An 18-year-old California man admitted on Wednesday that he had made nearly 400 false reports of bomb threats and mass shootings that targeted schools, religious institutions and government officials across the country over a 16-month period, federal prosecutors announced.
The man, Alan W. Filion of Lancaster, Calif., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla., to four counts of interstate transmission of threats to injure after the authorities linked him to more than 375 false reports of threats or acts of terror — often referred to as swatting calls. Mr. Filion, who earlier this year was arrested in California and extradited to Florida, will face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million, according to court records. A sentencing date has not yet been announced.
Hoax threats and swatting calls cause “profound fear and chaos,” Lisa Monaco, the deputy U.S. attorney general, said in a statement. The false reports also waste law enforcement resources, endanger the public and prevent emergency personnel from responding to real emergency situations, Paul Abbate, the deputy director of the F.B.I., added.
During a swatting call in May 2023, Mr. Filion called the Sanford Police Department in Florida and, while playing audio of gunfire in the background, said that he was going to enter Masjid Al Hayy Mosque in Sanford with a fully automatic rifle to carry out a mass shooting, according to an affidavit prepared to obtain an arrest warrant. Dozens of law enforcement officers responded to the mosque before it was determined that the call was a hoax and began an investigation that led to Mr. Filion’s arrest in January, the authorities said.
From August 2022 to January 2024, when he was under 18, Mr. Filion falsely reported that explosives had been left in particular locations and made false claims about violent crimes that he said had been or were going to be committed, the authorities said. In October 2022, Mr. Filion called a high school in Washington State and promised to “commit a school shooting” the next day.
“I will kill as many kids as I can and then I will shoot myself,” he said in a voice mail message, according to court records. He described how he had planned to use guns and bombs to collapse the roof of the school, “killing everybody.”
Mr. Filion also sought to make money from swatting by offering a swatting-for-a-fee service that he advertised on social media, the authorities said in the statement on Wednesday.
Two lawyers for Mr. Filion did not immediately respond on Wednesday to an email and a phone call requesting comment.
Swatting has become a common tactic among criminals seeking to sow fear in communities and among politicians. Earlier this year, a Romanian citizen and a Serbian citizen were charged with falsely reporting threats against the U.S. Capitol and prominent officials. Religious buildings, schools, members of Congress, judges in high-profile trials and business executives have also been the victims of swatting calls in the past year alone.
“Traditionally, law enforcement has seen swatters directing their actions toward individuals and residences,” the F.B.I. wrote in 2022. “Increasingly, the F.B.I. sees swatters targeting public places such as airports, schools and businesses.”
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