Torrence Brown Jr., 18, is the first victim of the Dark Knight Rises massacre in Aurora, Colorado, to file a lawsuit against Warner Bros. In addition, Brown and many others are blaming Hollywood, the doctors of James Holmes and the movie theater for this senseless, sadistic and evil act.

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Brown has already hired lawyer Donald Karpel. These are Donald Karpel’s claims:

1. The theater. Karpel claims it was negligent for the theater to have an emergency door in the front that was not alarmed or guarded. It’s widely believed Holmes entered the theater with a ticket, propped the emergency door open from inside, went to his car and returned with guns. 2. Holmes’ doctors. Karpel says it appears Holmes was on several medications — prescribed by one or more doctors — at the time of the shooting and he believes the docs did not properly monitor Holmes. 3. Warner Bros. Karpel says Dark Knight Rises was particularly violent and Holmes mimicked some of the action. The attorney says theatergoers were helpless because they thought the shooter was part of the movie.

Karpel went on to say:

“Somebody has to be responsible for the rampant violence that is shown today.”

However; the only person responsible, and that should be held accountable, is the triggerman, James Holmes.

Don’t give that son of a bitch the satisfaction of being able to blame a motion picture for upsetting his “mental illness.” That’s the problem with America today. There’s always a cop-out. We don’t get the grade; it’s the teacher’s fault. We don’t get the job; it’s the employer’s fault. We slip on ice at a neighbor’s house; it’s their fault. We have insecurities; it’s our parents fault. Psychotic sociopath goes on senseless shooting rampage; it’s Batman’s fault. What the hell is the correlation here?!?

It’s about time we start going back to blaming the individual and holding them accountable for their actions – rather than ALWAYS victimizing them to the environment that surrounds them. Millions of people have hardships, and don’t succumb to doing terrible things; so why should scum like James Holmes get the satisfaction of blaming anything other than himself for pure evil? James Holmes is not a victim of circumstance, do not let him or anyone else believe that.

Holmes was attending a midnight premiere of Dark Knight Rises, a movie he presumably had not seen before. How can we blame the film for an act that so evidently required much premeditated thinking? He has automatic weapons, smoke grenades, a full suit of body armor, and a “Joker” act he put on to confuse the innocent movie-goers.

Unless this idea was sprung upon him, and put together in the first few minutes of the movie, and strung together in the same time frame; it’s safe to say Dark Knight Rises is not to blame for this hellish tragedy.

We understand and sympathize, as much as an outsider can, with the victims of the Aurora shooting, who have been forced to face emotional, physical, and psychological scars that will likely never be overcome. However; as difficult as it is to even imagine any sort of normalcy or fairness in this world, after what happened, fingers are being pointed at the wrong people.

The only person who anyone should blame is James Holmes. A doctor should not need to be closely monitoring a patient at midnight, a movie theater should not be prepared for defending automatic weapons, and Warner Bros. cannot be responsible for the disgusting and twisted mind of one individual.

No matter how many parental blocks we put on our television sets, no matter how many trophies are given out in little league, no matter how many anti-bullying displays children will see; there will always be those exceptions who will commit acts like Holmes. It is inevitable. Tragedy is a part of life that cannot be avoided. However; in some cases, like in Aurora, it becomes much too horrific and senseless to explain or understand. So we will do everything in our power to look for an explanation of how another human being could commit such an act. But then again there are sometimes cases where there is no logical, or therapeutic answer.

In the fitting words of Alfred Pennyworth (played by Michael Caine), from the Batman trilogy:

“Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

The fact is, there’s no real way cope with such tragedy. Suing for a sum of money is most certainly not the answer. The best anyone can really do is pray, spend time with loved ones, never forget those that were lost, and hope that one day the pain begins to ease.

Also, if we keep placing blame on external things like Hollywood, doctors, etc., that are not truly at blame; we will be doing more harm than good. We would be changing the content of what’s allowed to be placed in movies, making doctors who save lives fearful for malpractice law suits, and letting others take the blame for what isn’t in their control.

We mustn’t live in fear and let those like James Holmes dictate what our world should look like. If the jury of peers is found to hold Warner Bros. to blame, James Holmes wins. And we shouldn’t want to live in a world where he wins.

All we can do is constantly educate, be compassionate, do the right thing, and in turn, eliminate as much tragedy as possible; without living in fear and sacrificing freedom.

If karma holds true to any extent, justice will be served. James Holmes will live out the rest of his dissolute numbered days in the same unimaginable horror that his innocent victims were placed in, on that very dark night.

– Anthony Armao

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