The German Linux developer René Rebe streams on Twitch under the channel T2sde. Last week, he unexpectedly received a visit from the police during a livestream. He recorded the incident live on Twitch and complained about the behavior of the officers.
This can be seen in the video: The Linux developer was streaming when there was a knock at the door, so the incident can be seen in a roughly 3-minute clip on YouTube.
There is a knock at the door, and in the background, police sirens can be heard. A voice that sounds military and determined asks: “Hello, is anyone in the apartment? Are you alone – who are you?”
The mood shifts from a normal tone when “POLICE!” is shouted. In the video, one can see officers with drawn weapons walking past the screen and searching the apartment.
The situation seems to calm down as the developer is repeatedly asked to turn off the still-running livestream.
Emails pretended that the developer had killed his wife
This is what the developer himself says: On YouTube, the Linux developer explains what happened: The police reacted to emails that had been written in his name. The emails claimed that the developer had killed his wife and wanted to take his own life.
Due to “imminent danger,” the police responded in full force and “about 10 police officers” with drawn weapons stood at his door.
Furthermore, he heard from neighbors that the police had cordoned off the entire street up to the next intersection, a dozen patrol cars had arrived, along with fire trucks, ambulances, and an emergency medic.
Developer says: An examination of the email for authenticity would have sufficed
This is his criticism: The developer says he wanted to make the incident public and show the video to make it clear that “swatting” is not just a US phenomenon, but has also arrived in Germany and Europe.
Moreover, he believes that the police acted incorrectly here. A team of 2 police officers or a test call would have sufficed to solve the problem with such weak evidence. A “minimal check of the email for authenticity or plausibility” would have been enough to spare the large police operation. After all, the email would not have gone through the server of his company, which was registered at the address.
The police did not identify themselves and immediately placed him in handcuffs.
Developer finds police operation completely disproportionate
According to the developer, it is important that police officers are made aware of such known swatting patterns so that they can proceed more thoughtfully. He considers such a use of equipment and personnel to be “completely disproportionate.” It would have been enough to briefly Google his name or the name of the company to see that he is active on YouTube and Twitch.
However, the Linux developer remains conciliatory: He praises the police for having treated him somewhat humanely and for having survived. There was also no property damage.
It would have been a nightmare scenario for him if everyone had been on their lunch break when this happened and the police had then broken down the door. For an IT company in the security sector with existing NDAs, this would have been completely unacceptable.
That the developer is happy to be alive may sound a bit exaggerated to some, but it is not. In a swatting incident in the USA in 2017, an uninvolved man was shot. The “swatter” had sent the police to the wrong address: Call of Duty: Innocent man shot in SWATTING
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