I was "swatted!" (Update)

[Archae]

Last edited Thu Jun 7, 2018, 11:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Apparently I was too critical of some ditwit on YouTube.

So...

3 cop cars show up here at my place, make a long story short, the cops saw that it was a "prank," and they left.

But the report on 911 said I had a semi-auto gun, and was planning to go on a shooting spree and then kill myself.

If the guy gets caught not only am I going to rejoice in him going to jail, he's gooing to get sued up the wazoo.




(update!)

Guy was caught, apparently he's a Jesus freak.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. How did they get your personal info?

[Archae]

5. I use my real name on Facebook.

[kimbutgar]

7. You should change your settings so your posts only show to your friends not the public

[Tipperary]

9. People can see your address on FB?

Yikes.

[dembotoz]

12. Wisconsin. Walker recall signature list is public domain and searchable

My address has been posted several times on Facebook.
Never been swatted but have gotten death threats.

[Archae]

48. No doubt.

Right-wingers love to put out death threats, horrible "pranks" like my incident, etc.

When they get busted? They go into major crybaby mode.

[LisaM]

2. Holy cats, are you serious? That's terrible.

City governments need to be legislating some laws on this, and fast.

[grantcart]

3. How did the Police handle it?

[Archae]

4. They were quite polite, and understanding.

We have a decent police department here in Sheboygan county.

[grantcart]

6. Good to hear, most are.

[uponit7771]

10. +1

[33taw]

27. Glad you were in Sheboygan rather than Milwaukee.

[uponit7771]

8. 911 should have a record of the call and a phone number

[whopis01]

29. The phone number is probably useless.

Unless the psychopath is a complete idiot it is way too easy to spoof a number or get an untraceable phone.

[Tipperary]

11. What was the "swat?" I mean was was alleged to be happening at your house?

Scary shit.

[JHB]

18. Swatting is when someone calls the police and tells them...

...that someone at your address is armed and threatening people and appears to be suicidal and ready to take a bunch of people with them.

It's a form of harassment that originated (or at least got the name) from pranks or harassing gamers who stream their sessions. It's illegal and at minimum it scares the crap out of people, having multiple on-edge police officers pointing guns at them. Beyond that "minimum", people have been injured and killed. Some were random people who happened to have the same name as the harasser's intended target and he identified the wrong person to the police.

[Tipperary]

24. I know what it is in general, but sometimes it will be a hostage situation,sometimes a person

with a gun, sometimes drugs...I was just curious what the scenario here was.

[salin]

30. it is in the OP.

High powered weapon possession - planning a shooting spree followed by a suicide.

[Kajun Gal]

13. Okeedokee...we officially have a "gestapo" now!

[SCantiGOP]

31. Gestapo?

Police responding to a 911 call are Gestapo? He even said they were polite when they realized the situation.
Step away from the keyboard and take a deep breath.

[Kajun Gal]

34. Just a bit strange that a random person can fake a 911 call and cause this dramatic ordeal

on an innocent family.

[eShirl]

38. They have to check it out in case it's real.

[ProudLib72]

14. Yikes!

Was expecting to see a news story. Never imagined it would happen to one of our own members! This is getting out of control.

[Kajun Gal]

35. Amen!

[Honeycombe8]

15. What a waste of resources that are needed for real crimes. They need to ask for I.D....

when taking reports like that. Then they can arrest them.

[cwydro]

36. Excuse me? How does a 911 operator ask for I'd?

Seriously?

[Honeycombe8]

37. MMmmmmmm...

Like, "What's your name and address, please, so we can verify?" (and 911 can look at the caller ID, as well)

You normally get this upset over normal suggestions?

[xmas74]

49. It's hard to verify that info

Since most no longer own landlines and keep their numbers long after they move.

And a number of people use prepaid phones which offer almost no information whatsoever

[cwydro]

53. Exactly.

[oberliner]

16. What did you do/say that was critical on YouTube?

[MineralMan]

20. Why would that matter?

Why do you ask?

[oberliner]

22. Why does anything matter?

I asked because I was curious.

[MineralMan]

26. It was not what the OP did. It's the

potentially deadly SWAT call that is the topic. What could possibly justify that? Details are not needed about exactly what triggered the call to police.

[salin]

32. Some are quick to dismiss/qualify and ... I don't know why - though read like appologists/qualifying

responses. As if a post on FB or You Tube would justify a swatting that could have serious (even fatal) consequences. Your point is spot on.

[MineralMan]

56. It's victim-blaming, pure and simple.

Asking a question like that of a victim is implying that victim might have deserved what happened. Had the original poster wanted to include the information, it would have been in the original post.

It's sort of like asking a rape victim what she was wearing when she was raped.

[progressoid]

70. I kind of want to know too.

[Tipperary]

25. I have only recently started looking at YouTube. I have been amazed at the vitriol there in comments

So one can only imagine.

[uppityperson]

43. That sounds like victim blaming, or at least deflecting from the issue.

[oberliner]

44. Huh?

I'm just asking what they said or did on YouTube. They wrote that they were "critical of some dimwit" so I was just wondering what they meant by that.

[MineralMan]

57. Right...

It's like asking a rape victim what she was wearing, really. Think about it.

[xor]

72. I'm not sure I agree that it's the same.

There is little reason to ask a rape victim what they were wearing. Whereas I give Oberliner the benefit of the doubt that their intent was simple curiosity about how low some in the country have sunk. I too am a bit curious what sort of insult was sooooooooooooo bad in the mind of the person who did it, that they thought it was okay to put someone's life at risk.

To me, that seems like a legit question that I would ask anyone, and it wouldn't be to put the blame on them. Rather it would be to further examine how mentally deranged person who called the police is. But asking a rape victim what they were wearing can only be used to put the blame on the victim.

[uppityperson]

59. Rather than expressing any empathy towards someone who was put into a harmful situation by

someone else, your reaction is to ask what they did to cause the criminal to attempt to hurt them.

Let me give you some other examples of this behavior that are commonly seen.
(My spouse beat me, I'm in the hospital with broken nose and cracked ribs) What did you do to make them mad?
(I was raped) What were you wearing? Were you drinking?
(I was just robbed after stopping at an ATM) Did you check the area as you walked away?
(I was swatted) What did you write on YouTube to them?

None show any empathy towards the victim but try to deflect from the awful thing that happened to them and focus on blaming the victim for the actions of the criminal.

[Jerry Can]

65. That's like asking a womam what she was wearing

that made some guy rape her.

[marble falls]

71. Bullshit.

[moriah]

69. While I understand morbid curiosity -- wanting to know if it was like the Call of Duty thing, etc...

... Whatever was said, it was a YouTube comment.

So, equality as silly whether it was "I don't agree" or "**insert average insulting YouTube comment**" -- the bar on average is set pretty low.

[Tarc]

17. Same here a few years ago, when I was criticizing the Gamergate thugs

2am, cops pounding first on the door, then bedroom windows and shining lights in when there was no answer. Finally get out to see what the hell is going on, they said there was a domestic abuse call from my address. We were all sound asleep.

One of them said they were getting ready to batter the door down, apparently I got there just in time.

So, that was fun.

Never underestimate the depths that a mediocre white man can sunk to when belittled on the internet, apparently.

[barbtries]

23. the only people i troll on twitter

are trump and occasionally other republicans. like Paul Ryan, just today, in fact. but primarily trump. i actually belittle him often but i think his babysitters probably make sure he never sees my tweets.

he could send a fucking murder squad.

i kind of compartmentalize my social media. fb for family and friends, twitter for politics, LinkedIn for professional, DU for sanity....

i never disguise my identity, or my daughter's.

any other right wing and trump cultists i block. that SWATting goes on is more evidence imo that trump's america is inhumane, uncivilized and devolving.

[barbtries]

19. wow.

so sorry that happened to you.

they must be able to catch these people. once people start going to jail it should fade away.

[vercetti2021]

21. Nothing more dangerous than 4chan incels having too much free time

Seriously man DSB is a real thing. Glad you were able to resolve it without issue.

[SergeStorms]

28. How did they get your name and address?

Isn't all that stuff password protected on YouTube? I seldom visit there, so I'm not that familiar with it.

[47of74]

33. Glad you're OK.

I think swatting should be punishable by;

+ 10 to 25 if there are no injuries.
+ Life if there are injuries.
+ Death if there are any fatalities.

I'm serious too. Maybe the possibility a one way trip to a certain prison gurney will get some of these fuckheads to stop and think about what they're doing.

[Cha]

39. Just like David Hogg.. so that's a thing now.

I'm sorry that happened to you, Archae.

There needs to be a way to distinguish FAKE 9/11 calls for SWATTING and the real thing.

[oberliner]

40. This has been a thing for a while

[Takket]

41. police need to work with youtube

if they can piece together the call location and IP addresses from youtube they may be able to trace someone down.

[lunatica]

42. I hope whoever it was gets caught

and I hope the punishment is severe.

Don’t calls to 911 get the number of the caller in
order to know where it came from. I’m thinking of someone calling when someone is breaking in to their house.

Once my son meant to call 411 but mistakenly called 911. When he realized his mistake he hung up and called the correct number.

A cop came to our door and asked me about it. When my son told him he had called the wrong number the cop said he knew there was an older woman at that address and asked to see her. Of course I showed him to her bedroom. At the time she was bedridden and had Dementia. He asked her if she was OK and she nodded. The cop knew a lot and was dispatched to our house just from the seconds it took my son to hang up.

[Archae]

45. Caught! See OP

[lunatica]

46. That's great!

Do you get to press charges?

[Archae]

47. Yes. And I am thinking of suing the SOB.

[lunatica]

50. I say go for it

He could have gotten you or your family killed. He’s lucky all you’re doing is holding him accountable.

[Laffy Kat]

51. Sue his ass so he won't do it to someone else.

The only way you can get through to these idiots or teach them a lesson is through their wallet.

[Oneironaut]

60. Take him to the cleaners and ruin his life.

The truth is, he could have gotten you killed. No need to feel sorry for him any more than you would someone trying to kill you with an ax. He was trying to accomplish the same feat, but tried to get the police to do it out of cowardice.

He also sounds like a moron, given that he was caught already.

[whopis01]

63. Absolutely you should.

This is someone who intentionally put your life at risk for their sick pleasure.

They should be punished in every legal way possible.

[stevenleser]

66. You MUST do it. For yourself & your family, but also everyone else whose 'swatters' may be dissuaded

by seeing someone else sued into the poorhouse.

This person could have killed you or members of your family. F--k them.

[Beartracks]

52. Jesus freak doesn't know his Ten Commandments.

Namely: Thall shalt not near false witness.

=======

[herding cats]

54. Whoa! I'm glad they caught him!

Aparently he's one of those really stupid, angry Jesus freak, AKA: a Republican.

[Hav]

55. Great that he was caught and I hope he goes to jail

Sending people to jail for this might help stopping these kind of acts.
You are lucky it went relatively well. But we should stop seeing it as a prank. He reported you as a very dangerous person intending to do massive harmto lots of people. It's one thing to get the police coming to someone by pretending something non-violent towards other people is about to happen (suicide). By claiming you are about the shoot people, you get people sent to you who expect violence. These kind of calls can get you killed.

[Dave Starsky]

58. As far as I'm concerned, this is attempted murder.

And I hope it's prosecuted as such. Prank, my ass.

The son of a bitch also needs to be sued into lifelong poverty to serve as an example to others.

[mercuryblues]

73. Or at least enough so he can't

afford even the basic cable package. Omitting Fox news from his life, might give him a life

[lark]

61. Sorry, there is no way he's a Jesus freak.

Jesus cared for the poor and disdained the rich, according to the Bible. That's not what rw so-called Christians do in our country. They are the opposite of godly and are more in line with evil. Jesus, if he's real, would hate and totally repudiate these asses. They use his name as a screen for their hate.

[DFW]

62. Sure there is. Remember the old expression:

"I don't mind Jesus. It's his fan club I can't stand."

Beware the God Squad. They do NOT do the work of the deity they claim to worship.

[TNLib]

64. Glad he was caught

and so sorry this happened to you. It sounds like a scary situation. We really are living in troubling times.

[BobTheSubgenius]

67. Jesus did First Century swatting all the time.

Drop anonymous parchments near Roman soldiers...that sort of thing. Very funny stuff.

[lunatica]

68. LOL

He was a real partier too! Remember the time he turned water into wine?! Now that was some party! He did that cool walking on water trick and the loaves man! What a blast!