Home of Parkland School Survivor David Hogg Swatted
They call it a “prank” or a “hoax”, but it’s actually a fraudulent call to law enforcement with intent to have an innocent person or persons killed under color and claim of official right.
The family of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student activist David Hogg was the victim of a “swatting” incident Tuesday morning.
A SWAT team responded to a call just after 8:30 a.m. of a barricaded subject at Hogg’s residence. The caller said there was a person with a weapon inside of the home, Broward County Sheriff’s spokesman Joy Oglesby told CNN.
The call was later determined to be a hoax.No one was at home at the time of the incident, Oglesby said. Hogg and his family are in Washington D.C to accept the RFK Humanitarian Award.Swatting is usually done by computer hackers, gamers or people skilled in online and smartphone communications as a prank. They make a false report of a serious crime in progress, resulting in police making a major show of force on innocent, unsuspecting people.
Read more at CNN.
Posted on 06/05/2018, in Cyber Abuse, Gun Control and tagged David Hogg, Florida, fraudulent call, swatting. Bookmark the permalink. 19 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
What is up with all this swatting crap? I’m glad no one was hurt or killed in this case. This is just disgusting. Also, am I the only one who finds it harsher in hindsight that the fake police report mentioned a fake suspect named Tarik while this being right after Tariq Nasheed’s family being swatted just a few days ago?
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Ahh. That’s right! I read about Tariq being swatted on Twitter. The fake name making the fake call to the Hogg’s residence might have been a subtle message. Like with Tyler Barris, once a swatter does it and gets away with it, they are emboldened and do it again. So, it could be the same person who swatted Tariq.
There might come a time when 911 dispatchers will need to look-up the telephone number to the residence, and call it to verify if anyone is calling from that location so they can let reporting officers know that the caller might be a swatter. There’s a Bill pending in Congress to make swatting a federal offense. I hope it hurries up and comes out of committee to be voted on.
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THANK YOU! I’m glad you noticed that, too. Right now, Tariq is getting a TON of donations while shamelessly trolling the racist low-lifes on video. I seriously think that might be a reference to Tariq. This could be a symbolic thing going on.
They freaking better look up these numbers of the swatters. People have been hurt and have DIED by swatting attacks. I seriously think it should pass as legislation. There are two possible situations I could see happening. This could be delayed action in the courts, or the other situation could be some POC swatting a White person and they get convicted in a heartbeat and it becomes a felony offense instantly. You know what they say: Laws were created to punish certain kinds of people.
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Ospreyshire,
With Tyler Barris, he’s been charged by the State of Kansas with involuntary manslaughter and a host of federal charges, including wire fraud. As it stands now, there is no federal or state law against swatting.
A case in Illinois involving a swatter out of New York proceeded as a civil case, with the victim being awarded something like $50k, which he will probably never collect. That case, if I remember correctly, was back around 2013. So, State and District attorneys are waking up and perking up since then, but they have also said that they don’t have the training necessary to track-down swatters, and that is why the feds are needed. Also in some states, the laws that apply to obstruction and false calls to police, are misdemeanors. Prosecutors don’t want to extradite for misdemeanors, so they depend on the feds to investigate and indict.
Americans need the passing of that Bill, for sure, and it wouldn’t hurt for the states to pass their own laws against swatting.
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I see. There should still be punishment going on to anyone who does that stuff.
I didn’t hear about that case in Illinois. I don’t buy that people don’t have access to the information. If various government agencies can catch terrorists and gangs with the internet and phone taps, then how can they not catch some swatter? That makes no sense.
I agree given how dire these situations have become.
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Most definitely there should be punishment. The feds can identify swatters but it takes them time. In some cases, they don’t start investigating until local LE contacts them. If local prosecutors took swatting seriously from the beginning, maybe the message would be out by now that swatters can’t hide and will be prosecuted. In my opinion, we really need state prosecutors to communicate with legislatures to pass laws to protect the people.
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Of course. They should take it more seriously.
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It pains me deeply the hate directed at these children. These survivors.
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Melinda,
It’s appalling.
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Tarik Nasheed’s family just went through this..so that call stating it was “Tarik” was a direct link (IMO) to the perpetrator of this crime. People need to stop calling it a “prank”. A prank is harmless..this is an attempt at homicide by cop!
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Suze,
(((((APPLAUSE)))))
ABSOLUTELY! Homicide by cop is the intent.
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My “inFOXicated” relatives think he made the call himself for publicity. *deep sigh*
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HA! He must have had a clone, because at the time it happened, David was receiving an award.
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How terrible, and even worse is what it says about the society we are becoming. Thanks for sharing this … I hadn’t heard about it yet.
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Jill,
Becoming? These things have been happening for almost a decade, and there are more that don’t get reported by major media. According to the FBI, 400 cases of swatting are reported every year. Those are only cases that local enforcement tell or turn over to the FBI. Most local jurisdictions consider a false police report as obstruction of justice, and do not categorize it as swatting.
Beginning in 2010, Steven Rusinowski of Hillside, IL was swatted numerous times. He ended up filing a lawsuit against the swatter.
Feb. 24, 2018, 65-year old Dorothy Marie Gass in Alabama swatted her daughter-in-law. The police arrived, shot and killed the step-father who went on his porch with a gun because he thought an intruder was outside.
April 26, 2018, Daniel Keem of Orchard Park, NY was swatted. The police suspected it could be a swatting call and phoned Daniel before dispatching officers.
May 16, 2018, a family in Arlington, TX was swatted.
May 22, 2018, Northwestern University in Evanston, IL was swatted, and the targeted couple was again swatted in their apartment.
August 5, 2014, John Crawford III was swatted in a WalMart. He was shot dead. The officer who killed him was not charged.
In Feb. 2015, Brandon M. Willson of Las Vegas, swatted a man in Naperville, IL.
I could go on and on. This is why America desperately needs that federal Bill to pass.
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Words fail me. Apparently far too many people have nothing better to do with their time then harass and torment others. 😥
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Jill,
It is said that hurting people hurt others. Rather than understand what hurts them and heal, they focus on trying to make others as miserable as they are. It’s sad.
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Ay … we have all seen evidence of that in our own lives, I think, and this is the same only on a larger scale.
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Jill,
Absolutely!
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