As Trump continues to accuse anyone who disagrees with him as evil, those of us on the secular left may be at risk of “swatting.’ Be aware:
“Anyone with a grudge and someone’s address can make a ‘swatting’ call, but what was once a niche prank played by gamers has become a favored means of terrorizing famous, controversial and vulnerable people, NBC News reports. It has also become more organized in recent years, with online forums and chat rooms dedicated to targeted attacks on individuals, including YouTube personalities, tech executives, activists, authors and journalists.”
I'm fortunate to know the Police in my town. They won't come for me.
Wow. Where to start...
Never mind.
St-Sinner is right - you all are completely fucked. My Cozy Nostril gangland cats are here to bust you out and take all your tuna.
Get in our way and we'll ice you. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Trump has brought the New York style - offensive, attacking, brutal handling of regular opposition not just to stop it but to destroy it. That came from the Italian mafia that operated in New York. The style works in New York. Washington DC may have been good at playing games, a political win here and a win there, stabbing in the back subtly.... but we have not seen anything like what Trump brought... an onslaught of behavioral shocks.
He is not politically correct, he is not subtle, he is not polite, he is not diplomatic and he is not civil. We are still figuring it what to do with him. We are struggling to find words and actions to fight him. Many voters have been just tired of political correctness, the political games, squabbling, infighting, pulling and tearing people down with tactics in Washington. It was going on for a long time. No work gets done. The establishment candidates promise the same and do the other, nothing moves. .... Then Trump came along started saying politically incorrect things, said he does not need lobbyists' money, he is not beholden to anybody, he ruthlessly demolished 16 Republican establishment candidates on debate stage in primaries in 2016... debate after debate... saying outrageous things, insulting people, shouting, taking cheap shots... oh yes, that is New York. He knew his New York style capital was serving him right, just like it did in New York. He knew what made people tick..... he said he was against the Iraq war... BOOM, he said he does not like wars... BOOM, he said he will drain the swamp.... BOOM, he said he will stop lobbyists... BOOM, he said he will put terms limits on politicians... BOOM, he said he will throw out political hacks... BOOM, he said he will tear bad trade deals and make better ones... BOOM..... a line after line resonated with people, people wanted the new shake-up sheriff in town.....
And what did we do? Our representative are still figuring out what to do with this guy. They are still fighting with old meek Washington ways of passing resolutions, press conferences. The Trump Goliath is getting stronger.... but we do not have David...... Where is he? Does Bernie look like our David? Do Biden, Buttigieg, Yang, Klobucar? ... lol... It makes me laugh.
To conclude... Trump is going to win in 2020.
Sigh.
This is the second "swatting" thread to show up.
I hate to be the Cattus to bring calm and order to this, in spite of the known veracity of news and their propensity to responsibly tone down sensational headlines, but...
It's more complicated than just calling 9-1-1 and reporting a crime in progress - successful swatters use spoof number programs and anonymizing programs to do this. Swatters don't go all random and wholesale - it's usually personal (for direct revenge) or someone famous (for the lulz).
As a gross generalizations, your average Trump supporter, especially one motivated to do something so puerile, are too ignorant to use the tech to cover their tracks.
Might there be some idiots doing this??? Sure. After the round-ups and prosecutions, the rest of them will think twice.
Being frightened of this is like telling someone not to go outside ever again because a tree might fall on them - possible, yes, probable, no.
To be clear - I wasn't suggesting that people be frightened about this. Only that they become aware. The article has the same objective.
That does it. I'm not gonna let trees kill me. I'm staying inside.
@SeekingWisdom - I don't mean to be either offensive or contrary, but this is not "news" - it is an old scare tactic wrapped in a shiny new Trump fear blanket.
Sharing it, especially without any depth of context, is meaningless.
I don't believe that fear mongering was your intention. I merely point out that this "news" can be safely ignored and gave informed reasons why.