4 ms·

Troll jailed for 5 years after swatting of Twitter handle owner ends in death

34 points by beermonster 5y ago

FriedrichN 5y ago
This always makes me wonder why this is even possible in the US. Why can anyone just make an anonymous call and have a death squad kick in someone's door? Sure the guy who does the calling is guilty, but why is it so easy to do, shouldn't there be at least some reconnaissance done before you decide to do something so invasive?
- eurasiantiger 5y ago
  Because decades of racist practices have changed ”serve and protect” into ”nerve and contempt”
JayDustheadz 5y ago
Only 5 years? For a "prank" resulting in somebody's death? It's a sad world to live in :(
- s5300 5y ago
  Cold blooded murderers have gotten away with much less, people with an amount of weed that can easily dissapear in the coin pocket of your jeans have gotten much more. Pretty sure one of the CA gubernatorial contenders outright ran over somebody in their car, killing them, and never saw a day in a cell. Money means just about everything w/regards to crime in the U.S.
- fumblebee 5y ago
  > “Judge Norris said he was giving Sonderman the maximum sentenced allowed by law under the statute — 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, but implied that his sentence would be far harsher if the law permitted.” Sadly, it appears the judge’s hands were tied.
- viktorcode 5y ago
  The problem a penal system should be trying to solve is to turn someone who's a threat to society into someone who is not. I know that in the US it fails on many levels. However, it doesn't mean that the law should stick to the rigid framework of minimal sentences in cases like that.
cbg0 5y ago
Previous discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27911412 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27911412
wlpu 5y ago
> We're told Sonderman scoured the internet looking for interesting and desirable usernames on social networks, from Instagram to Twitter, and pressured people to hand over those accounts. > The goal was to obtain the usernames and then sell them to others for a profit Hardly a troll, more like a professional harasser
Vespasian 5y ago
Calling him a troll is understating the crime he has committed. I can't speak to the legal situation, but from a layman perspective, murder or at least harassment with the intent to inflict bodily harm seem more appropriate. In 2020 swatting someone in the USA must be seen as equivalent to hiring an armed gang of street thugs. (From the victims/attackers perspective at least. The SWAT team acted appropriately given what they knew). The attacker did it out of greed and willingly accepted a potential deadly outcome.
dang 5y ago
Serial swatter who caused death gets five years in prison - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27911412 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27911412 - July 2021 (126 comments) Man dies of a heart attack after minors swatted him over his rare Twitter handle - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27900825 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27900825 - July 2021 (558 comments)
kizer 5y ago
Just trash. Psychopath probably, at least they caught him early on in life.
nieve 5y ago
Is The Register (a UK news outlet) not mentioning the involvement of a UK minor in the death for legal reasons? Obviously there's a limit on details they can give about him, but according to other stories he's the one who made the actual call and is getting off without consequences.

34 points by beermonster 5y ago

This always makes me wonder why this is even possible in the US. Why can anyone just make an anonymous call and have a death squad kick in someone's door? Sure the guy who does the calling is guilty, but why is it so easy to do, shouldn't there be at least some reconnaissance done before you decide to do something so invasive?

eurasiantiger 5y ago
Because decades of racist practices have changed ”serve and protect” into ”nerve and contempt”

JayDustheadz 5y ago

Only 5 years? For a "prank" resulting in somebody's death? It's a sad world to live in :(

s5300 5y ago
Cold blooded murderers have gotten away with much less, people with an amount of weed that can easily dissapear in the coin pocket of your jeans have gotten much more. Pretty sure one of the CA gubernatorial contenders outright ran over somebody in their car, killing them, and never saw a day in a cell. Money means just about everything w/regards to crime in the U.S.
fumblebee 5y ago
> “Judge Norris said he was giving Sonderman the maximum sentenced allowed by law under the statute — 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, but implied that his sentence would be far harsher if the law permitted.” Sadly, it appears the judge’s hands were tied.
viktorcode 5y ago
The problem a penal system should be trying to solve is to turn someone who's a threat to society into someone who is not. I know that in the US it fails on many levels. However, it doesn't mean that the law should stick to the rigid framework of minimal sentences in cases like that.

cbg0 5y ago

Previous discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27911412 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27911412

wlpu 5y ago

> We're told Sonderman scoured the internet looking for interesting and desirable usernames on social networks, from Instagram to Twitter, and pressured people to hand over those accounts. > The goal was to obtain the usernames and then sell them to others for a profit Hardly a troll, more like a professional harasser

Vespasian 5y ago

Calling him a troll is understating the crime he has committed. I can't speak to the legal situation, but from a layman perspective, murder or at least harassment with the intent to inflict bodily harm seem more appropriate. In 2020 swatting someone in the USA must be seen as equivalent to hiring an armed gang of street thugs. (From the victims/attackers perspective at least. The SWAT team acted appropriately given what they knew). The attacker did it out of greed and willingly accepted a potential deadly outcome.

dang 5y ago

Serial swatter who caused death gets five years in prison - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27911412 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27911412 - July 2021 (126 comments) Man dies of a heart attack after minors swatted him over his rare Twitter handle - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27900825 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27900825 - July 2021 (558 comments)

kizer 5y ago

Just trash. Psychopath probably, at least they caught him early on in life.

nieve 5y ago

Is The Register (a UK news outlet) not mentioning the involvement of a UK minor in the death for legal reasons? Obviously there's a limit on details they can give about him, but according to other stories he's the one who made the actual call and is getting off without consequences.