Serial “swatter” behind 375 violent hoaxes targeted his own home to look like a victim - Ars Technica
Summary
Alan Filion, an 18-year-old from California, was sentenced to four years in federal prison for orchestrating 375 swatting incidents between August 2022 and January 2024. Operating under various aliases, Filion charged clients for making false emergency calls that prompted significant police responses. His hoaxes included threats of school shootings and bombings, targeting institutions across the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Despite being questioned by the FBI in July 2023, he continued his activities until his arrest in January 2024, where he pled guilty to multiple charges.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/02/swatting-as-a-service-meet-the-kid-who-terrorized-america-with-375-violent-hoaxes/Open linkView original on lemmy.today
21 replies
Anyone else wondering how an 18 year old is able to pull this off 375 times? I think the police just appreciate the excuse to play with their toys.
How many people died from these swattings? And how much money damages were caused from police breaking down doors? If this kid was black he would have gotten life without parole.
Also this is terrorism by definition, he should have been charged as a terrorist.
By definition, terrorism is politically-motivated. This was just violence by proxy for hire.
His prices seem incredibly low for the amount of chaos caused...and it seems like the sentence is more in line with his prices than the chaos caused.
My question is when do they start investigating the people who paid him?
What a weird little freak.
He charged people to do it.
He was a professional terrorist.
Terrorism doesn't just mean scaring people with violence; it means using violence to achieve political ends. Swatting-for-hire is not terrorism.
Fair point.
Don't be putting this on us weird little freaks. This guy is malicious asshole.
The world doesn't need people like this.
He should have gotten a month per.
You get 374 free terrorisms in the US. 375th one is the one that gets you a slap on the wrist.
Oh that leads to an interesting calculation: he got 3.896 days per swat.
So doing it once is only a month in jail?
Would have been funny as fuck if he got shot
Lock it up.
That's literally what has happened.
48 months is not long enough.
That's another issue. But they are being locked up.
He took clients?? Lock this man up for at least 15 years.