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19-year-old American, Brandon Wilson, was recently arrested and had his Las Vegas home raided in connection to several incidents of swatting. Swatting has become a significant problem for live streamers over the last year or two. For those who don't know, swatting is a ‘prank' in which a hoax call is sent to the police, claiming that a live streamer is holding people hostage. A SWAT team will then raid that person's home live on Twitch.
Brandon Wilson was also known as “Famed God” online. If found guilty, he could serve a five-year prison sentence. Wilson allegedly placed a SWAT call back in July last year, forcing Chicago police to raid a home in Illinois. Investigators managed to track him down, seized computer equipment and found further evidence that he may be behind other incidents as well.
Swatting is a dangerous hoax to pull and often causes a lot of grief. Just last week Runescape streamer, KoopaTroopa, had his home raided, potentially putting his family at risk. Fortunately nobody was hurt in this instance but the culprit has yet to be caught.
Wilson now awaits extradition to Illinois, additionally, State Attorney James Glasgow, wants to introduce legislation that would turn Swatting in to a specific felony in the state.
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KitGuru Says: It was only a matter of time before someone got caught out. Hopefully, with more arrests like this, we can stop swatting from occurring so regularly, if not at all.
nice
What is wrong with these idiots? Can they not get enjoyment out of other things? I guess now… Worthless pieces of trash, It may be funny to them but they’re affecting the victims who are being raided. Just goes to show how childish some of the supposed “Gamer” community can be at that age.
I hope he gets maximum time served because that’s just a really, really stupid thing to do.
I’m glad they caught them, but 5 years in prison is dumb. This kid did something stupid and taking 5 years of his life is just gonna ruin it entirely for him. He would be better off serving some serious community service and paying a fine instead. Prison time just makes us tax payers pay for him to rot away for 5 years and when he gets out his life is ruined. I’d say something like 1000 hours of community service and a $1000 fine. But then again I’m not a judge and I’m just an optimist who would like to see non-violent offenders not be sent to prison.
You realize, don’t you – that the deployed swat team could very easily found themselves in a situation where they might have had to kill an innocent person? 5 years with another 5 years deferred would be fine with me… I also think this ‘kid’ should be banned from owning a computer for 10 years upon release; with any violations making him automatically sent right back to prison to serve that deferred 5 years… ..
they (the swatters) probably see it as a prank that hurts no-one , but it is a far from victimless crime . I should imagine that have a serious firearm pointed at you is the stuff of nightmares. definite think 5 years (less remission) is far too short
the person who opened the door was his child , if the police had been even slightly more on edge , well I dread to think , even a stun / gas / smoke grenade would have serious injury consequences
Did someone die? Of course not. Could they have? Most certainly. Yeah, probation can be set up that he can’t have access to computers for the amount of time of it. You have to understand, it costs taxpayers over 30,000 a year to keep someone in prison. There are people who actually should be locked away for a long time. His actions were completely foolish, but it is far better to punish and rehabilitate him in other ways than to completely destroy his life and turn him into a nonfunctioning member of society.
He’d only actually serve 2.5 years or less. Other than that; I have NO sympathy for this “man”…..PS: Rehabilitation comes from with-in..
No, this is not a “prank”… These are just vicious and malicious actions… It’s people acting like some kind of evil societal gremlin..
It seems to be you are also a swetter who are not peeing in the pants thinking you will get caught. Don’t worry son. It just 5 years and you will learn your lesson.
There is another reason for a 5 year sentence which I’ve not seen people touch on in the comments and that is to make an example of this obnoxious little neckbeard. That alone is enough reason for the harsh sentence, to send a shot across the bows of any other little punk even thinking of pulling the same crap. Personally I think 5 years isn’t enough, but to each his own.
More in line with domestic terrorism.
A disgrace to humanity. He could have contributed to the society but is being a retard making such idiotic prank.
No.. I disagree.. Someone COULD have died and setting this guy as an example is a perfect way to detour OTHER idiots from pulling the same shit and actually getting someone killed. This EXAMPLE could save lives by making someone think that if they got caught they’ll lose 5 years of their life. Instead of just getting probation, You have to look at the big picture man.
Enjoy your butt swatting in prison, Famed God. You’ll be famous very soon.
Without structure and discipline this will continue to happen with kids and young adults. Unless America stops overreacting with firm punishment. This kid should never be allowed to ever use a PC again and should serve life. What happens if there was a fatal shooting? People are fucking retarded and I fear for the future and people who might lead this Country one day.
Hopefully I’m dead and have no knowledge of this before it happens.
If people get jail time for abusing/wasting emergency services’ time then they should face jail time for this… Hoax or not, funny or not its a crime and if you cant do the time then you shouldn’t do the crime. Community service and fines never do good for anyone, he’ll just do it again HOWEVER, make him waste 2 – 3 years of a life behind bars and I’m fairly certain he’d be less inclined to “swat” someone again
The SWAT team went to the house under the genuine belief that someones life was in danger, luckily the american police usually take a couple of hours to deal with a hostage situation and didn’t just storm the place with flashbang’s and tear gas because someone was likely to get hurt
This basement dwelling neck beard is the reason gamers get such a bad reputation, there’s always assholes that make their associated “groups” look bad.
One would think that they would CHECK THE STREAM before rushing out :/
Welp. im not gonna use twitch anymore. was fun streaming
It’s not about the gaming community. Retards and assholes can be found anywhere.
I say they let im have it.
Jack Black pls.
He’s going to be some nice jail bait , the boys in the Jail are going to have a treat when he gets sentenced lol.
He kinda looks like Jack Black
If they get a message saying I heared shots coming from that and that address I believe someone might be helt hostage there..
do you think they’ll go on Twitch to find any possible stream that might be occuring or go towards that address and sort things out…
You know nothing about me. You know what I do? I take care of people who are on hospice, helping usher them into a dignified death. I deal with people who have cancer, and dementia, and renal failure. I’m the person who you call to care for your parents at the end of their life. When I’m not doing that for a living, I spend time with my boyfriend online watching tv shows and movies and when that’s not the case I go to my mom’s house and help her clean. With that being said, the dumbest thing I did in my life was I stole 100 dollars when I was 12 from an old man. I was caught, I paid it back in full and did extra things to say I was sorry such as yardwork and cleaning. I learned my lesson and since that point I’ve been a productive taxpaying member of society. You should really think about the accusations you make against people such as insinuating that I partake in illegal activity.
Recidivism rates of people who go to prison is 3/4 in 5 years time, with half those within the 1st year. Prison time is not an incentive to stop crime. It’s a long term solution for violent offenders and other people who have done things like wall street bankers who have stolen millions from people.I’m arguing that it costs over 30,000 a year to imprison someone and it costs 3500-4000 to do intensive probation which includes GPS tracking, no access to computers, only letting them be at approved places such as school, work and home, etc. etc. In this case, he may need Jail time, because there are far more charges leveraged against him instead of just this swatting incident, but prison is not a deterrent to crime. We have 22% of the worlds inmates but only 5% of the entire population. Your same logic can be applied to murder rates. You are suggesting the threat of the death penalty prevents murder, but we can see that’s not the case. Even life time prison sentences don’t deter future murders. http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=17
http://news.uscourts.gov/supervision-costs-significantly-less-incarceration-federal-system
The pigs never “have” to kill an innocent person.
Anyone who understands police brutality (particularly in the US) understands why this is such a terrible thing to do.
The pigs? Been watching reruns of the 60s hippy culture again? An innocent person? I can see you have extensive police experience dealing with criminals and the dregs of society. All it would taken was for the guy to have reached into his night stand for a weapon and this person, whose house was invaded because of this swatter, would have been dead.. . That’s the way things work with a swat team……BTW: you delude yourself. There is no one innocents in this world except children younger than about 10 years old… A person gets killed by the cops because they screw up – by reaching for a weapon, trying to take a cop’s weapon, resisting arrest, or having the situation escalate out of control by a person’s mouthiness and some combination of the other events described…
whats the best way to punish a gamer? Take their PC/consoles away. Put them on house arrest barring any smart phone/pc/consoles on the premise for 10 years. IMO.
He will find other things to do, maybe beneficial for his life. Work out, lose some weight. Go outside and find some girls (or guys if he swings that way). Become a functioning member of society, Go to college, get a career, next thing you know he might even be working for a game studio.
Hahahahahaha, stupid dipshit!
definitely a good description . wish I had thought of it 🙂
I was referring to the “swatting is a ‘prank’ in which a hoax call is sent to the police, claiming that a live streamer is holding people hostage” specifically. Would the guy who called in not provide the stream adress in doing so? How would they even figure out the adress without checking where the stream is coming from? hm?
Society is what gamers NEED to get away from because we fucking hate it. This is the world we decide to live in.
Finally a police retaliation for internet related crimes I can approve of…
are you retarded?
if you watch a stream long enough the streamer will eventually slip up and give his hometown or his full name.. those things are the only two things needed to find out a persons address..
offcourse the guy calling the cops wouldn’t give a stream address.. do you think that the police are idiots ? if you say this guy from twitch.tv/someone is holding people hostage they’ll trace the call to you and have a couple of cops arrest you for making a prank call.
It’s called trolling. It’s meant to be funny to everyone. Even the “victim”. Most people are just not part of the internet world enough to not take it to the heart. It’s all fun and games.
Ok…It’s all fun and games.,… Would you think it was fun and games if I, an anonymous person totally unknown to you, found out your address and sent a swat team over there? Would it be fun and games if they broke down your door and unceremoniously dragged you from you bed , threw you to the floor, handcuffed you (All the while – yelling and screaming at you.) and searched your entire house? How about this? The swat team, in the performance of it’s duties, tossed in a stun grenade and horribly burned one of your children (if you have any).. Or: How about old tech? A girl randomly calls up a number and tells the woman that answers that she’s having an affair with the woman’s husband and then hangs up…. Are you still thinking this is all good clean fun and games?
He’s like a 4chaner
Agreed. Before they raid a house – the police could take a look at the stream before swatting. It’s hard to check if it’s a prank in various situations, but this you can actually check on your smartphone on the way to the swatting location.
SWAT newbie: should we check it out first, we can do it on the way over there, I have a smartphone?
SWAT oldie: NO! It might be the same kid calling third time this week, but damn you and your fancy technology! We have permission to raid a house – Don’t you ruin this for me Brian!
They could keep an eye on the situation as well, then the team knows if it’s a cat holding a hostage or Mr. T.
I’m not a hippy, I’m a radical feminist. I don’t believe in pacifism but that doesn’t stop me from being critical of the idea that the pigs have no other choice than to kill people. As for for thoughts on innocence its pretty much irrelevant. What matters if they were guilty of any crime and many people killed by the cops are not. You are just trying to defend the status quo. It is always the a choice, they should be held accountable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecM2y3faGsA
“I’m not a hippy, I’m a radical feminist.’ Pssst: Radical feminist is considered a piss- poor accolade (If that is what you somehow think it is.) by a vast majority of the populance of this country… It signifies extremism, marxism, and brainwashing……..Plus, ( And Vegas would give me excellent odds on this) you being a rug-muncher….
What is wrong with being a lesbian? I know RFism is a minority, I didn’t become one to be popular or for respect. I am not an American either. I am French-Canadian. While I appreciate some of the analysis of the left and find them most rational (at times) I am certainly not a Marxist and never have been and I will never understand why American cannot tell the difference between liberalism, social democracy, socialism and Marxism. I will link you to a description of what feminism actually is since it has been co-opted by liberals these days. https://davinasquirrel.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/is-liberal-feminism-even-feminism-any-more/
What is wrong with being a lesbian? Ha, ha,ha, ha,,ha! Whatever floats your deviant boat, kiddo….But why not go back to Canada and do it? We have enough pervs of our own…
He probably swatted for the wymenz or whatever.
I’m not in America. I have never left Canada. I don’t think there is anything more perverted about lesbianism than heterosexuality, really. I will tell you how you can separate the liberal feminists from the radicals. If they use the term “sex work” and advocate for full legalization or decriminalization of prostitution rather than the Nordic Model, if they say porn can be empowering, if they are uncritical of transgenderism then they are liberals. Which are most feminists you will see in the media.
But then he is also giving proof of the hostage… If there is one, that is. And if they do come and arrest him, all the caller has to do is show the livestream or a recording/screenshot of the stream page (if he/she hasn’t already mentioned it in the phone call). It makes more sense to provide it than not providing it. And yes, the police are generally idiots when it comes to logic.
No, I am just thinking in a different way compared to you. Thank you
I would literally just be sitting in a chair on a computer. I mean they can see in my house so it’s not like they would see any threats. the other instance isn’t even part of this topic because it doesn’t involve swatting.
dude… you really aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed are you? why would a person who is intending to sent a swat team to a streamers house ever (and I mean ever from now untill the sun explodes to destroy this planet..) mention that it’s regarding a live streamer?
if you call 911 to report a rape do you have to provide immediate proof of said rape? no they sent cops to deal with that situation…
so if you tell the people at 911 about a possible hostage situation they aren’t going to ask you for proof…and by the time the SWAT team is on scene if you’re smart you’ll have hung up… but then again that is if you’re smart
“The other instance”…. It is not swatting, but it is the low tech version of being an evil societal gremlin; which is exactly what swatting is.. BTW: “I would literally just be sitting in a chair on a computer. ” You don’t do that 24 hours a day. You sleep . Swat teams like the middle of the night at around 2-3 AM….
I said that part with the standpoint being that there would actually be a hostage situation. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear enough for you. And did you just compare a rape with a live stream hostage situation? They aren’t the same thing in anyway except being a crime. And no, that wouldn’t be the case in a rape which is a priocess in progress, but it would in a livestream hostage situation which has no time limit (unless it’s been stated) … think with your brain, not with a piece of paper on your desk…
Although, this could very well be different in the US and/or UK where swat is actually called out more than once a year or so :/ And yes, when you call 911 (which is 112 over here) then you give all information possible as fast as possible. And if you have proof you mention that so they can come and take it as evidence in their possible investigation.
You DO realize PC gamers stay on all throughout the night. That’s like prime time.
Non violent until someone is injured or killed by the police in one of these stunts. Community service or even a fine won’t stop swatting, hard time will certainly give those who do it, something to think about.
it should have been longer than 5 years. i HOPE it messes up his entire life, the psychological trauma he caused some of my friends because of the bullshit he pulled. forcing young girls/ANYONE to use a VPN whenever they want to play video games or stream is absolutely ridiculous. you wouldn’t be saying the same thing if it was you he did this to.
Don’t have the best facial recognition skills, but that looks like a teenaged Jack Black.
It was a stupid thing to do.. and he’s over 18 so he should know better.. but at the same time.. I think this is more of a situation where a hefty fine is in order. Prison is for people who do real damage to society.
Being forced to pay for the cost of the swat response as well as damages to the victim seems appropriate, plus the guy is pretty much tainted for the foreseeable future. His record will follow him around for quite some time and his prospects in life are significantly diminished. Seems like enough.