HATE WATCH | MAY 20, 2024

Bigots Hit Bottom With Shameful Practice of “Swatting”

“Hello, I am going to commit a mass shooting in the name of Satan,” the voice said that day in May of last year. The caller said he had explosive devices and a handgun and was on his way to kill everyone at Florida’s Masjid Al Hayy Mosque. The call ended with gunshots. Law enforcement rushed to the scene, deputies fanned out throughout the area and found—nothing.

One Saturday last August, worshipers at Temple Beth Tikvah of Fullerton, California, rose from their seats as the cantor began to chant a prayer. Moments later—captured on live stream—the rabbi gently interrupted her and said, “I am afraid that we need to stop and leave the building right now.” Moments later, police arrived, alerted by a 911 call to the presence of a bomb in the synagogue. Law enforcement took over the scene and did its usual efficient and professional job. The congregation was evacuated. And the bomb-sniffing dogs found—nothing.

Last summer, swatting incidents targeted some 72 Jewish institutions.

The trendy way to unleash vitriol these days is, apparently, to do it from the comfort of your mom’s basement sofa. Simply dial 911, tell them there’s a bomb threat at the address of your targeted house of worship, school, or community center, then sit back and relax while worshipers evacuate the building and fully armed and armored SWAT teams show up with bomb-sniffing dogs. Then the whole scene—from rabbi or pastor or imam informing congregants of the threat, through to the bomb-sniffing dogs—can be livestreamed and shared with your fellow nutcases.

Predictably, the targets are minority religious groups. Also predictably, swatting is often married with other time-tested tools of minority harassment. In general, according to the ADL, 28 percent of these same minority faith communities targeted with swatting also endured egregious online harassment, including physical threats, doxing, stalking and sexual harassment.

Last summer, swatting incidents targeted some 72 Jewish institutions. Calls bombarded police departments and suicide hotlines with threats of mass shootings or “knowledge” of a planted bomb at this or that house of worship.

One teenager—17-year-old Alan Filion—was found by a Seminole County, Florida court to have been responsible for swatting calls targeting hundreds of mosques over the past two years. Filion is accused of running a “swatting service.” For the low price of $35 to $75 you can have the hated institution of your choice thrown into a panic over everything from gas leaks to planted bombs to bogus mass shootings.

But there’s nothing funny about swatting. The practice reaps harmful—and potentially deadly—consequences. Every fraudulent call represents precious time diverted from true life-or-death emergencies. Moreover, the profound fear and trauma wrought upon individuals and faith communities by these cowardly, bogus threats can last a lifetime.

The heartbreaking irony is that swatting “works” because it relies on the human instinct to help those in distress—unconditionally. Police MUST respond to every bogus call. All it takes is one—just one—boy-who-cried-wolf brush-off of a hoax that turns out to be valid, and lives are lost, property destroyed and a community’s heart shattered.

So, the shameful charade continues at the rate of 1,000 swattings per year at a taxpayer cost of $10,000 per swat.

For haters and bigots, the bar can’t get low enough.

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AUTHOR

Martin Landon

Martin Landon is happy to say that at present he is not doing anything he doesn’t love. Using Scientology, he helps people daily, both one-on-one through life coaching, and globally, through his webinars. He has also authored books, movies, plays, TV shows, and comic strips and currently writes for STAND, which gives him great joy.

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