Swatting

Swatting (or SWATting) is the use of law enforcement SWAT teams for the purpose of harassment and deception. SWATting involves placing a 911 call to police, impersonating the home owner by pretending to confess to a serious crime, or calling in a bomb or shooting threat. The police then arrive to your home in force. Families and neighbors are intimidated by the sheer surprise terror scene that was all a hoax to begin with. Sometimes this can even result in the victim's death.

The term is derived from SWAT teams, which stands for Special Weapons and Tactics.

Swatting came to prominence in 2011 when a blogger at Patterico's Pontifications wrote a series of articles about activist Brett Kimberlin.[1] It has been used against other conservative bloggers as well, such as Aaron Walker[2] and Erick Erickson of RedState.[3] Progressive activists have discussed using Swatting as a means to intimidate legal gun owners.[4]

The Interstate Swatting Hoax Act of 2015 was sponsored by Representative Katherine Clark.[5]

In December 2017, Swatting cost the life of Andrew Finch, who got into a dispute with another gamer.[6]

## See also[edit]

* Doxing
* Shadow banning

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Convicted Bomber Brett Kimberlin, Neal Rauhauser, Ron Brynaert, and Their Campaign of Political Terrorism
2. ↑ Blogger Aaron Walker Latest Swatting Victim
3. ↑ Conservative bloggers say they're targets of dangerous 'SWAT-ing' prank, Fox News
4. ↑ Moms Demand SWATting
5. ↑ H.R.4057 - Interstate Swatting Hoax Act
6. ↑ Listen: Interview With SWATter Who Got An Innocent Man Killed In Wichita

## External links[edit]

* ACLJ steps up to defend bloggers targeted over Brett Kimberlin coverage