Nazgûl ARRESTED!
Alan Filion (above) has been called a “serial swatter” by authorities.
Teenager Arrested for Fake Police Calls
Lancaster, CA - A teenager, 18, from California, Alan Filion, has been arrested for making many prank emergency calls, a crime called "swatting." A prank is a trick you play on someone to be funny. It’s like a joke, but instead of just saying something, you do something silly or surprising. Swatting happens when someone calls the police to send SWAT teams to innocent people. His pranks were about bombings, mass shootings and other violent crimes. Filion was caught after police followed his online activity on websites like YouTube and Discord.
To get revenge on her brother, Ayyah pranked him by pouring salt, instead of sugar, into his cereal when he wasn’t looking. Enjoy brother!
Police Track Filion’s Online Clues
Filion used different usernames related to The Lord of the Rings books. Investigators found these names on social media and connected them to his accounts. An investigator is a person who solves mysteries and finds out the truth. They also discovered he watched videos about bomb threats and searched for dangerous topics online. His pranks were about bombings mass shootings and other violent crimes.
The investigators finally found what was used to make the victim sleep - forever.
FBI and Private Investigator Work Together
Filion called himself ‘Nazgol Swats” and used Nazgul as his profile image. The FBI and a private investigator named Brad Dennis worked to catch Filion. Dennis pretended to be interested in swatting services to gather information. If you’re interested then you want to learn more about something. Dennis found Filion’s online accounts and shared them with the police, which helped them locate him.
Maalik was always interested in robotics. So he studied hard then built his own 30 meter mech!
Show Me The Money
Filion made around 375 fake emergency calls, targeting schools, mosques, and even government officials in states across America. To target something you give it extra attention. You make it your goal. He called the police in Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Luisiana, Washington state and Texas. Eventually, Alan Filion tried to make money from swatting by charging people $75 if they wanted someone swatted. He charged $40 for a fake fire or gas leak. He even offered discounts for return customers.
His target was to get the world record for eating 100 pancakes in under 5 minutes. He ate 101 in 4:45!
Fear and Chaos from Swatting
Swatting is very dangerous. It causes fear and can lead to real harm. Police must take every threat seriously, and sometimes people get hurt during these fake emergencies. Authorities warn that swatting is not a joke and has serious consequences. Here an authority is someone whose responsibility it is to make decisions and give orders.
At the airport, the authorities found an alligator in a suitcase!
Bonus: Today’s Idiom
For my more advanced readers, can you imagine something like this happening to you? You, your wife, your parents, and your children arrested and dragged out of your house in public because someone called the police lying to them about a crime you didn’t commit. On top of that, he turned his pranks into a business by having you swatted. Do you think that Alan Filion was given enough time in prison or does he deserve more time? To me his punishment only “sweeps his actions under the rug”.
The idiom, “sweep under the rug” means to ignore a problem and not solve it properly.
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