Swatting Call Sends ‘About 20’ Police Officers To GamerGate Critic Grace Lynn’s Former House
Grace Lynn, who is better known by the Twitter handle @pixelgoth, is a former supporter for a movement within the gaming sub culture coined as “GamerGate.” Eventually, Ms. Lynn left the GamerGate crusade and as a result earned the ire of the more angry identifiers with the movement. That anger manifested itself in what is known as a “swatting” call, a type of heinous prank the Inquisitr has covered before.
The Oregonian reported the prank call was sent to the non-emergency line of the Portland police department. As a result, a large number of officers in Portland were sent Grace Lynn’s former house late Friday night. The call stated an armed man was in the house holding the residents inside as hostages. Portland police arrived and began designing a plan of action to rescue the hostages.
The Verge reported on the infamous 8Chan forums, which had a thread detailing the plan to “swat” her. Police Sgt. Pete Simpson confirmed a call was received suggesting the original call was a prank. Based on the Twitter feed of Ms. Lynn, it is likely the call came from her informing the police that the call was likely a “swatting” prank directed at her.
Fun fact : The only reason I was able to catch the SWAT in time is because I have to every day preemptively check for continued harassment.
— Grace Lynn (@pixelgoth) January 3, 2015
Police were able to confirm that the residents inside were sleeping, blissfully unaware of the prank that could have spiraled out of control and easily caused damage, harm, or worse. While no one has died from a “swatting,” it is not outside of the realm of possibility. Detroit residents will know the name Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a 7-year-old girl who was killed during a police raid on her house where an officer’s gun fired, killing Aiyana who was sleeping on the couch.
“It’s not going to result in the prank playing out the way the prankster wanted it to,” Simpson said. “But it does create significant risk to the public and significant risk to officers responding. And the prankster can face state and federal charges.”
The perpetrator of this specific “swatting” call against Ms. Lynn claims to not be part of the GamerGate movement which is difficult, if not impossible to confirm. The 8Chan forum prides itself in anonymity where users are not required to give any kind of identifying material in order to post content.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to email it to CrimeTips@portlandoregon.gov.
[Image Source | Shutterstock]
