“Our hope is that by providing resources, both the Seattle Police Department and local broadcasters can better inform themselves of the risk and take measures appropriate to them to counteract the threat,” said John Higdon, co-founder and president of SOBA. “We encourage other communities to build relationships with local government and community organizations and deal with potential issues proactively.”
Paul David Nuñez August 18th, 2022 - 12:40 PM
Swatting is a term used to describe the act of generating an emergency law enforcement response against someone under false pretenses. Unfortunately, swatting is still something that happens today and has been deployed against numerous gamers, internet users, and content creators. In 2017, swatting led to the death of Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old man, following a dispute over a Call of Duty match. The issue has led states like Ohio and Kentucky to introduce bills to make swatting a felony, with the latter state’s version becoming law earlier this year. Most recently, several content creators from Twitch and YouTube have become a victim of swatting. They were all swatted in a week.
This follows Adin Ross’ swatting that took place live on Twitch this morning pic.twitter.com/LLNN0naED6
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) August 8, 2022
In total, four streamers/content creators got swatted, Twitch streamers Clara “Keffals” Sorrenti, Adin Ross, Nadia Amine, and YouTube streamer Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins. The latter three were swatted during live broadcasts that can still be seen online. Several officers can be seen entering Adin Ross’s room with weapons drawn. Darren Watkins was handcuffed and the police forced the camera operator to end the stream. Nadia Amine befriended an officer who encouraged people on chat to subscribe to her channel before leading her away. Clara Sorrenti was not swatted while she was broadcasting but she did talk about what happened on social media. Sorrenti said that someone allegedly sent an email impersonating her to city councilors in London, Ontario, saying she was in possession of an illegal firearm, had killed her mother and planned to go to city hall and “shoot every cisgendered person that I see.” While talking about what happened, she said that she woke to the sound of police yelling from her doorway. One of the officers pointed an assault rifle at her face.
Sorrenti was arrested and released, but the London Police Service confiscated her and her fiance’s electronics – including her work computer and phone – and deadnamed her multiple times. Officers called her by per pre-transition name and misgendered her. Clara “Keffals” Sorrenti is a trans streamer. In the video, Sorrenti said, “the fact that a fake email led to the London Police Service booking me under my deadname reveals the prejudices many police have toward transgender people,” Sorrenti said in her video about the incident. “Instead of the police helping me, they terrorized me and my loved ones, traumatizing me and leaving my fiance and I on the verge of losing everything. They victimized me for being the victim of a hate crime.” Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party learned about Sorrenti’s situation. On Twitter, Sigh said
Trans folk, and especially trans activists, deserve the freedom to make themselves heard.
Not to be doxxed and SWATed, arrested at gunpoint, and deadnamed repeatedly.
No one deserves this.
Support trans activists – support @keffals/@keffalsbackup https://t.co/UCopgpt6eq
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) August 11, 2022
“[Swatting] works as a threat and a form of harassment only because police interactions in general, and SWAT raids in particular, carry the potential for deadly harm and terror,” said Ayobami Laniyonu, assistant professor at the center for criminology and sociolegal studies at the University of Toronto. “What’s troubling with swatting is the breathtaking ease at which online trolls can put people — frequently women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+ and folks at the intersection of those identities — in mortal danger simply by placing prank calls to the police who are there, ostensibly, to keep the public safe.”
“It has come to my attention that Ms. Sorrenti was referred to during her time in London police custody by an incorrect name and gender,” wrote chief Steve Williams of the London Police Service. “We acknowledge the distress this has caused Ms. Sorrenti and we will be reviewing the occurrence to understand how that might have happened.” Following her getting swatted, Sorrenti launched a GoFundMe so she can move, recoup her and her fiance’s losses, and to put together a legal-defense fund against “ongoing and future threats to my safety,” she said. Over $80,000 has been collected so far.
I got swatted last night, very very scary. I’m okay. I love you guys. Also speed got swatted aswell, we just got off the phone he’s okay! Sick world we live in man. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/MN0BxHeAOZ
— adin (@adinross) August 8, 2022
Adin Ross addressed the situation in a video posted to Twitter. He described the police force entering his home with more favorable terms but he said that he and his partner were still left rattled. Nadia Amine also spoke about her swatting situation over social media.
I just got swatted, unfortunately the harassment has been a bit overbearing. I am okay, my family is okay. Thank you to everyone who has reached out. Scary world we live in
— nadia (@TheNadiaAmine) August 11, 2022
Talking with The Washington Post, Twitch says that concerned streamers can reach out to law enforcement as soon as possible. Streamers have suggested that Twitch create a system to preemptively inform police departments of any potential swatting victims but Twitch notes that it faces restrictions in the sorts of personal information it can provide to any party – law enforcement included. They did discuss other ways they are trying to mitigate swatting. “We operate an industry-leading off-service policy that allows us to take action against Twitch users who have committed egregious, violent off-service offenses,” the company said in its statement. “We have quadrupled the size of our global law enforcement response team over the past two years as our own audience has grown, and this team of trained professionals works 24/7 to build relationships with local and national law enforcement officials, and assist swiftly with criminal data requests that can shed light on law enforcement investigations.”
While Twitch can only do so much, other organizations have stepped up. in Seattle, the Seattle Online Broadcasters Association (SOBA) consulted on the Seattle Police Department’s 2018 establishment of an anti-swatting registry. This allows residents to proactively flag themselves as potential swatting victims. SOBA is a nonprofit that supports the content creator community in Seattle. SOBA has also worked with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to advocate for anti-swatting legislation. This passed in 2020. The nonprofit also pushed for several creators to be placed on the Seattle Police Department’s Swatting Mitigation Advisory Committee.
