Streamer 'Swatted' mid-broadcast after being doxxed
Police raid house of Joshua Peters, aim rifles at 10-year old brother
A Runescape player hit by a SWAT team whilst in the midst of a broadcast has appealed to the perpetrators of the prank after the police terrified his ten-year old brother by threatening him with automatic weapons.
Joshua Peters was streaming Runescape on Twitch when a police Special Weapons and Tactics team, intended to tackle dangerous armed criminals, organised crime and hostage situations, came to his door. His brother answered, and was met with a team of men in body armour, pointing assault rifles at him. Peters had been the victim of a "SWATting" attack, in which prank calls are placed with police in order to bring armed response units to the door of others.
The practice is not a new one, having been perpetrated on celebrities and other victims for many years, but has become increasingly prevalent amongst gamers - recently in particular association with vocal critics of GamerGate. Other occurrences have resulted injury and obvious mental trauma, with on-edge police often taking no chances when called to a potentially dangerous situation.
"It was more or less a wake-up call that I have to be careful. It can happen to anybody," Peters told ABC News. "I came back on after and told everyone what was going on. I knew the person who did it was watching and I wanted to let them know you can't do this."
Peters praised the professionalism of the officers involved and is now helping authorities with their attempts to track down the perpetrator, who will likely be charged under several offences if caught - potentially resulting in a fine to cover the considerable cost of the raid as well as potential jail time. Convictions, however, are rare.
