The criminal practice of swatting has been a part of streaming culture for a long time, and it recently reared its ugly head again with two high-profile streamers getting swatted in a day.
Adin Ross and IShowSpeed were the victims of the deplorable crime on August 9 as armed police showed up while the two were streaming live on their respective channels.
The two separate incidents sparked a lot of outrage on social media. The only silver lining is that both the streamers appear to be unharmed. After the harrowing incident, Adin Ross took to Twitter to let his audience know that he was alright and also mentioned talking to IShowSpeed on the phone.
Ross tweeted:
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"I got swatted last night, very very scary. I’m okay. I love you guys. Also speed got swatted as well, we just got off the phone he’s okay! Sick world we live in man."
Everything you need to know about Adin Ross and IShowSpeed swatting incidents
While IShowSpeed has not publicly announced his side of the story, Adin Ross has revealed that both streamers are safe and sound. Swatting is a common tactic used by trolls to annoy streamers and prominent personalities. Both Ross and Speed have an immense following and pull in thousands of concurrent viewers on their regular streams, making them a prime target for the act.
Getting swatted, however, is not a laughing matter. This is basically an attempt to mobilize law enforcement against the targeted person. While most probably do it in the spirit of a prank, there have been incidents where the police have hurt people. Such as the infamous 2017 Wichita swatting incident, where a man was inadvertently shot dead by cops.
Adin Ross's stream was interrupted by armed police
Adin Ross has detailed his experience in his most recent Twitch stream. According to him, both he and his girlfriend were handcuffed by the authorities as they searched his house. Ross made it clear that the officers were "cool" once they realized the situation and did not take any drastic steps.
He had left his PC to go to the bathroom and get some water when the police knocked on his door. He described the situation as "surreal" and revealed how terrified he was when the heavily armed cops showed up at his doorstep:
"But when I open the door, bro. Two riot shields, thirty AK-47s pointed at my f***ing home. And just screaming like, thirty different voices just screaming. It was unreal, it was surreal, it was just not real. It was f***ed up, bro. It was so f***ed up, man."
The streamer then thanked his fans and well-wishers who checked on him after the incident.
IShowSpeed's swatting
Darren "IShowSpeed" also got swatted on the same day, but just like most things with the streamer, it got caught up in some controversy. As many on the internet noted, the Ohio-native was outside his house lighting his old PlayStation on fire when the police appeared to arrest him.
Shortly before the incident, IShowSpeed had done a bit on stream about fake-calling a cop and asking them to come to his house in an aggravated tone. Known for his over-the-top reactions and chaotic energy, the cops showing up was not a pleasant experience for him.
In a clip titled "wtf" and uploaded to his official YouTube channel, viewers can see how the police handled the situation. The one-and-a-half-minute clip had over 3 million views at the time of writing and was being filmed by IShowSpeed's friend, who was recording the police arresting the popular streamer, saying:
"Oh, they swatted you, bro. They swatted you."
Before ending the clip, police can be seen apprehending the cameraman as well as shutting off the stream.
Swatting is mostly a problem for streamers, especially the more popular ones. World-famous celebrities such as Rihanna have also been victims of swatting. Doxxing and swatting can be treated as federal crimes, and swatters have been prosecuted as criminals in the past.
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