President Donald Trump implied his support Monday for increased regulation of video games and monitoring of the Internet, which he suggested were catalysts for mass shootings.
Trump did not address potential gun control legislation in his 10-minute speech, though he said earlier on Twitter that he is looking at strengthening background checks for gun purchases.
“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” Trump said in his prepared remarks at the White House.
Despite Trump’s calls for regulation of video games, research on a potential link to violence is mixed. A 2015 study in the American Psychological Association found insufficient evidence that video games lead to violence. The Atlantic noted over the weekend that numerous other studies have failed to prove a causal link between video games and shootings.
Anderson works on the tech team at his local church. Recently, a 17-year-old girl joined the church staff as an intern. While Anderson has never met or spoken with her, the fact that they volunteer on separate teams at the church is a violation of his probation, according to officials who issued a warrant for his arrest last week.
To whom it may concern:
My name is Pete Tarwacki and I am the Creative Arts Director of Granger Community ChurchElkhart. For the last two years I have had the privilege of serving our Church together with Zach Anderson. He serves on my team almost every Sunday and does so with Excellence and Integrity.
It has come to my attention that Zach has been sited with talking to a minor inside our church walls and I want to make sure we are all on the same page about this.
We are aware of Zach’s past at GCC, so we have taken every measure to make sure that he is following his court orders to the fullest. I have experienced Zach asking me many times how old someone is and if ever hearing they were a minor, he would tell me right away “I’m not allowed to talk to them”. I have witnessed him ignore a hello from a minor and even go upstairs if a kid would get near him on the main floor. Zach has shown nothing but integrity when it comes to these situations to make sure he is not violating any of the policies put in place for him. When he attends evening rehearsal he will say “I need to leave to get home in time for my curfew”. He had told me before that I can’t email him because he is not allowed to be on the internet. My entire experience with Zach has been him trying to never violate any of the restrictions placed on him.
As a church we believe in erring on the side of caution and as a church we have policies in place for our own staff that to some, may look unnecessary. An example would be that a male and female not be alone in a building together or that a married man or women not ever ride in a car alone with a person of the opposite sex who is not their spouse. As a church we never want anyone to assume the worst in us, but instead we always take extra steps to have the highest integrity in all we do.
The minor in question is a member of the Granger Community Church Staff as an intern in the Creative Arts department and is 17 years old. She completed High School last year and decided to serve the Church for a year until she attends college in the fall of 2018. She does not serve directly with Zach and I have never seen the two of them talk, ever.
I just got off the phone with her and asked her if she knew Zach Anderson and she replied, “I don’t think I do, maybe if I saw a picture of him.” I asked her if she has ever spoken with him and she replied, “NO”. I asked her to email me a statement of that and she sent the following:
I have never interacted with Zach Anderson and have never met him.
I am so proud of Zach and how much integrity he has shown in front of me in every instance at our church. Our church is better because of Zach and I count it an honor to serve with him at GCC.
Pete Tarwacki | Creative Arts Director
Granger Community Church | Elkhart
