[FACT OR FAKE #70] Was A 15-Year-Old Gamer Really Jailed For 25 Years For "Swatting"?
A recent report has gone viral stating that a 15-year-old gamer was summarily, and hastily sentenced to 25 years in prison under the charge of Domestic Terrorism.
By Sadho Ram — 07 Sep 2014, 12:22 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
Swatting, for the uninitiated, is a newly popular prank wherein someone calls a fake tip in to police and thus summons a Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team to some innocent's home
It's become particularly trendy among gamers, who can — via Twitch — view their mischief in real-time. Recently, a Counter-Strike player was "trolled" by someone calling the authorities to report an active shooter at the place where he was streaming.
The above story made big news and highlighted the danger of "swatting", following which a recent story went viral, stating that a 15-year-old gamer was jailed for 25 years for "swatting" his rival
Over 250,000 people shared the story, which was published by National Report, including the tech and science blog Boing Boing
15 year old gamer sentenced to 25 years for terrorism for "swatting" rival http://t.co/89A20KvtMJ
— Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) September 1, 2014
Is this true? Was a 15-year-old gamer really sent to jail for 25 years for "swatting" his rival? How much of this is FACT OR FAKE?
FAKE: While we would love for one of these idiots who play such pranks to be made an example of, the whole story is a hoax
The fact that its original source is a fake news website called "National Report" should be a dead giveaway in itself.