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FBI Arrests Three More Men Who Hired 'SWAT' Perpetrator (nbcnews.com)
"Three men allegedly conspired with admitted 'swatter' Tyler Barriss to make hoax reports of bombs and murders to police departments, high schools and a convention center across the United States, according to three indictments unsealed today," reports America's Department of Justice.
An anonymous reader quotes NBC News: The three people charged -- Neal Patel, 23, of Des Plaines, Illinois; Tyler Stewart, 19, of Gulf Breeze, Florida; and Logan Patten, 19, of Greenwood, Missouri -- are not accused in the "swatting" call allegedly made by another man that preceded the police shooting of Andrew Finch, a 28, in Wichita on Dec. 28, 2017. But they are accused of asking the suspect in the fatal Kansas case, Tyler Barriss, through Twitter direct messages to make false reports of bombs or threats of shootings that would trigger a law enforcement response and the evacuation of buildings against other targets, including a high school and a Dallas video game tournament....
Patel allegedly conspired with Barriss to make false reports to police in Milford, Connecticut, in December of 2017, and to make a false bomb threat targeting a video game convention in Dallas, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. Stewart is accused of conspiring with Barriss to make two false bomb threats about a high school in Gurnee, Illinois, in early December of 2017, and Patten is charged with hiring Barriss to "swat" people in Indiana and Ohio, also in December of 2017, and of scheming with Barriss to "swat" a high school in Missouri, according to prosecutors.
After this week's arrests, the three men each face up to 15 years in federal prison. Patel allegedly also used "unauthorized" credit cards to pay Barriss -- and now faces two more bank fraud charges which each carry up to 30 years in federal prison.
The article also notes that the 25-year-old who actually made the calls -- and the call which led to a fatal shooting in Wichita -- "has agreed to serve a sentence of between 20 and 25 years in federal prison." And the two gamers involved in the dispute which led to that shooting have also been criminally charged.
An anonymous reader quotes NBC News: The three people charged -- Neal Patel, 23, of Des Plaines, Illinois; Tyler Stewart, 19, of Gulf Breeze, Florida; and Logan Patten, 19, of Greenwood, Missouri -- are not accused in the "swatting" call allegedly made by another man that preceded the police shooting of Andrew Finch, a 28, in Wichita on Dec. 28, 2017. But they are accused of asking the suspect in the fatal Kansas case, Tyler Barriss, through Twitter direct messages to make false reports of bombs or threats of shootings that would trigger a law enforcement response and the evacuation of buildings against other targets, including a high school and a Dallas video game tournament....
Patel allegedly conspired with Barriss to make false reports to police in Milford, Connecticut, in December of 2017, and to make a false bomb threat targeting a video game convention in Dallas, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. Stewart is accused of conspiring with Barriss to make two false bomb threats about a high school in Gurnee, Illinois, in early December of 2017, and Patten is charged with hiring Barriss to "swat" people in Indiana and Ohio, also in December of 2017, and of scheming with Barriss to "swat" a high school in Missouri, according to prosecutors.
After this week's arrests, the three men each face up to 15 years in federal prison. Patel allegedly also used "unauthorized" credit cards to pay Barriss -- and now faces two more bank fraud charges which each carry up to 30 years in federal prison.
The article also notes that the 25-year-old who actually made the calls -- and the call which led to a fatal shooting in Wichita -- "has agreed to serve a sentence of between 20 and 25 years in federal prison." And the two gamers involved in the dispute which led to that shooting have also been criminally charged.
here's a great video on the subject of police militarization.
TL;DW, the military has weapons meant for killing people and don't understand when/why not to use them.
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If I may say, censorship is typically the prevention of free speech, and involves "prior restraint". In this case, it's punishment after the fact for fraudulent speech with foreseeably lethal consequences. Similarly, for the other fraudsters, it is not censorship. It's punishment for fraud.
It is first-degree murder under the felony murder rule, which is recognized in some form or another by all fifty states, the federal government and just about every other government in the world. It works like this: If you plan to commit a felony, then commit that felony and, in the process of committing that felony or as a result of that felony, someone dies, you have committed first-degree murder. If you commit a felony on a whim (that is, you didn't plan to commit it ahead of time), and someone dies during the commission of the felony or as a result, then you have committed second-degree murder. That's how it works.
Now, let's look at the Tyler Barriss SWATting: Barriss talked with other people about making a fraudulent 911 call and then made that fraudulent 911 call. Making a fraudulent 911 call is a crime, and can be a felony under federal anti-terrorism laws. Since the 911 call-center was in Kansas, and Barriss was in California, federal law applies. Talking about it ahead of time is also called planning and is, of and in itself, a crime called conspiracy, which can be a felony. Since Barriss has been convicted of these crimes before*, they can and should be charged as felonies, and Barriss committed those felonies. Someone died as a result of those felonies. Thus, under the felony murder rule, Barriss has committed first-degree murder. Thought I'd let you know,
* Crimes which can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor, with no difference between elements of the crime, such as conspiracy, misuse of emergency systems, retail fraud, simple assault, etc, are typically charged as misdemeanors on the first (and sometimes, second) offense, and as felonies on subsequent offenses. This is how people get charged with felonies for minor things like shoplifting (aka retail fraud).