Randi Harper, GamerGate critic and anti-online-harassment activist, was SWATted last night

[maxomai]

Repost. Summary: Randi Harper (@freebsgirl) gets SWATed, because free speech online is only for those who agree with you.

Originally posted by manboobz_rss at Randi Harper, GamerGate critic and anti-online-harassment activist, was SWATted last night

http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2015/04/03/randi-harper-gamergate-critic-and-anti-online-harassment-activist-was-swatted-last-night/

http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/?p=15913

Just got SWATed.

— Randi Harper (@freebsdgirl) April 3, 2015

So, this happened:

Last night, around 10:20 PM, I received a knock at my front door. I live in a secured building, and it’s rare that I have visitors, so it wasn’t any huge surprise to me when I opened the front door and 6 officers from the Oakland Police were standing outside.

Randi Harper, who posted the above on her blog today, was the victim of an attempted SWATting late last night. That is, one of her online enemies contacted the police, pretending that they were in her apartment holding someone hostage, in hopes of literally sending a SWAT team to bust down her door. Luckily for her, she had herself contacted the police some months earlier and warned them that someone might do this.

Had she not warned the cops in advance, more than six police officers would have shown up. In all likelihood, a literal SWAT team would have shown up, guns drawn, at her door. Instead, her encounter with the police, while nerve-wracking, was peaceful. (I’ve bolded some of what follows.)

Leo, my golden retriever, followed me to the door, so I only opened the door partially and was blocking him with my body to keep him from rushing out to make friends. One of the officers asked me if I was OK. I told him I was fine, and I immediately followed that up by asking if a SWAT threat had been called in. They confirmed this, and I told them I had a police report filed documenting that people were threatening to call in fraudulent reports.

I told them my dog was friendly, and I asked if I could give them this report. They said yes, and they asked if they could come inside and make sure everything was OK. I agreed. Four of the police stayed outside, and two came in. I was asked if anyone else was here, if I was living alone, why someone would call in a false report, and other various pertinent questions by one of the officers while the other took a look around my apartment.

After they had asked all of their questions and were sure that no one was being held against their will, I was informed that someone had called the police “from an iPad” stating that there was a ransom situation at my address, and they wanted $10,000. When I had opened the door, all guns were holstered. I was told that had I not filed a report back in January documenting these threats, that would not have been the case.

What usually happens when someone gets SWATted? Well, take a look at the video below, which Harper posted on her blog, featuring actual footage of a number of gamers being SWATted while in the middle of streaming video events. That is, they were playing games online, others were watching them playing, and some of those watching decided it would be hilarious to send a SWAT team to visit them while they were playing.

So, yeah, that’s what whoever called the hoax in was hoping would happen to her.

For more details, some documentation, and advice on how to approach the police if you are worried that someone will try to do this to you, see her post.

We still don’t know who called in the fake report. Given that she’s been repeatedly targeted (and doxxed) by the not-so-good folks on the baphomet board on 8chan, a lot of people think that’s who it was.

Of course, there are many GamerGaters who think her story is a hoax, and complain that she hasn’t posted an official police incident report detailing what went down. According to Harper, the police told her she wouldn’t be able to get hold of one for at least two weeks.

I believe her. But I guess we’ll know for sure in a couple of weeks, huh?

In the meantime, Leo the dog is hunkering down in the bathtub.

Leo's had a rough night (knows when stuff is going down), so he's hiding in the bath tub- his safe spot- for a while. pic.twitter.com/Z3XUAE2byC

— Randi Harper (@freebsdgirl) April 3, 2015

And Leo’s owner is just glad she was wearing pants during the whole ordeal.

I am just glad that I got swatted while i was wearing pants. I expected this eventually. Statistical likelihood of me wearing pants was low.

— Randi Harper (@freebsdgirl) April 3, 2015

 

 

Comments

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

Glad she and her dog are okay. And also glad they hadn't tried to come in on her while she was naked. This is a very common swat trick they do - they often will use listening devices to see if their targets are in the shower and go in while they're naked - deliberately. When people try to cover themselves or reach for a towel, the SWAT team will shoot - claiming the person was attempting to get a weapon or being threatening or uncooperative.

[maxomai.livejournal.com]

In fact, if she hadn't previously let the police know that SWATing was a real possibility, they might have done exactly that.

After I posted this, the SWATing apologists started chiming in. I blocked 'em. Fucking manlets.

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

In DC, There's been (black) people who also previously warned the police of their harassment by their neighbors' repeated anonymous tips who are dead now after being shot in their shower - because the police did not care.

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/08/01/botched-police-raid-roundup/ (In summary) Montgomery County, MD had the only system in place tracking the use of their SWAT teams, in place after the hugely publicized attack on the Berwyn Heights mayor's family where they shot dead their docile pet dogs. http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?id=707%3acounty-swat-team-activities-bring-fear&Itemid=766&option=com_k2&view=item

93% of the 188 (!) times the SWAT team deployed in Montgomery County it was delivering search warrants.
(Montgomery County, Md is one of the most affluent counties in the nation. It is not effing Compton. )