The U.S. Department of Justice announces that Callifornia-based teenager Alan W. Filion, currently 18, has pleaded guilty to four counts of 'making interstate threats to injure the person of another' as a result of over 375 swatting and threat calls made since August 2022 up to January 2024. Filion will likely face a maximum penalty of up to five years for each count, scheduled for sentencing on February 11, 2025.
“This prosecution and today’s guilty plea reaffirm the Justice Department’s commitment to using all tools to hold accountable every individual who endangers our communities through swatting and hoax threats,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “For well over a year, Alan Filion targeted religious institutions, schools, government officials, and other innocent victims with hundreds of false threats of imminent mass shootings, bombings, and other violent crimes. He caused profound fear and chaos and will now face the consequences of his actions.”
The court document discloses that he did so for profit and recreation, advertising across social media for his services of "swatting for free."
According to the documents, Filion made calls claiming to have planted bombs in specific locations, threatening to denote it or engage in mass shootings - targetting high schools, colleges, universities, government officials, religious institutions, and various individuals across the United States when he was 16 at the time. Two cases involved threat calls to a public school in the Western District of Washington and a university in the Northern District of Florida.
The court documents added that he provided false names and claims about possessing and deploying bombs, possessing weapons such as illegally modified AR-15, Glock 17, pipe bombs, and Molotov cocktails, and provided false information about individuals who have either committed or are going to commit violent crimes The FBI and the Secret Service were investigating this case as well as other law enforcement offices.
Naturally, this would cause police and emergency service deployments in targeted locations that are usually on standby for emergencies. FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate added, “Swatting poses a severe danger to first responders and victims, wastes significant time and resources, and creates fear in communities. The FBI will continue to work with partners to aggressively investigate and hold accountable anyone who engages in these activities."
There have been numerous cases of swatting and doxing, which increased over the years, including streamers, celebrities, politicians, Linux devs, and public and private institutions where there have been innocent victims during the armed intervention by the police. While there are laws and systems to combat and track swatting, so far, it has been a cybercrime with serious consequences perpetrated by individuals with nefarious intent.
