A California teenager pleaded guilty Wednesday in a case involving the swatting of a Florida mosque among other institutions and individu

California teen pleads guilty to making hundreds of ‘swatting’ calls across the US

submited by

Style Pass

2024-11-15 08:30:14

A California teenager pleaded guilty Wednesday in a case involving the swatting of a Florida mosque among other institutions and individuals, federal prosecutors said.

Alan W. Filion, 18, of Lancaster, California, entered the plea to four counts of making interstate threats to injure the person of another, the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a news release. He faces up to five years in prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Swatting is the practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address. Bomb threats go back decades in the US, but swatting has become especially popular in recent years as people and groups target celebrities and politicians.

“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,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a news release.