The FBI says a teen intended to cause as much harm as possible by ‘swatting’ multiple locations.
Alan W. Filion, 18, of Lancaster, California, entered the plea to four counts of making interstate threats to injure the person of another, the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a news release. He faces up to five years in prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
“For well over a year, Alan Filion targeted religious institutions, schools, government officials, and other innocent victims with hundreds of false threats of imminent mass shootings, bombings and other violent crimes. The US Attorney’s Office said Filion made more than 375 swatting and threat calls from August 2022 to January 2024.
I also think that every single police department that falls for a SWATing call should be held criminally liable. Obviously, an anonymous phone call is not enough to warrant a full-on raid of a private home. Allowing that to be the standard operating procedure is negligent as it keeps the door open for SWATers.