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Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

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Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#381

Post by stefantalpalaru »

bko wrote: post #299
graemep wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The militarization of law enforcement and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. Do you mean for the US, rather than the human race? Some of us live in countries where the only weapons most cops carry are truncheons and tasers.

Its not just the weapons. In parts of Europe you can get arrested for posting the wrong kind of meme online. As a side note, when trying to research this you'll see weird double speak fact checks like below: > Fact Check: 11-year-old arrested on suspicion of violent disorder after riots, not ‘mean tweets’ > Sending grossly offensive, obscene, indecent, or menacing messages on public electronic communication networks…

[dead]

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#382

Post by histories »

lenerdenator wrote: post #149
tptacek wrote: post #94

From the Information he pled to: ALAN W. FILION, a/k/a "Nazgul Swattings," a/k/a "Torswats V3," a/k/a "Third Reich of Kiwiswats," a/k/a "The Table Swats," a/k/a "Angmar," and a/k/a "Torswats" Seems like a fun guy. It looks like most of this story was covered a year ago: https://www.wired.com/story/alan-filion-torswats-swatting-ar...

Are you meaning to tell me that people who make references to the Nazis a part of their identity might not be the most well-adjusted people around?

Maybe they're talking about the Tolkien references (just kidding)

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#383

Post by rendall »

slothtrop wrote: post #265
rendall wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if that were true, and it's not, it would be mitigated by better training and careful psychological filtering.

> and it's not At least try to be persuasive. There are a myriad of ways that jobs can be stressful without endangering your life, that should not be difficult for you to imagine. Shift work, demands for quotas and metrics (sales people can tell you this), dealing with violent and erratic individuals in the public with sometimes insufficient support, etc. Correctional Officers face similar circumstances and have a li…

You're not demanding evidence that the job of police officer is high stress. Interesting, that bias. On what basis do you support that claim?

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#384

Post by akimbostrawman »

bko wrote: post #299
graemep wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The militarization of law enforcement and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. Do you mean for the US, rather than the human race? Some of us live in countries where the only weapons most cops carry are truncheons and tasers.

Its not just the weapons. In parts of Europe you can get arrested for posting the wrong kind of meme online. As a side note, when trying to research this you'll see weird double speak fact checks like below: > Fact Check: 11-year-old arrested on suspicion of violent disorder after riots, not ‘mean tweets’ > Sending grossly offensive, obscene, indecent, or menacing messages on public electronic communication networks…

>And this isn't some weird online political rag, it's Reuters

What makes you think they aren't? All news media is inherently biased if they want or not. Not to mention "fact checker" are a prime candidate for corruption.

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#385

Post by pickledoyster »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #375
telgareith wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, just no. The solution here is to not show up guns a-blazing. The reason why swatting exists is because it seriously harms the victim. This is no more complicated than grade school playgrounds: don't give the bully what they want.

"No, just no"? Really? Do you think we're in some Realtime Strategy Game where we have to choose one option and then press "end turn"?

This is really off topic, but you are confusing real-time strategy with turn-based strategy.

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#386

Post by h_tbob »

bko wrote: post #299
graemep wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The militarization of law enforcement and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. Do you mean for the US, rather than the human race? Some of us live in countries where the only weapons most cops carry are truncheons and tasers.

Its not just the weapons. In parts of Europe you can get arrested for posting the wrong kind of meme online. As a side note, when trying to research this you'll see weird double speak fact checks like below: > Fact Check: 11-year-old arrested on suspicion of violent disorder after riots, not ‘mean tweets’ > Sending grossly offensive, obscene, indecent, or menacing messages on public electronic communication networks…

I don’t mind it being illegal.

But I think a lot of it needs to be treated as a significant mental health issue

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#387

Post by ICameToComment »

hereforcomments wrote: post #96

In Europe this would have been a completely different story. It's highly unlikely (compared to the US) that a SWAT team equivalent would kill anyone. The guy could have got away with 5-7 years max. I know it's a museum, but I prefer to live here.

Nevertheless European, especially German police, is obviously also prone to go all in without establishing any kind of context. One email is sufficient.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41550043

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#388

Post by valval »

LargeWu wrote: post #354
gruez wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the alternative? Waiting for New York Times to verify a home invasion has indeed taken place before sending over cops?

Maybe just sending out a single squad car first to get a credible assessment?

I'm not sure who aided in constructing this mental representation for you that the number of cops is directly proportional with the scale of conflict that's about to happen.

I'd challenge that view by claiming that if the threat is of someone holding their family hostage threatening to kill them (just a guess at what these "swatters" might say to the dispatcher to get cops to actually kick in some doors, I don't know what their state-of-the-art accusation is), then sending one cop car, poorly equipped, sounds a bit silly for multiple reasons.

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#389

Post by subjectsigma »

agubelu wrote: post #255
potato3732842 wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>USA has 1-2 mass shootings everyday on average. 2+ victims is a mass shooting per the FBI definition so while what you say is technically true it's also a particularly evil way to mislead the reader as the typical mass shooting of the FBI definition consists of 2-4 people shot over the course of an otherwise normal crime wheres the colloquial definition of "mass shooting" is more along the lines of a crazy suicidal…

The USA is the only first-world country I'm aware of where many people are happy to argue that a 2+ victim shooting (in any context) is NOT a mass shooting.

Gun control advocates will say things like:

> Mass shootings like Columbine happen every day in America.

The guy you’re replying to (and I as well) are saying that this is an intentionally misleading statement. Three people being wounded but not killed in a shootout they started is still considered on the same level as dozens of innocent children being hurt and killed. IMO that’s straight up misinformation. It’s designed to illicit the strongest emotional reaction possible, while being not even technically wrong.

America has lots of problems, and guns are definitely one of them. Everyone agrees with this, we just disagree on how to fix it. Twisting words and lying is never helpful.

Re: Teen behind hundreds of swatting attacks pleads guilty to federal charges

#390

Post by _bkyr »

joemazerino wrote: post #288
elzbardico wrote: post #174

The militarization of law enforcement and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

How is this even related to militarization? The perp is abusing emergency response systems with a total lack of empathy for the damage it did to the victim and the department. The separation of empathy from an 18 year old online kid from his peers is the true tragedy here.

I think they are saying in the US the SWAT team shows up ready for war, while a more measured response would be a couple cops knocking on the door to see what's going on. Obviously the cops don't have a crystal ball and there's not going to be a clean solution here, outside of catching the person earlier.

It sucks this person was so angry and unfeeling to the world at a young age.

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