Swatting is becoming an increasingly popular method of “pranking” livestreamers, though it isn’t a prank that everyone can get a laugh from a la putting cellophane over a toilet seat, or covertly placing a whoopee cushion on someone’s chair. Swatting can actually be incredibly dangerous, and though (fortunately) no lives have yet been lost due to the “prank,” it seems like only a matter of time before one of these incidents leads to tragedy.
Swatting is essentially the act of calling in a SWAT team on an individual under false pretenses, with many livestreamers in particular being victims of this heinous prank. One such streamer was 27-year-old Joshua Peters, known as KoopaTroopa787 on Twitch, who had a SWAT team arrive at his home in Minnesota after his address was posted online. According to Peters, the SWAT team pointed their guns at his 10-year-old brother when he answered the door.
RuneScape player Peters left the stream to handle the situation, though returned 15 minutes later to deliver an emotional plea to those who had Swatted him.
Speaking on his Twitch stream, Peters pleaded with those seeking to attack him to not involve his family, saying: “They could have been shot, they could have died because you chose to SWAT my stream.”
He continued: “I don’t give a s*** about what you have against me, or what I did to you. For that, I am at a loss for words. Your gripe is with me so let it be with me and do not involve my family in any way, shape or form with this. They don’t deserve that.”
He added: “Don’t ever let this happen again. Please, I beg you. I would die for them.”
Watch the video below:
Peters has now stated that he is working with authorities to track down who Swatted him. This news comes after the arrest of 19-year-old Brandon Willson, who goes by the name of “FamedGod” online, who was arrested last Thursday for a Swatting incident in Chicago.
