Swatting Political Discourse: A Domestic Terrorism Threat

INTRODUCTION In late August 2014, the social media world was overtaken by the shocking story of a fifteen-year-old online gamer, Paul Horner, who was reportedly sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison for his role in what has been perceived as a mere online prank. (1) According to the story, circulating on popular media outlets including Facebook and Twitter, "'[w]hat many teenagers ... are considering a harmless prank ... landed one online gamer in more trouble than he could have ever imagined.'" (2) The article continued by identifying that supposed "harmless prank" as an act known as "swatting" and reported that Horner's role in the swatting constituted domestic terrorism, resulting in a sentence of twenty-five years to life. (3) While the story ultimately proved to be a hoax, it nonetheless shed light on swatting as a dangerous intimidation tactic that is growing increasingly common across American communities and prompted a number of prosecutions and convictions nationwide. (4) The act of swatting involves individuals making fraudulent 911 calls and reporting threats or ongoing violent situations in order to draw a response from law enforcement, usually a SWAT team. (5) Through the use of deceptive means such as Caller ID spoofing technology, individuals placing the call make it appear as though the threats or emergency reports are coming from the victim's phone. (6) The authorities respond with weapons drawn, expecting a high-risk incident, thereby creating a dangerous situation for the unsuspecting swatting victim and police alike. (7) From the time swatting was first brought to the attention of the FBI in 2008, (8) the phone hacking phenomenon has grown increasingly popular, particularly in the realm of online gaming and in use against Hollywood celebrities. (9) In these areas, swatting functions primarily as a prank, albeit a very dangerous prank. Swatting presents a high degree of danger not only for the victims staring down the barrel of SWAT team guns, (10) but also presents peripheral danger to the community and the law enforcement officers themselves as they rapidly respond to the false reports. (11) Additionally, the mass response by authorities to false reports is further damaging as it is highly expensive and threatens the effectiveness of our law enforcement agencies. (12) Clearly all instances of swatting present a real threat to safety in American communities, however, as the practice has grown increasingly prevalent, there have been instances of its use for far more alarming and disconcerting purposes meriting a closer examination of the legal recourse necessary to combat swatting. As stated previously, swatting is most prevalent in the online gaming community where individuals regularly interact anonymously and personal information is easily accessible to Internet hackers seeking to intimidate fellow gamers. However, as early as July 2011, several conservative political commentators were victims of swatting incidents resulting in responses from authorities at their homes. (13) The use of swatting as a form of political intimidation against the ideals of another by placing them in potentially dangerous situations is of grave concern and must be addressed. Such politically motivated swatting activities bring to the fore a sinister application of this phenomenon, in which it is aimed at silencing particular viewpoints in political discourse. Such actions threaten not only the safety of the parties involved, but at a deeper level pose a threat to the viability and integrity of the American political system, which is heavily reliant upon free expression. While certainly the classification of a teenaged gamer, such as Paul Horner mentioned at the outset, as a domestic terrorist for his actions in a swatting scandal is a fiction, recognition of this political threat raises the question of whether or not swatting in the political context is deserving of treatment as domestic terrorism and the heightened sentencing that comes with that designation. …