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U.S. Officer Killed In Libya Played Eve Online
Sean Smith, the U.S. state department official who was killed in Libya yesterday at the American consulate, was a long-time Eve Online player. Smith went by the name of Vile Rat in his guild the Goonswarm.
“So: Vile Rat, Sean Smith, my friend for over six years, both in real life and in internet spaceships, was the “State Department Official” killed in Benghazi by a mob of religious lunatics, who had been incited to violence on this September 11th by a movie that was apparently made sometime in July,” Eve Online player and friend Alex "The Mittani" Gianturco wrote on his blog.
“Obviously, given the combined attacks in Egypt and in Libya, this was a coordinated act designed for maximum media exposure; rile up a mob, point them at an embassy or consulate on 9/11 in particular, aim for the press. Many were injured in these pointless, reprehensible acts, and one of my closest friends was killed as a result.”
One of Smith’s final messages appeared in the chat a Gianturco.
(12:54:09 PM) vile_rat: assuming we don't die tonight. We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures.
"I can tell you that CCP and its employees are overwhelmingly saddened by the news of Sean Smith's passing, as we are when we learn of any player who is tragically lost,” Eve Online developer CCP said in a statement.
“Many of us interacted with him professionally and personally and, honestly, it feels like our words are lost adrift--amongst such a tremendous, soul-affirming outpouring from the EVE community. The CSM, of which he is an alumni, will be posting a guest dev blog in his honor."
Wired.com put together a piece remembering Smith. Head over there to read more.
[Source: Eurogamer]
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