With the rising popularity of the “prank” (stupidity) known as swatting, and even an instance where it turned deadly, the law is beginning to take notice and action is beginning to take place.
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The Kansas senate has just announced that they successfully passed an “anti-swatting” bill after an innocent man lost his life over this harmful trend in streaming culture. It wasn’t the first time this has happened, but this one turned quickly turned deadly. The case surrounded around a bet between two Call of Duty streamers that eventually led to the wrongful shooting of one innocent man. As per our previous coverage:
When the police showed up at the Wichita address provided, at the home of a man that had nothing to do with the gaming feud, the situation escalated quickly. The police were told in the false report that someone had been shot in the head and was holding the family hostage. That story was completely fabricated in the name of this sick prank, but it was enough to set the police on edge. When the force raided the home, they immediate shot, and killed, the man that opened the door. It was later revealed that there were no bodies, no hostages, and that the story reported to the police with the initial prank was completely false. Unfortunately for one man’s family, one child’s stupid prank completely destroyed an unsuspecting family’s entire life.
Swatting, for those of you who don’t know, is an idiotic and irresponsible form of harassment used by man-babies who don’t like losing at video games. When someone wants to go out of their way to harm or inconvenience their opponent, they’ll hire someone to call in a fake threat to their home, triggering a SWAT response. Can’t beat your opponent in Call of Duty? No need to throw a fit, just call the police and tell them that your opponent is violent, wielding weapons, and holding hostages. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?
The new bill is called the Andrew T. Finch anti-swatting bill, should it meet its final approval through Governor Jeff Colyer, means that those found guilty of this crime (yes, it’s a crime) will be met with up to 41 years in federal prison.
Thanks for the tip, PC Gamer.
