How are people swatted?

Question

“Swatting” someone refers to getting law enforcement (usually SWAT teams) to another person usually for malice related reasons. It is common for large streamers to face this as people want to capture their reactions on video and sometimes private details.

In the United States, there are three general circumstances in which a warrant isn’t required: Exigent circumstances, plainview, and consent.

Exigent circumstances are situations where context necessitates law enforcement to act quickly. A fire, actively running after a suspect (hot pursuit), a hostage situation, etc.

Plainview is when an illegal act or substance is clearly visible, like drugs in a bag or domestic violence through a window.

Consent is pretty self explanatory; an individual voluntarily allows law enforcement to do what they need to.

With this in mind, how does swatting someone work? How can someone, with no evidence, call law enforcement and get them to break down someone else’s door and why can’t the victim simply refuse on the basis of the above situations not applying?

In: Other

Answer 1

I got swatted because the guy I was renting a room to told his niece that he’d taken a bunch of pills, and was going to shoot himself in the head with one of my guns, then hung up on her and refused to answer the phone.

I had no idea this was going on, so when my door popped open a little bit I thought it was just the breeze because… y’know… it was one of those cheap shitty apartment doors that does that.

You can imagine my surprise when I found myself pinned to the ground moments later, with a cop screaming “Where’s the gun? WHERE’S THE GUN?” and a home absolutely *full* of armored mother fuckers with AR-15’s.

I was not pleased with the experience. 0/10, do not recommend.

EDIT: I realized I didn’t actually say what happened to dude. He had not, in fact, taken a bunch of pills. He did not have one of my guns, that would have been impossible. He was just extremely drunk and being foolish. They sent him to the hospital for alcohol poisoning, and I had his son pick up his shit the next day.