Lets talk about "Swatting" and the loss of personal freedom in America

[Ninjainspandex]

So you may or may not of heard of the latest phenomenon going on in America called swatting, basically swatting is a prank that is used against popular video game streamers (Commonly on Twitch) where someone calls in an anonymous graphic and convincing bomb or murder/suicide/hostage situation. Police assume the threat is real and send in a heavily armed SWAT team to the streamers house thinking they are about to enter a serious danger zone. So they bust in guns blazing and take down the streamer all on camera for the prankster/swatter to enjoy while thousands of viewers get to see this humiliation.

I never really thought of america as a police state but after watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz8yLIOb2pU&feature=youtu.be I wonder what have happened to our 4th amendment rights and at what point did we trade freedom for safety. And what is to stop an unethical cop from using this swatting tactic as a loophole to search any house he pleases without a warrant. Am I the only one concerned here?

Just a few weeks ago it happened to a famous Youtube named Whiteboy7thst, he had a bomb threat called on him while streaming, they found a felony amount of weed on him while looking for the bomb, all without a warrant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JSlzWVRdwQ

I apologize if this sort of topic is supposed to go in the Hyphen, wasn't sure where to put it but it has been something I have been wanting to discuss.

 

[Yodd]

Just a few weeks ago it happened to a famous Youtube named Whiteboy7thst, he had a bomb threat called on him while streaming, they found a felony amount of weed on him while looking for the bomb, all without a warrant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JSlzWVRdwQ

I am no lawyer, but I would think a good lawyer could get him out of the weed charges.



And yes, this kinda stuff is bullshit.

 

[Dr Shroom]

lolz.

 

[Kristian Meller]

The loss of personal freedom in favour of "safety" has been a thing since the Roman empire.

 

[mainman]

If Americans just stand by while our rights are passively repealed than we don't deserve them. The government pisses on the constitution and we do fucking nothing. Fools only care about their 2nd why their 4th was taken from them not acknowledging that if you take just one away than the rest mean nothing.

 

[Ninjainspandex]

Just wait until some Deaf or Mentally handicapped person or a kid with a toy gun gets shot buy a bunch of small town SWAT team just because they were itchy to use their hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of military grade equipment they got from Homeland Security money, because it is bound to happen. Did you hear about the swat team who blindly threw a flashbang through a window into a babies playpen, seriously maiming a poor baby boy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQKa2VFgcL4

 

[Karou]

when did the peoples ''voice'' ever do anything? even massive protests accomplishing nothing long ago got you snuffed.
so what is it those of you who suggest we are just sitting idly by watching our rights diminish should do exactly?

edit:in response to the post that happened while ''composing''- whaddya mean''just wait''? both of those happen alot(well a bit anyhow).

 

[Phyeir]

These type of videos only show one part of the chain of events that makes it difficult to decide if this was what you would consider too much.

Seeing as the guy is being swatted while people know they are actively online with headphones, it's safe to assume they aren't hearing a knock on a door or the doorbell being rung. So if the SWAT teams response was first to knock and gain complaince before barging in, it's different than if they just came in like that from the get-go.

Also, the description doesn't seem to say (I may have skimmed over it) what type of threat was called in. Depending what was said will change what they do.

All that said, you would think after all of these occurences, there would be some type of training or discussion to assess what the situation is and act accordingly. When the cops are that keen on taking down the video connection like that, it just makes them seem suspicious (it's well documented that it is within the rights of citizens to record them).

In the case of that second guy where they found the weed, I hope he finds a great lawyer and sues the shit out of them if they try to run with that. Taking criminal action on evidence found during a false pretense is a BAD precident to set (though I don't doubt the criminal justice system to put the circumstances of a case together after the fact to make it fit a legal definition).

 

[max 330 mega]

when did the peoples ''voice'' ever do anything? even massive protests accomplishing nothing long ago got you snuffed.
so what is it those of you who suggest we are just sitting idly by watching our rights diminish should do exactly?

edit:in response to the post that happened while ''composing''- whaddya mean''just wait''? both of those happen alot(well a bit anyhow).

for once Karou makes perfect sense. BAM!

 

[SNKorSWM]

Any freedom or rights that's just given to you by the gov't, can just as easily be taken away by said gov't. The founding fathers had to earn those by beating the British.

 

[GutsDozer]

Sometimes Swat uses the shock and awe tactic and burst in without a knock or anything. Got a gate on your door? Don't worry they will just rip that fucker off with a truck. Either way "swatting" people is cowardly and a bunch of bullshit. I see someone getting their ass seriously kicked in the future. Not to mention the tax payer money this shit is wasting and diverting SWAT away from probable real situations they are needed for. They need to put into place some kind of severe penalty for dumb fuck kids that do this kind of shit. Maybe public caning.

 

[ForeverSublime]

How about two words about the people pulling the "prank"? If you deal with that, then there is no latter issue.

The police aren't screwing with your liberties - your "friends" are.

 

[GutsDozer]

How about two words about the people pulling the "prank"? If you deal with that, then there is no latter issue.

The police aren't screwing with your liberties - your "friends" are.

It's people for sure. The police have no choice but to respond.

 

[stormy]

Wow that is wild. I had no idea swatting was something people do. What is going on in this country? I suspect their will be many a lawlsuit as this becomes more common.

 

[theMot]

Sending 10x pizzas to people for fun just doesnt seem like fun anymore.

 

[ChuChu Flamingo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nHohZIU5Do

Pay attention to the name of the person who donated when the cop looks at the screen.

lol Caleb getting swatted, it is what he gets for breaking a snes controller over a salty crummy run of mega man x3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfy-irj5zXM

or failing dat long jump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGayaYOAhg0

 

[ballzdeepx]

at what point did we trade freedom for safety.

As soon as we got off the Mayflower.

 

[Mac91]

lol Caleb getting swatted, it is what he gets for breaking a snes controller over a salty crummy run of mega man x3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfy-irj5zXM

What a faget.

 

[Dr Shroom]

I wish someone would do that to DSP.

 

[Ninjainspandex]

How about two words about the people pulling the "prank"? If you deal with that, then there is no latter issue.

The police aren't screwing with your liberties - your "friends" are.

What happened to sending a squad car out to just check if the threat is even real? Not sure the whole kick the door down ask questions later is a good idea, especially with how common these swatting pranks are. I understand they have to treat every threat as real but there has to be some sort of protocols before they send in the SWAT team with guns on live fire.

 

[blotter12]

If Americans just stand by while our rights are passively repealed than we don't deserve them. The government pisses on the constitution and we do fucking nothing. Fools only care about their 2nd why their 4th was taken from them not acknowledging that if you take just one away than the rest mean nothing.

...and the 2nd amendment doesn't mean shit when cops are better equipped than most armies.

 

[ReplicaX]

...and the 2nd amendment doesn't mean shit when cops are poorly trained with weapons and better equipped than most armies.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[Mac91]

...and the 2nd amendment doesn't mean shit when it is 223 years old.

ftfy

 

[BLEAGH]

Wow, what a waste of tax money and the officers' time. I had no idea pranking had escalated to this or that it would even work! I guess that's how it is in this post 911 world. Streamers better keep their locations secret.

Now the juvenile side of me from 20 years ago would think this was hilarious.

Say what you will about cops, many are meatheads, but many more actually take their job seriously. They have to take these threats seriously. They didn't decide to just bust up in your house for the hell of it or to give you a hard time.

You should be upset with the individuals who called the threats in and whatever psychosocial developmental challenges led them to believe this was a good idea to actually act out.

 

[Pope Sazae]

All these kids are white, they have nothing to seriously worry about