A federal lawsuit filed on Monday alleges the video game “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” triggered psychosis in a man in a Minnesota mental health facility who then fatally attacked a Minnesota National Guard veteran, according to court records.
Abshir Mohamed Hussein filed a lawsuit as guardian for the next family of Abdirashi Hussein, who court records say was killed on New Year’s Eve in 2023. This is the name of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which runs the Forensic Mental Health Program in St.
According to the complaint, Abdirashi Hussein has a “significant history of mental illness” and was brought involuntarily to the Forensic Mental Health Program in 2020. He was transferred to the facility’s North Campus in 2022 where he will be roommates with David Otey. The North Campus is considered an “unsafe” part of the facility and houses people who have made “enough progress to be rehabilitated into the community.”
In January 2018, Otey was “in a delusional state and responding to internal stimuli” when he fatally stabbed his sister, the lawsuit said. He was found not guilty by reason of mental illness the next year, according to court documents, and in 2020, was committed as mentally ill and dangerous to a facility.
Otey by September 2022 was making “significant progress” in his treatment and moved to the North Campus, the lawsuit said. From November 2022 to December 2023, Otey was identified as having “signature risk signs,” including withdrawing, expressing delusional thoughts and becoming irritable.
According to court documents, Otey was approved for eligible status in September 2023, allowing him to temporarily leave the facility to travel to the community. Court records show her family members, fearing for her safety, filed for a restraining order against harassment. The presentation, said the complaint, caused Otey’s anxiety to increase, and made him lose sleep and miss work on campus.
On the night Abdirashi Hussein was killed, Otey played “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” in the activity room, the complaint said. The game’s main character uses weapons to “bludgeon and assassinate” other characters in a “lifestyle.”
The lawsuit alleges that state policy prohibits patients at the facility from playing “criminogenically themed video games,” including first-person shooter games. The North Campus is believed to have an activity room and game console that has games with a violent theme.
“While he was playing ‘Assassin’s Creed Valhalla,’ Otey later reported that he heard his ex-wife’s name, which was the same as Hussein’s last name,” the lawsuit said.
Otey became confused and confused, according to the complaint. He then went into the room he shared with Abdirashi Hussein and heard a voice in his head telling him, “Hey, pick up that guitar.”
Otey grabbed the guitar and “swinged it like an axe,” repeatedly hitting Abdirashi Hussein, the lawsuit said. He then taunted Abdirashi Hussein with a guitar strap and went to the North Campus front desk, where he told staff members they needed to check on his roommate.
According to the complaint, Otey was taken to the Nicollet County jail, where he continued to exhibit psychotic and aggressive behavior. He was charged with one count each of second-degree murder and second-degree assault. In June 2024, a judge found him not guilty by reason of mental illness.
The lawsuit alleges that staff members named in court documents failed to stop him from playing video games and that the three of them violated the 14th Amendment, which states that states shall not “deprive life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; or deny to any person within their jurisdiction equal protection of the law.”
Staff members knew Otey posed a substantial risk of serious harm to other residents and “failed to take reasonable steps to protect” Abdirashi Hussein, according to the complaint, which also alleges wrongful death by negligence.
Abshir Mohamed Hussin asked the court to give him at least $1 million in compensation.
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