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California Man Sentenced To 20 Years In Deadly Kansas 'Swatting' (fox4kc.com)
slipped_bit writes: Tyler R. Barriss, 26, who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of "swatting" attempts, including the case that caused an innocent man to be killed by police in 2017, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The case in 2017 was all because of a dispute between two online players over a $1.50 bet in the "Call of Duty: WWII" video game. A total of 51 federal charges related to fake calls and threats were made against Barriss. "Barriss' prosecution in Wichita consolidated other federal cases that had initially been filed against him in California and the District of Columbia involving similar calls and threats he made," reports FOX 4 Kansas City. "Prosecutors had asked for a 25-year sentence, while the defense had sought a 20-year term."
"The intended target in Wichita, Shane Gaskill, 20, and the man who allegedly recruited Barriss, Casey Viner, 19, of North College Hill, Ohio, are charged as co-conspirators," the report adds. "Authorities say Viner provided Barriss with an address for Gaskill that Gaskill had previously given to Viner. Authorities also say that when Gaskill noticed Barriss was following him on Twitter, he gave Barriss that old address and taunted him to 'try something.'"
"The intended target in Wichita, Shane Gaskill, 20, and the man who allegedly recruited Barriss, Casey Viner, 19, of North College Hill, Ohio, are charged as co-conspirators," the report adds. "Authorities say Viner provided Barriss with an address for Gaskill that Gaskill had previously given to Viner. Authorities also say that when Gaskill noticed Barriss was following him on Twitter, he gave Barriss that old address and taunted him to 'try something.'"
Serves zero time.
This guy does deserve the sentence he got.
Perhaps.
But the cop who pulled the trigger, and murdered the unarmed victim in cold blood perhaps should serve some time as well.
if you consider the LEOs had none of the foregone knowledge thaat they were not at a house where a murder had already been committed, the police reaction is much more understandable
Nope, an unarmed man stood in bright lights on his own porch was murdered. I don't understand why the policeman even fucking shot him, let alone got away with that murder.
If you don't read what exactly the kid did, you don't have a right to comment. [...] The cop opened the door expecting a shooter about to execute a number of people
Given that the policeman didn't open the fucking door and did shoot an unarmed man I think it's pretty clear that you don't think you have a right to comment.
You would rather other people act to protect you and die than you do it yourself because cops are bad in your eye
How can I put this. I could have done a better job than that policeman, and I'd seriously fucking hope he's never called out to my house because he's demonstrably more likely to fucking kill me than anybody he's allegedly there to protect me from.
I don't hate the police, I just expect the law to apply to them. Including murder charges when they murder unarmed people standing in the door of their own home.
As a civilized society, we are somewhat reluctant to recognize the most uncivilized elements of humankind must be dealt with
The first step is to make sure we don't give them a badge and a gun.
The cop thought he was going for a gun because he was trained to see any hand motion as going for a gun, and was expecting the victim to go for a gun.
If you go camping in the woods and are afraid of bears, every shadow looks like a bear and every noise sounds like a bear.
Are you unaware of the details? The police, in large numbers, had the front of the house surrounded, from a tactical position behind their vehicles. An unarmed individual came out, was not identified, was not given a chance to comply with orders, and fired upon within seconds simply because an officer thought his hands passed too close to his waist. Could have just as easily been a hostage, especially since having hostages answer the door is the typical scenario.
This was an egregiously terrible shoot. There is zero excuse here, and if you're defending executing someone in these circumstances, you're a disgusting person condoning having absolutely no reasonable restriction on allowing police to execute anyone they encounter. They didn't know if it was a hostage, they didn't know if he was armed, they didn't give him a chance to surrender, he didn't do anything at all-- his hands just passed near his waist he didn't reach for something, and they did it all from a distance behind cover.
Barriss absolutely deserves the 20 years, but the officer who opened fire deserves life. And fuck whoever would defend one of the worst shoots ever, you're not defending a tough call, you're defending a wholly unjustified murder.
the most uncivilized elements of humankind must be dealt with
100% correct. Trigger happy police officers who shoot unarmed people must be dealt with.
I am merely grateful
Why are you grateful that the very people who protect you are so fucking trigger happy that they are likely to shoot you when you call for help, even if you're tiny white woman in her bathrobe? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Interactions with police are an example of a clash of an unpleasant element of society, but in the USA it is for all the wrong reasons.