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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: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Sunday March 31 2019, @12:48PM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by aiwarrior on Sunday March 31 2019, @06:25PM
Damn FatPhill, maybe after all Trump calls it like I unconsciously think. To be honest when I meant only in America, yeah I was thinking in places where the rule of law and the civil liberties are something that is central to the cultural fabric. Which is sad, because America is founded on the value of individual freedoms of people and trade. So..:
China, no. They do not respect human rights nor the individual. I do not like spying nor NSA funny stuff but there is always some form of accountability and free press.
Arabia? Arabia, God no not on my mind as a place i would like to live with my family. I want my wife to be treated with the same respect as me.
Israel? They are the best in the middle east but honestly i do not know enough to assert how human rights are there.
Parts of Africa? Ok, South Africa. People die casually murdered in robberies in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Maybe Cape Town, but carrying a handgun out of necessity with my family around is not something i want.
Asia?I guess most countries are ok if you never civically participate in them, as things are murky.
The Phillipines? I have a friend from there. He sometimes describes how things are there. Public schools forget about it, pay through the nose if your kids are to have a decent education. Health, also: break your pocket. Living in cities of 10M and above? Maybe. The new president though sounds a bit scary, even though I do not know up to what point it is not posturing due to a very corrupt and broken democracy.
If you think of what I wrote, America used to be where people were competitive but in the end honorable. Shooting a person without big care is not honorable nor reflective of traditional western values.