Parkland gun control activist David Hogg had his home “swatted” Tuesday morning after an unknown person made an emergency call that sent police to his home.
Luckily, Hogg was not home during the incident.
In recent months, Hogg has gained fame by being the face of the Democrats’ latest effort to implement gun control restrictions after a gunman killed 17 people and wounded 17 others at the school he attended, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla.
The practice of calling in a SWAT team with a false report is called “swatting,” and it has actually resulted in death of the target. Andrew Finch, of Wichita, Kan., was killed by police gunfire after a California man made a hoax emergency call that led to Finch’s home being “swatted.”
No reasonable person, however much they disagree with or dislike Hogg, defends the swatting.
This incident is sparking a debate over whether or not swatting deserves harsher punishment, along the lines of attempted murder. That last, part, though, is a stretch.
Attempted murder, as a crime, implies an intent to kill. In general, swatting seems like a different sort of crime: a tactic designed to harass the target, not kill them. So of course it is and ought to be a crime. Maybe it should be punished more strongly. But is it really an attempt to kill a person?
In the deadly case of Finch, three suspects have been charged with felonies, including involuntary manslaughter, over his death. If it’s involuntary when the person dies, how could it be attempted murder when the person doesn’t die?
