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Man Gets 20 Years for Deadly "Swatting" Hoax:
Tyler Barriss has shown little remorse for the death of Andrew Finch.
Tyler Barriss, whose hoax call to Wichita police led to the shooting death of an innocent man, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Associated Press reports. The sentence in Kansas federal court is a stark reminder of the serious consequences of the deadly prank called "swatting."
The December 2017 death of Andrew Finch began with an online feud over a Call of Duty game. Casey Viner, then around 18 years old, allegedly recruited Barriss to "swat" the Wichita home of Shane Gaskill, who was about 19. Barriss called Wichita police pretending to be a deranged man with a gun holding members of his family hostage, giving what he believed was the target's address.
As Barriss expected, the police responded by dispatching a SWAT team. But Gaskill lied to Barriss about where he lived. As a result, police surrounded a home occupied by the Finch family, which had nothing to do with the online dispute.
When 28-year-old Andrew Finch opened his front door, a police officer shot him. The officer later said he saw Finch reaching for his waist and feared he had a gun. In reality, Finch was unarmed.
[...] In April, the incarcerated Barriss briefly gained access to the Internet—and he took the opportunity to demonstrate that he had learned nothing from his time behind bars.
"All right, now who was talking shit?" he tweeted on April 6, 2018. "Your ass is about to get swatted."
[...] Prosecutors decided not to charge the police officer who shot Finch.
With good behavior, he could get something like 30 months off his sentence. Something tells me he might have difficulty with that "good behavior" part.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday March 30 2019, @09:58PM (3 children)
First Principles: That is a grossly disproportional response. Back in my day when I played the video games the worst you saw was the kid with Tourette's throw his controller at the wall and angrily yell at the TV. Which was quite entertaining in itself, I might add.
But the bigger problem is that this is what happens when America embraces the "drone strike" mentality. "Oh, I'm gonna do a bunch of virtual shit because like Counterstrike it never actually comes to my doorstep!"
We need to get more counter-hackers who swat swatters.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday March 30 2019, @10:44PM (2 children)
The judgments certainly embrace the American mentalities of punishment and force. The kids who tricked the cops get very long prison sentences, and I guess part of the reason is for the embarrassment they caused. The wire fraud charge is especially crappy. Authorities have historically taken a very dim view of being tricked, and frequently their responses are excessive. Happens all the time in grade and high school. School administrators regularly overreact to pranks. Just try walking into an airport and saying "hijack" where security officers can overhear -- all too likely that they will go nuts. The EFF was founded in reaction to overzealous police officers taking a game about hacking seriously. In that case, the gamers weren't even trying to trick anyone. Law enforcement officers were too dimwitted to figure out that it was just a game. Anyway, hacking really triggers authorities. Because they fear it, they punish it harshly.
The cops get nothing for falling for the trick. No consequences for the use of excessive force. I am not particularly in favor of punishment, but damn. The cops should have to make changes. They royally screwed up and killed an innocent. Maybe they shouldn't be allowed to carry lethal weapons.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31 2019, @03:51AM (1 child)
The police followed proper procedure. Move along, citizen.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by dry on Sunday March 31 2019, @08:08AM
Proper procedure should be to not shoot until clearly threatened. Especially while being under cover.