Kyle 'Bugha' Giersdorf: Fortnite world champion 'swatted' mid-game
12 August 2019
Newly crowned Fortnite world champion Kyle Giersdorf has been confronted by police in the middle of a game. Giersdorf, who plays under the name Bugha, disappeared for 10 minutes while the game was live-streamed on Twitch. He later said he had been "swatted" - where someone makes a hoax report so the special weapons and tactics (Swat) police raid a target's house. Giersdorf, 16, won the $3m (PS2.4m) top solo prize at the Fortnite World Cup in New York last month. Twitch is a streaming site where fans can watch gamers play live. More than 38,000 people were watching Giersdorf's game when he was interrupted by the police. He was about seven hours into a "trios" game, played with two teammates, when his dad was heard coming into his room and saying something to him. Giersdorf replied "I got swatted?", before abruptly disappearing from his webcam. The other gamers on his team continued to play, and won the game in his absence. Giersdorf came back about 10 minutes later and told them that he "got swatted", and that the officers "came in with guns". He then said one of the officers lived in his neighbourhood and recognised him. It is not known what the swatter told police when they made their false report. Swatting has become an infamous form of harassment in the gaming community, and as yet there are no federal laws specifically banning it in the US. However, in April a gamer was sentenced to 20 years in jail for making a swatting call that led to an innocent man being killed. After a row over Call of Duty in December 2017, Tyler Barriss told the police that he was holding his family hostage, and gave them an address in Kansas. This sent officers to the home of Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old father-of-two who had no involvement in the Call of Duty dispute. During the visit, Mr Finch was fatally shot by one of the responding officers.
Swatting has become an infamous form of harassment in the gaming community, and as yet there are no federal laws specifically banning it in the US. However, in April a gamer was sentenced to 20 years in jail for making a swatting call that led to an innocent man being killed. After a row over Call of Duty in December 2017, Tyler Barriss told the police that he was holding his family hostage, and gave them an address in Kansas. This sent officers to the home of Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old father-of-two who had no involvement in the Call of Duty dispute. During the visit, Mr Finch was fatally shot by one of the responding officers.
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Is swatting illegal?