — “namely impulsive young men with hero complexes and/or militaristic delusions attracted to using the particularly high lethality of AR-15 style weapons ... to effectively execute their fantasies,” her attorneys argue.
Advertising text bills the rifle as “capable of handling as many rounds as you are" and providing “pure adrenaline.” One ad shows the M&P 15 on a dark background above the phrase “kick brass” in a bold red font and capital letters.
“The advertisements and marketing tactics described above demonstrate that Smith & Wesson knowingly marketed, advertised, and promoted the Rifle to civilians for illegal purposes, including to carry out offensive, military style combat missions against their perceived enemies," her attorneys argue.
Representatives for Smith & Wesson, based in Springfield, Massachusetts, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday.
The lawsuits also allege that two gun stores – online distributor Bud’s Gun Shop and Lake Villa retailer Red Dot Arms — negligently and illegally sold a Smith & Wesson M&P assault rifle — to the shooter in violation of the assault weapons bans in Highwood, and Highland Park.
Finally, the multiple plaintiffs -- made up of families of the deceased along with survivors, including the Roberts family, whose eight-year-old boy was shot and paralyzed -- are also suing the alleged gunman for assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress and his father for negligence, particularly for sponsoring his son’s application for a state firearms license in 2019 within months of the 19-year-old attempting to kill himself and threatening family members.
Lawyers representing the plaintiffs are expected to hold a press conference to discuss the lawsuits at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. It will be streamed live in the video player above when it begins.
The suspect faces 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery, representing those killed and wounded during the parade in Highland Park.
Lake County prosecutors have not filed any criminal charges against his father and have repeatedly declined to discuss the possibility that the alleged gunman could be charged in the future.
The suspect is represented by the Lake County public defender's office, which does not comment on ongoing cases. An attorney for Crimo Jr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
