MSNBC aired a discussion on Wednesday suggesting that pandemic-era isolation and online video gaming may contribute to the radicalization of young people toward violence, following the Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis.
National security analyst Christopher O’Leary told the network that a combination of social and cultural issues are increasingly cited by security professionals as pathways to extremist thinking.
“Whether it’s a terrorist organization or the variety of ideologies that different people follow, they’re following them because they have susceptibility,” O’Leary said.
“Maybe it’s some kind of mental break. Maybe it’s their life has gone down the toilet and they have no hope. Maybe they have bad parenting—a variety of things.”
He pointed directly to the COVID-19 lockdowns as a key factor.
“The effects of COVID and the isolation and what’s called the gamification influence where young men are growing up being raised by video games—all of those things are involved in really people mobilizing towards violence more routinely,” O’Leary said.
The analyst also claimed that radicalization can occur entirely within gaming platforms without individuals accessing other online forums.
“You will also see people get radicalized solely on these video games through headsets,” he said. “They may never go on the