Ninja’s brother BeardedBlevins was the victim of a swatting attempt, though no harm has come to him and his family.
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BeardedBlevins getting swatted
Swatting streamers is something everyone agrees should never happen. The thought of police busting into your home because of someone reporting you for an act you didn’t commit is a very scary thought. For streamer BeardedBlevins (real name Jonathan Blevins), things turned out a bit differently.
As reported by Dexerto, during a Fortnite stream, the police arrived at BeardedBlevins doorstep with weapons drawn. The stream ended as Blevins went to deal with the situation. He later posted on X (formerly Twitter) that his wife had gone out to speak with them as his children watched and that the police had called them twice and did not need to break down their door. Blevins mentioned that he’d called the police a year ago to inform them that he might be swatted since he is a streamer, something he is happy to have done since it helped diffuse the incident.
/center>You of all people swatted?? You’re one of the most wholesome streamers I’ve ever seen. Thats messed up
— GhostOfTheMtns (@GhostOfTheMtns) May 31, 2024
“Thankful for the cops doing the right thing. Will do everything we can to find out who did it and press charges,” the streamer wrote in an X post. Fans of Blevins responded to the post, saying that they couldn’t believe this happened to him and that they were glad he was okay. However, Blevins has since deleted the posts related to his swatting incident and is posting about more normal topics like going to Sunday Mass. As of writing, it is unknown why he has deleted the posts related to this incident or whether he will pursue charging the individual(s) responsible for swatting him.
What is swatting?
Swatting is when a person falsely reports someone innocent for performing a crime like taking people hostage, murdering someone, and other serious crimes/incidents. After the accuser reports the innocent individual, the police, usually a SWAT team, show up at the victim’s home, hence the name. In some cases, they break down the door, enter the victim’s home, and soon realize that the report was false, while others end with people being shot and killed.
Swatting incidents can happen when someone obtains a victim’s personal information and wants to have some revenge on them or have fun at the victim’s expense. When it comes to streamers, there’s an unfortunately long list of incidents where a streamer is forced into a scary situation as police point guns at them and enter their homes. Given today’s technology, it can be difficult to find out who made the false report. Those who are convicted of swatting can face punishments like being imprisoned and being ordered to pay fines. If someone dies as a result of a swatting attempt, the perpetrator’s punishment can be far more severe due to the loss of life.
