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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: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30 2019, @06:56PM (13 children)
This is not enough jail time. He admitted to much more than just the one incident where someone died. I guess we have to hope he doesn't fit in in prison and gets extra time added to his sentence for being a problematic convict.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Revek on Saturday March 30 2019, @07:02PM
I agree but they need that space for non violent drug offenders.
This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
(Score: 5, Informative) by SpockLogic on Saturday March 30 2019, @07:19PM (5 children)
No justice for the victims family as the jackbooted thug in uniform who carried out the killing got no jail time.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 5, Interesting) by aiwarrior on Saturday March 30 2019, @07:36PM (4 children)
This is the point. Only in America such a thing happens where a random nobody can get an unproportionate response from the state against a random bystander in his own house. Land of the free my ass.
Living in the US is literally scary, never in my life would I fear for a militarised intervention in my house both in Poland or Portugal without credible confirmation that something needs that response. For all our defects I really feel safe where I leave. Even more so in Poland. This given that I am browny in skin color.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31 2019, @06:02AM
Barring the South, or certain known rougher areas, like LA or parts of NYC.
Today? It's fucking everywhere. Doesn't matter if you are black, white, red, yellow, or pink, if the cop's finger gets itchy you're going in the ditchy. Then they get a paid vacation, and in the worse case have to find a job at another department in another region.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 31 2019, @11:12AM (2 children)
"only in America"
Don't think so. You've forgotten China? Arabia? Israel? Parts of Africa? Asia? The Phillipines were in the news a few years ago for their handling of certain tribes in remote areas. Mexico?
It would be fair to state that it is most common in the US, of all developed western world countries. That "only in America" doesn't stand though.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(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.
(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.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30 2019, @10:25PM (1 child)
That's what Michael Santos said in his memoirs. By the time he got that far into his sentence he'd gotten completely used to it and it was just the new normal.
That said, it's not enough to satisfy my anger, but that's a bad basis for making legal decisions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31 2019, @05:03PM