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Simpwn

Praise the Sun!
I read this article today: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/gamer-raided-swat-team-front-60000-viewers/story?id=28775474

A popular gamer said he was shaken up after armed police, apparently prompted by a prank phone call, raided his home as he was live streaming to nearly 60,000 viewers on the video game website Twitch.
Joshua Peters, a U.S. Air Force veteran who lives in St. Cloud, Minnesota, was playing browser games on Wednesday when he fell victim to an apparent "swatting" prank.

Swatting is the practice of placing a phone call that prompts armed police to deploy to the home of an unsuspecting target -- something that can be incredibly dangerous for victims caught off guard.
St. Cloud Chief of Police William Anderson confirmed the incident to ABC News and said it was currently under investigation.

Known as Koopatroopa787 on Twitch, Peters played with his noise-cancelling headphones on as armed officers swarmed the residence where he was with his mother and younger brothers.

When he heard his mother call to him that officers were in the home, a confused Peters exited from view of the camera. After it was evident he had been a victim of swatting, Peters returned to close out his stream as he held back tears talking about the dramatic situation.

"I see you posting my address. I had police point a gun at my little brothers because of you. They could have been shot, they could have died because you chose to SWAT my stream," he said, addressing the anonymous attacker. "I don't give a s*** about what you have against me, or what I did to you. For that, I am at a loss for words. Your gripe is with me so let it be with me and do not involve my family in any way, shape or form with this. They don't deserve that."

Peters told ABC News today he does not have "beef" with anyone and was not sure who would target him.
"It was more or less a wake-up call that I have to be careful. It can happen to anybody," he said. "I came back on after and told everyone what was going on. I knew the person who did it was watching and I wanted to let them know you can't do this."

The officers who stormed his home were "very professional about it" when they realized they had been sent to the house as part of a swatting prank. Peters said he is now working with authorities to determine who could have targeted him.

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Why is swatting a thing? Why are idiots thinking this is something funny that they can do and will get away with? Someone is going to end up getting hurt either because the SWAT team was called or because they weren't available to be where they needed to be because they were out dealing with these pranks.

Am I just getting too old and think shit like this isn't funny at all?
 
The first person this actually happened to was Phantoml0rd, who streams league of legends, unreal tournament, CS: GO, DotA 2 and various other games. If you youtube Phantoml0rd, you'll see both the video and his reaction after he got out of custody.
 
Simpwn said:
Am I just getting too old and think shit like this isn't funny at all?
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Us, as adults, don't see the humor because we, again as adults, see the dangers and risk involved. Kids who don't know any better think it's funny. I can't imagine a 20-something SWAT'ing. I seriously can't comprehend the mentality of a 20-year old who would, unless it was someone who was malicious enough who really wanted to harm someone.

So, it's either someone who finds it funny and is oblivious to the repercussions, or someone who truly wants to fuck with that guy.
 
This is horrendous. There is absolutely no humor in this at all. This goes to the game called "knockout" where the assailant tries to knockout a victim in one punch. What is with people using other people in their pranks/games and hurting them and putting them in harms way.

You would think that as far as we have come the maturity levels of people would have gone up as well instead of backwards.

For the people who do this i don't wish any harm to the but i do hope they are caught and punished by laugh to the highest degree in this field.
 
The movie Idiocricy was meant to serve as a warning for this kind of thing but the message was never received.
 
Yea there have been a few reddit posts about this too. It definitely scares me to think people can do this and get away with it.
 
Not only that, but this is only going to lead to more conservative responses from swat or other law enforcement agencies. If this keeps happening, it's going to end up like crying wolf. They will cry wolf too many times, it will lead to changes in response procedure and who knows, maybe in the future when it's really needed, they aren't going to come or take too long to verify, and then even worse things are going to be gotten away with.

This absolutely disgusts me. I just...can't put myself in that mindset. Not when I was 14 or 16, and definitely not now at 25. We have these systems and these people who protect us for a REASON. Don't abuse that system, because it only hurts US in the long run (not to mention the people getting hurt in the process).

Ugh. I can't even talk about it anymore, my blood is boiling.
 
Hey caught the guy who was in charge of most of he swatting calls about a few days ago. That is why this is hitting mainstream suddenly. I agree it's nuts. By the way I am moving this to rants it just seems appropriate.
 
Well there is error on the law enforcement side as. First of all who the fuck is green lighting a swat team on the merit of one call? I mean I guess it works differently depending on the state or local department but I know we wouldn't just randomly send out our team to a house for one call.

I'd like to hear the calls as well. Calling in a hostage situation won't make the house get instantly swatted, nor will a bomb threat. No one is going to blindly send their officers into a situation like that...unless some agencies are way more retarded than I could ever believe.

Anyway on the other hand, that is the most idiotic thing to do. It not only endangers the people targeted, it endangers the officers and anyone on the route to said house. It also costs the local government and essentially taxpayers a chunk of change.

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Yeah Zakis, If i remember correctly when the Dispatch Operators get a call from someone there are two types of people they determine the urgency of the matter. If they are willing to give their information and be a "witness" or a viable source for their books then the call usually gets a higher priority over a call where the caller does not give out any information of themselves and wants to stay anonymous. This call gets pushed behind the urgent ones but still is on the radar.
 
I used to dispatch actually. So some kid has the balls to claim he's in the house or some shit? That's messed up.



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Zakis said:
I used to dispatch actually. So some kid has the balls to claim he's in the house or some shit? That's messed up.



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That's what happened to Phantoml0rd
 
Zakis said:
it endangers the officers and anyone on the route to said house.
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I remember this being a pretty big concern when they started happening. I mean, imagine if the person getting SWAT'd has a firearm handy and thinks he's like... getting burgled or something and reacts in self defense?
 
Gyoin said:
I mean, imagine if the person getting SWAT'd has a firearm handy and thinks he's like... getting burgled or something and reacts in self defense?
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So much this. Communication is key during these events, but in the heat of the moment, who can say how people will react when it actually goes down. Imagine a SWAT raid on a Texan who might actually have a holstered sidearm.
 
Topic said:
So much this. Communication is key during these events, but in the heat of the moment, who can say how people will react when it actually goes down. Imagine a SWAT raid on a Texan who might actually have a holstered sidearm.
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Like Joof a couple times i heard him chamber a round on mumble and ask who was at the door. Course he's ex military as well.
 
dainjre said:
Like Joof a couple times i heard him chamber a round on mumble and ask who was at the door. Course he's ex military as well.
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Yeah but I do that too..I take my sidearm to the door...I don't have people coming over unless I know of it. Also with the way some people regard and even assassinate cops these days.

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I find it interesting that you guys would go to your own front door like that. I know this world is messed up but I can't fathom someone just knocking at my front door and finding myself needing a firearm to protect myself. Maybe I am naive and in my own little world but I give people more credit than that. I have people come to my door from time to time but I talk to them through the glass door if I don't recognize them.
 
Simpwn said:
I find it interesting that you guys would go to your own front door like that. I know this world is messed up but I can't fathom someone just knocking at my front door and finding myself needing a firearm to protect myself. Maybe I am naive and in my own little world but I give people more credit than that. I have people come to my door from time to time but I talk to them through the glass door if I don't recognize them.
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I have always done it but we are on super vigilant alert these days with the media whipping the ignorant and lazy masses into a 'kill cops' frenzy. I have a badge, I wear a uniform, I work in a god damned jail with some of these unsavory people on a daily basis. You better believe I answer my door with a gun, sit in a restaurant with my back against a wall and facing the door if I can help it, check people's waistbands for conspicuous bulges, and keep an eye out when driving. I also am armed everywhere I go.
 
For me, i don't get "visitors" that aren't family or friends and they all call before to let me know they are coming. In which case the door will be unlocked for them to come in.

Now, When we are home and i am not expecting a delivery or anyone over then i start asking...who could be at the door[DOUBLEPOST=1423575542,1423575489][/DOUBLEPOST]
Zakis said:
sit in a restaurant with my back against a wall and facing the door if I can help it, check people's waistbands for conspicuous bulges, and keep an eye out when driving.
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Same here Zakis, my father-in-law and i usually fight on that back to the wall seat to watch people come in the restaurant.
 
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