AP – The son of a man killed in a 2021 mass shooting at an Indianapolis FedEx facility filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday with two of the survivors against the distributor of the 60-round magazine used by the gunman, alleging the use of reckless marketing tactics targetting young men at risk for violent behaviour.
The lawsuit – filed almost exactly two years after the shooting that killed eight people – alleges that American Tactical, Inc failed to take steps to help prevent dangerous people from obtaining the high-capacity magazine, which allow shooters to fire dozens of rounds without having to reload.
Instead, the lawsuit says the company specifically targetted its products to a “consumer base filled with impulsive young men who feel they need to harm others in order to prove their strength and who have militaristic delusions of fighting in a war or a video game.”
It points to action-movie-style marketing videos that were posted on American Tactical’s YouTube page featuring men firing round after round in tactical vests – similar to one worn by the FedEx facility shooter.
“American Tactical, Inc is well aware that these magazines are instruments of mass killing and have no problem marketing them directly to people with horrific intentions,” said Gurinder Singh Bains whose father, Jaswinder Singh, died in the shooting.
“This isn’t a hypothetical. My father is gone because they didn’t care they were enabling mass shooters.
“They have to be held accountable not just for my father’s sake but everyone who may still suffer what my family and I have been forced to go through,” he said in an e-mailed statement.
The complaint also names as defendants the president of American Tactical, the company’s marketing director, as well as Schmeisser GmbH – the German manufacturer of the high-capacity magazine – and 365 Plus, the global distributor.
A person who answered the phone for American Tactical said the company had no immediate comment. E-mail seeking comment was sent to Schmeisser GmbH and 365 Plus.
