Posted in: Games, Movies, Video Games | Tagged: entertainment, games, runescape, streaming, Twitch, video games

Streamer 'Swatted' By Police During Live Cast In Front Of 60,000

In case you don't know, "swatting" is a term referring to the act of calling in a swat team onto an unsuspecting victim. This is usually done by fabricating a hostage or murder situation. The tactic has been used against quite a few gamers now and, in particular, streamers.

Unfortunately, this doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. Last week, prominent Runescape streamer and airforce veteran Joshua 'Koopatroopa787' Peters fell victim to the 'prank' while streaming in front of 60,000 people.

The ordeal meant that armed policemen were called out to his house, putting himself and his family in a potentially deathly situation. During the cast, Peters left the stream only to return minutes later visibly distressed. Here is the what he shared with his community when he returned.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/rn-U9S7aV6M[/youtube]

Here is a little transcription of what Peters had to say:

I had police point a gun at my little brothers because of you. They could have been shot, they could have died because you chose to swat my stream. I don't give a shit about what you have against me, or what I did to you. For that, I am at a loss for words. Your gripe is with me so let it be with me and do not involve my family in any way, shape or form with this. They don't deserve that.

This is a real issue and it doesn't look to be going away. It's an unfathomably cowardly thing to do and it's putting people and their family in harms way for having the audacity to share their gaming experiences with their community. The quicker people get over this trend the better. I really hope it's before anyone gets seriously hurt too.

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