The 18-year-old from California has been sentenced to four years in prison for making more than 375 swatting calls across Usalan W. Filion, who works under the name “Torswats.” Servicewatting is the act of making false emergency calls to elicit large-scale police responses, and concerns are growing nationwide, especially in Florida.
A California teenager has admitted four federal accusations of threatening an interstate threat of hurting another person – also known as “swatting” – committing mass shootings at a Seminole County mosque, threatening bomb threat He was sentenced to four years in prison last year at the University of Florida last year, including preparing a false police report about calling.
Alan W. Fillion, 18, of Lancaster, California, has made more than 375 swatting and threat calls nationwide, according to a Department of Justice’s announcement. Fillion was 16 when he made most of the calls, the report said, and while he started out for fun, he turned it into a business and hired it.
“Fillion has called for large-scale deployment of police and emergency services units to be triggered in locations targeted,” the Justice Department said, targeting religious institutions, high schools, universities, universities, government officials and numerous individuals. He pointed out that he did it.
“During these calls, he was told that he and others had false names on law enforcement and emergency services agencies that he and others had placed explosives in certain places, and that he and others possessed dangerous weapons. He provided information that he knew was false, including false claims that he was, firearms and explosives, and the mistaken fact that he and other individuals committed or intended an imminent crime. Includes allegations.”
Among other incidents, Fillion called the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and “mass shooting” at a Sanford mosque, and he said he would “kill everyone” and sounded the shooting in the background. He said it had improved. He also pleaded guilty to creating a bomb threat to “historically black universities and universities in the Northern Florida district,” and placed bombs on the walls and ceilings of campus housing, according to the report. He said that.
The Department of Justice did not designate a university that exceeded its explanation. Florida A&M University was hit by a bomb threat on May 18, 2023.
Since 2021, swatting has led a country that has been a felony in Florida and threatens the nation in schools. From 2023 to 2024 there were 1,564 schools threats affecting 1.2 million students in Sunshine State, according to TDR Technology Solutions, a research firm that tracks calls. The second-largest number of threats was just 385 in Texas.
In July, the 11-year-old Virginia boy was accused of calling a Flagler County school. He was sentenced to a high-risk offender program on Thursday.
This is what we know.
Who is Alan W. Fillion and what is Torwat?
According to a Wired.com research, experts say Fillion is one of the most prolific swatters in American history, running the service under the name Torswats, and hundreds of false falsehoods about active shooters and bomb threats I believed that I was asserting responsibility for reporting.
According to Motherboard, Torswats offered SWAT targets for $75 per school or $50 for “extreme swatting” on someone’s home, offering repeated business and negotiation discounts for celebrities.
In an online post, Fillion claimed that when he kills someone, he “usually gets police officers, drags the victims and their families out of the house, cuffs them, and searches for bodies.”
What did Fillion plead guilty to?
Alan Fillion pleaded guilty in federal court to four counts that pose an interstate threat of hurting another person. He could have faced up to five years of prison for each count. Details of the case announced by federal prosecutors are as follows:
October 2022: In a call to public high schools in the Western District of Washington, he threatened to launch mass shootings and claimed he planted bombs throughout the school. , Glock 17 pistols, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails planned to “complete mass shootings” and “kill everyone” they saw at a Sanford mosque. Florida claimed that it had placed bombs on the walls and ceilings of campus homes that were exploding around July 2023. As a senior federal law enforcement officer, he provided the officer’s address to dispatchers, claiming he killed his (federal police officer’s) mother and threatened to kill the corresponding officer.
What happened at Sanford Mosque?
On May 12, 2023, about 30 law enforcement officials reported in Sanford after receiving a call from a man who said he had a handgun and an explosive device that would kill everyone. We rushed to the Masjid Al-Heii Mosque. Office.
“Hello, I’m going to do mass shooting in the name of Satan,” the voice said, according to the report. The call ended with the sound of weapons fired in the background, SCSO said. Lawmakers flocked around the area to find anything there.
Wired reported that there was a call from the same voiceover IP phone number claiming similar threats to at least two other mosques in Florida on the same day, according to police records. Also on that day, Daytona Beach police responded to a false call to the Daytona Beach Islamic Centre for a bomb threat.
Fillion was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 18, followed by months of investigation by the SCSO’s National Security Agency, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
He was extradited to Seminole County, Florida on Jan. 30, and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office charged him with multiple felony charges.
Has Famu got a bomb threat?
Florida A&M University received a bomb threat on its main campus in May 2023 days after a similar threat as another HBCU in Texas, Prairie View A&M University.
A year ago, several similar threats were made at around 13 HBCUs nationwide, including Bethun Cookman University in Daytona Beach.
What is a swatting call?
“Swatting” is the act of making a false appeal to law enforcement in the hopes of deliberately triggering a large-scale police or SWAT team response. Callers may say they are criminals or sound scary, but often report shots fired, someone killed or someone (especially children) holding hostages. Masu. It may be targeted at a particular person, sometimes the target is a government agency or school, or sometimes it is done randomly to cause chaos and link resources together.
“Alan Fillion not only intended to cause as much harm as possible, but he also tried to benefit from these criminal activities by providing swatting for whom services.” said Paul Abbert, deputy director of the FBI. Responders and victims waste a considerable amount of time and resources, creating fear in the community.
Many early swatting cases were for gamers streaming online while playing. In other words, the hoax could be seen as police breaking the door behind the unfortunate victim in real time. It quickly became a way for callers to harass anyone they wanted to be hostile, and perhaps causing harm.
Swatting is on the rise against political figures. Schools, libraries and hospitals accused of supporting trans or LGBTQ students and causes. and controversial trial judges and lawyers, including both judges and prosecutors in President Donald Trump’s DC election interference case.
In addition to tying law enforcement resources and traumatizing students, staff and parents, swatting is extremely dangerous. In 2017, one person was murdered by police, and in 2021 my 60-year-old grandfather died of a heart attack.
Are you doing something illegal in Florida?
Swatting is illegal in Florida. Issuing threats through social media, text messages, or email is a federal crime (threatening interstate communications). People who post or send such threats can receive them in federal prisons for up to five years. They may also face state and local accusations.
Fillion, who has been in custody since his arrest, has been charged under the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JDA). He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 11, 2025.
In Florida, swatting was already illegal as a false report to law enforcement authorities. This is a first-degree misdemeanor. However, in 2021, to crack down on growing practices, Florida lawmakers passed a false report of crime on HB 371. If someone dies in the process. Those convicted of swatting must also pay full compensation for the costs incurred.
You can also claim various things, including conspiracy to commit fraud on your access device, unauthorized access to a protected computer, misuse of your 911 system, and other related crimes.
