Swatting Swatted

2007eventclassic

Swatting is the practice of placing fake 911 calls to send heavily armed SWAT teams to unsuspecting people's homes, a hoax whose name entered public use through a 2007 Urban Dictionary entry and which turned deadly in December 2017 when a Wichita man was killed following a Call of Duty dispute.

prank memescrime memestrolling memesgamingmoral panic memes

Overview

Swatting is a form of criminal hoax in which callers report a fake violent crime at a specific address so that armed SWAT or tactical police units are dispatched to a home where no incident is actually taking place1. Because officers arrive expecting an active shooter or hostage situation, the calls can turn deadly for residents who answer the door in the middle of a raid2.

The Los Angeles Police Department stopped publicly confirming swatting cases in real time in April 2013, worried that media coverage was encouraging copycats2. Reported targets over the years included multiple Hollywood actors, hip-hop performers, Xbox Live moderators, and Twitch streamers, giving swatting steady tabloid and gaming-press coverage1. State legislatures moved to add response-cost restitution and jail time on top of existing federal charges to deter future callers2.

How It Spread

Swatting jumped from telephone-hacker circles into mainstream news on December 18, 2012, when CNN reported that Los Angeles police had arrested a Southern California juvenile suspected of swatting Ashton Kutcher's Hollywood home on October 3 and Justin Bieber's Calabasas residence a week later, with dozens of emergency personnel racing to houses where no crime was taking place1. California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill in September 2013 that made convicted swatters or their parents reimburse police agencies for full response costs, which state senator Ted Lieu said could reach $10,000 per incident2.

Live streaming turned swatting into public spectacle on August 27, 2014, when Colorado YouTuber Jordan 'Kootra' Matthewson was raided by SWAT officers mid-Counter-Strike match at the Creatures LLC office after a caller falsely reported a workplace shooting, and rapper Lil Wayne's Miami Beach house drew a similar tactical response on March 11, 2015 following a hoax call about four gunshot victims3.

The stakes changed permanently on December 28, 2017, after a $1.50 Call of Duty: World War II wager between players MiRuHcle and Baperizer collapsed into an online argument in which MiRuHcle dared his opponent to swat him at an address that actually belonged to uninvolved Wichita resident Andrew Finch, and serial swatter Tyler Barriss phoned in a fake hostage report to that address before Finch was fatally shot by responding officers and Barriss was arrested in Los Angeles the following day3.

How to Use This Meme

Swatting is a serious felony rather than a meme template to reproduce, and law enforcement, streaming platforms, and multiple state legislatures treat calls in this style as criminal acts carrying prison time and mandatory reimbursement of police response costs2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Swatting Swatted

2007eventclassic

Swatting is the practice of placing fake 911 calls to send heavily armed SWAT teams to unsuspecting people's homes, a hoax whose name entered public use through a 2007 Urban Dictionary entry and which turned deadly in December 2017 when a Wichita man was killed following a Call of Duty dispute.

prank memes crime memes trolling memes gaming moral panic memes

Overview

Swatting is a form of criminal hoax in which callers report a fake violent crime at a specific address so that armed SWAT or tactical police units are dispatched to a home where no incident is actually taking place1. Because officers arrive expecting an active shooter or hostage situation, the calls can turn deadly for residents who answer the door in the middle of a raid2.

The Los Angeles Police Department stopped publicly confirming swatting cases in real time in April 2013, worried that media coverage was encouraging copycats2. Reported targets over the years included multiple Hollywood actors, hip-hop performers, Xbox Live moderators, and Twitch streamers, giving swatting steady tabloid and gaming-press coverage1. State legislatures moved to add response-cost restitution and jail time on top of existing federal charges to deter future callers2.

How It Spread

Swatting jumped from telephone-hacker circles into mainstream news on December 18, 2012, when CNN reported that Los Angeles police had arrested a Southern California juvenile suspected of swatting Ashton Kutcher's Hollywood home on October 3 and Justin Bieber's Calabasas residence a week later, with dozens of emergency personnel racing to houses where no crime was taking place1. California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill in September 2013 that made convicted swatters or their parents reimburse police agencies for full response costs, which state senator Ted Lieu said could reach $10,000 per incident2.

Live streaming turned swatting into public spectacle on August 27, 2014, when Colorado YouTuber Jordan 'Kootra' Matthewson was raided by SWAT officers mid-Counter-Strike match at the Creatures LLC office after a caller falsely reported a workplace shooting, and rapper Lil Wayne's Miami Beach house drew a similar tactical response on March 11, 2015 following a hoax call about four gunshot victims3.

The stakes changed permanently on December 28, 2017, after a $1.50 Call of Duty: World War II wager between players MiRuHcle and Baperizer collapsed into an online argument in which MiRuHcle dared his opponent to swat him at an address that actually belonged to uninvolved Wichita resident Andrew Finch, and serial swatter Tyler Barriss phoned in a fake hostage report to that address before Finch was fatally shot by responding officers and Barriss was arrested in Los Angeles the following day3.

How to Use This Meme

Swatting is a serious felony rather than a meme template to reproduce, and law enforcement, streaming platforms, and multiple state legislatures treat calls in this style as criminal acts carrying prison time and mandatory reimbursement of police response costs2.

Frequently Asked Questions