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A part of me thinks that SWATting should be considered attempted murder (IANAL); you're sending in a bunch of heavily armed men into a house for no real reason,

A part of me thinks that SWATting should be considered attempted murder (IANAL); you're sending in a bunch of heavily armed men into a house for no real reason, what the fuck do you think is going to happen? Maybe "murder" is a bit strong, but it certainly has led to people dying in the past, and it's not like "death" is a bizarre, unforeseeable consequence of sending in a dozen heavily armed people into an innocent person's house. If I shot a gun into the crowd in Times Square, and someone got hit and died, I don't think it'd be a very good defense to say "I was just trying to shoot into the crowd, I didn't mean to kill anyone!" Frankly, I don't get it, it's really not very funny, and carries a risk of jail time in the process.

avidiax 2y ago
My understanding of US law is that if the police kill your SWATting victim, they will charge you with murder. It doesn't matter that you tricked someone else into pulling the trigger. Same thing can happen if your partner in crime dies.
- dylan604 2y ago
  Seems like SWATting investigations are a lot more effort than just claiming it as suicide by cop and calling it a day. So I'm slightly impressed that the requires effort option is taken at all
hilux 2y ago
SWATting lets unimportant and powerless people, who may never have got much attention in real life ... suddenly get LOTS of attention, which feels validating and good. Like many crappy things, it originated in the world of gaming.
Sanzig 2y ago
The perpetrator of the fatal 2017 Wichita swatting pled guilty to manslaughter, so it does seem that the (American) legal system treats it as a homicide.
- thfuran 2y ago
  But that was involuntary manslaughter, which means it wouldn't have been attempted murder if it didn't result in a death. Or at least it would mean that if charges and events were more than loosely related.
freeopinion 2y ago
When I was young I thought exactly the same way about drunk driving.

avidiax 2y ago

My understanding of US law is that if the police kill your SWATting victim, they will charge you with murder. It doesn't matter that you tricked someone else into pulling the trigger. Same thing can happen if your partner in crime dies.

dylan604 2y ago
Seems like SWATting investigations are a lot more effort than just claiming it as suicide by cop and calling it a day. So I'm slightly impressed that the requires effort option is taken at all

hilux 2y ago

SWATting lets unimportant and powerless people, who may never have got much attention in real life ... suddenly get LOTS of attention, which feels validating and good. Like many crappy things, it originated in the world of gaming.

Sanzig 2y ago

The perpetrator of the fatal 2017 Wichita swatting pled guilty to manslaughter, so it does seem that the (American) legal system treats it as a homicide.

thfuran 2y ago
But that was involuntary manslaughter, which means it wouldn't have been attempted murder if it didn't result in a death. Or at least it would mean that if charges and events were more than loosely related.

freeopinion 2y ago

When I was young I thought exactly the same way about drunk driving.