c/news · by Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world · 2y

'Cyber terrorist' who reported fake 911 calls across US and Canada sentenced to prison

https://komonews.com/news/local/cyberterrorist-ashton-connor-garcia-21-years-old-bremerton-sentenced-to-prison-canada-swattting-fake-emergency-extortion-edmonton-alberta-internet-chatrooms-crime-dispatchers-shaker-heights-oohio-punishment-law-enforcement-charges-virtual-private-network

353 points · 52 comments · view on lemmy.world

52 Comments

AmidFuror@fedia.io · 159 pts · 2y (4 replies)

That headline, though. He made fake 911 calls. Or he made false reports in 911 calls.

If you report fake 911 calls, you're helping police to catch the swatter.

Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 2y

Thank youuuuu

anon_8675309@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 2y

Probably AI generated.

ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Wait, I don't understand the difference.

uranibaba@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 2y

Either he called 911 reporting events that did not happen or he reported others' 911 calls as false.

Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world · 81 pts · 2y (4 replies)

If you call yourself a cyber-terrorist you should be ransomwaring banks, not swatting normal people

“The caller laughed and taunted officers, stating that he was hiding under multiple VPNs (virtual private networks),”

Coasting0942@reddthat.com · 56 pts · 2y (3 replies)

The article states the cop who heard the taunt traveled a long distance to be there at sentencing.

“Remember me?”

moistclump@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 2y (2 replies)

As long as it wasn’t on tax paper dime for travel expenses I’m ok with that level of petty.

ElJefe@lemm.ee · 13 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Sweet summer child…

nomous@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2y

Tax payer dime and you know he got overtime for it all.

don@lemm.ee · 69 pts · 2y (1 reply)

“Like pouring salt in the wound, you left a voicemail for our chief of police directing him to an online post where you gloated about the event. You wasted countless hours when our patrol officers could have responded to emergencies. I traveled 2400 miles to tell you this in person. I told you that you would be held accountable,” Grispino said during the hearing.

Power move

AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works · 23 pts · 2y

That'd make a good movie scene.

someguy3@lemmy.ca · 52 pts · 2y (2 replies)

Listening to the audio, he knew exactly what he was doing and took absolute glee in being a "cyber terrorist". This wasn't some random mischief, he was a serious prick who deserves the prison time.

*Should be supervision for the rest of his life. Psychopath like this, there's a good chance he will try swatting or hacking whoever prosecuted him.

Theharpyeagle@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 2y

“To know that I caused so much pain and irreversible damage to someone for no reason other than petty reasons. It’s disheartening to me, to my family,” Garcia said in court. Garcia said he had an online persona that disconnected him from reality.

He's really sorry though, he had no idea UwU

pivot_root@lemmy.world · -28 pts · 2y

With a face like that, he'll be getting a serious prick during prison time, too.

ikidd@lemmy.world · 45 pts · 2y (5 replies)

Swatting should be treated as attempted murder. If a person dies in the altercation, then premeditated murder.

todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee · 19 pts · 2y (2 replies)

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lud@lemm.ee · 8 pts · 2y (1 reply)

If a police department gets tricked into Swatting an innocent party due to a fraudulent call to 911, the entire department should be disbanded and replaced with officers who do due diligence before busting people's doors down.

But what if it's actually serious?

HonkTonkWoman@lemm.ee · 6 pts · 2y

Yep. If the department ignores a call, believing it’s a hoax, & it turns out not be?

Someone’s gonna shit the bed if that goes down.

ours@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y (1 reply)

I believe US law punishes the person committing a crime if the police kills someone intervening to said crime.

drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y

But never the cops.

AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world · 34 pts · 2y (6 replies)

Guy looks like he's 15.

originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com · 31 pts · 2y (1 reply)

he was 19 at the time he was making these calls, so youre not far off

AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2y

I wonder if that pic was from then or from now.

henfredemars@infosec.pub · 17 pts · 2y

Indeed. I felt bad for him at first, but he put many lives at risk with the swatting innocent people.

Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 2y (2 replies)

I used to think stuff like that a lot until I realized I'm just old

AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Yeah, I get that, and I for sure am. On the other hand, I have college interns and new grads every spring, and this guy looks younger than any of them.

Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2y

Lack of sun exposure probably helps him look younger

pivot_root@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 2y (4 replies)

“The caller laughed and taunted officers, stating that he was hiding under multiple VPNs (virtual private networks),”

I'll bet a $50 he either had exactly 1, or even none at all.

ShepherdPie@midwest.social · 29 pts · 2y

He totally fell for all that NordVPN marketing

Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 14 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Gotta take that 1 GB connection down to 28.8 kb/s

pivot_root@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 2y

Big numbers are better, so 19340ms RTT and 98% packet loss are good, right?

Maeve@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 2y

Or TOR?

some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org · 25 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Garcia admitted he used an online phone service to call in fake emergencies to agencies in the United States and Canada while live streaming the calls on Discord in 2022.

You know what you should never do? Broadcast your crimes. But I'm also very glad that stupid criminals facilitate their own downfall. That's pretty great.

Jax@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 2y

Just makes me wonder how many smart criminals never broadcast and are still actively draining resources from networks that are meant to help people.

KevinCostner@kbin.run · 16 pts · 2y (5 replies)

Ashton Connor Garcia, 21, of Bremerton, pleaded guilty to federal charges of extortion and threats for which he will spend three years in federal custody, followed by a term of three years of federal supervision.

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 2y (2 replies)

Ashton Connor Garcia, 21, of Bremerton, pleaded guilty to federal charges of extortion and threats for which he will spend three years in federal custody, followed by a term of three years of federal supervision.

Way too short of jail time for this behavior:

"“Garcia often made several hoax calls per week and sometimes multiple calls in a single day. He treated swatting like a form of entertainment in which he was the star performer. He set up internet chatrooms devoted to swatting, and he invited people to come watch his swatting calls as if it were a premier sporting event,” Manca wrote."

Theharpyeagle@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y (1 reply)

It's bizarre to me, he called himself a terrorist like 3 times in that article, why wasn't he charged for that?

Seleni@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y

On a guess? Skin color.

KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 2y

followed by a term of 50 years of shit jobs and poverty due to how American society works

werefreeatlast@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 2y

What an idiot! 21! He basically waited for the worst time in his life to make it much much worse.

arin@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2y

Looks like a kid, but fuck swatting

RagingSnarkasm@lemmy.world · -37 pts · 2y (18 replies)

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fiercekitten@lemm.ee · 35 pts · 2y

Let's not celebrate our shitty prison system's utter disregard to keep the people inside it safe.

todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee · 6 pts · 2y (16 replies)

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tsonfeir@lemmy.world · -27 pts · 2y (15 replies)

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todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee · 13 pts · 2y (10 replies)

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tsonfeir@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 2y (9 replies)

Hardly. You asked what they meant. That’s what they meant. I didn’t say it. They did.

todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 2y (6 replies)

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JonsJava@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y

tsonfeir reported this comment because you quoted his comment, which broke community rules.

Same thing as fair use - you weren't making the comment, you were arguing against the comment. Leaving it. tsonfeir can deal with the shame of his words.

Gave them a 7-day ban for that comment, plus trying to win an argument via reporting you.

tsonfeir@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 2y (4 replies)

I know what the modlog is.

I don’t advocate prison rape.

He’s 21, not a teenager. Don’t lie to beef up your argument.

My intention is not your interpretation, and with any joke, you can choose to not get offended.

todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 2y

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HonoraryMancunian@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 2y (1 reply)

I think it's the way you explained it

tsonfeir@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 2y

We all choose what jokes we will be offended by.